A book that satisfies and educates ... The book is also a portrait of hope and resilience, especially when it comes to Langford, Tarr and the families of the missing.
Trail of the Lost stumbles along its journey: Ms. Lankford has a propensity to overuse the adjective “cute,” and one of the first sources she cites is an undergraduate thesis. But one accepts the author’s idiosyncrasies because it’s hard to imagine who else could have produced a work like this. Her book is a sprawling portrait of an area whose fantastical features practically necessitate the use of metaphor.
A rich, multilayered narrative that works on three different levels ... The research was meticulous and Lankford used interviews to paint vivid pictures, including of what their mental and emotional states they might've been in while hiking ... Trail of the Lost is written with a clear, fast-paced, straightforward prose that still manages to be beautiful and immersive.
In a book that is part true crime, part wilderness cautionary tale, Lankford follows the lost hikers with intensity and compassion. The narrative is paced well, and the author ably demonstrates the hardships of uncertainty and fear in the wake of the unknown.
