The Spirit of Stone-and-light Canyon

Seventeen-year-old Abigail Brodie Carson—Abby—is adventurous, self-assured and, too often, impulsive. On an early summer evening, Abby finds herself alone in her backyard, bummed and brooding. Her pals Jake and Mayumi are on family vacations while she starts the summer stuck at home—as usual. However, a late-night encounter with her creepy neighbor swiftly puts an end to Abby’s frustrations, when she’s told a chilling legend—“The spirit is real, you know. And he follows all hikers through the canyon—his canyon”—a tale that leads to haunting nightmares. But even the otherworldly existence of an ancient spirit doesn’t stop Abby from finding the secret canyon hidden in the rugged New Mexico wilderness. Alone in the canyon, Abby encounters inexplicable happenings— eerie sensations radiating from the rock formations, being knocked down by an invisible force, and a prickly feeling of being watched—leading her to believe there may be truth to the legend of the spirit who guards the canyon. But when Abby’s friends return from vacation, she ignores the sinister warnings—including a slashed tire—and convinces them to camp and hunt fossils in the canyon. But there’s much more to Stone-and-Light Canyon than an ancient legend. And it soon becomes clear that their survival depends on outsmarting not only an invisible and tenacious force, but also a sinister, flesh and blood inhabitant of this eerie world. The rugged and stunning beauty of a corner of the American southwest sets the scene for this tense and mysterious tale of The Spirit of Stone-and-Light Canyon that will thrill the reader with every twist and turn through the ancient stones.

Linda Quattrochi’s love of all things science led her to a PhD in Biochemistry to a career in Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology to her recent interest in Paleontology. She currently volunteers at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science where she spends her hours chiseling out and restoring dinosaur bones. In good weather, she’s out in the buttes and canyons hunting fossils.