In Harley Rustad’s fascinating new book, Lost in the Valley of Death—arriving just as we’ve climbed the highest perches of our own cuckoo isolation—the portrait that emerges of Shetler as open and free to the world, blown over it like a fresh wind, is compelling indeed. In prose that moves like a clear river, Rustad presents Shetler as that peculiar breed of American peregrinator pushing to the farthest limit, a fearless doer who mixes raw earnestness with extreme ambition to end up in a mess of bad trouble. This is a genre of outdoor story we’ve become accustomed to, as well: the disappeared searcher. But one of the book’s initial achievements is that Rustad reclaims Shetler from that whoa-brah spirituality.

ustad proves himself here to be a masterful storyteller, unfolding character, plot, suspense, pathos, bathos and half a dozen other Greek nouns so meticulously that you’re not going to want to put this book down.

Had we been given this revelatory information at its actual moment in the chronological narrative, Stetler’s story would still have been compelling, but for a different, more profound reason...As the story stands, the reader can only feel somewhat shorted, denied the opportunity to participate more fully with Stetler in his anguished search.

... compelling and personal.

Along the way readers learn a great deal about India, its geography, numerous spiritual, religious, and metaphysical traditions, and the so-called 'India Syndrome' that enthralls some visitors, almost invariably to their detriment. Rustad’s portrait of Shetler and the land in which his life ended is remarkably well-crafted and captivating, a powerful addition to the literature of quests and wilderness exploration..

... a haunting narrative.

Rustad does a good job probing Shetler’s motives, similar to those of many other Western adventurers. Was his disappearance an accident or the result of foul play by robbers and drug runners? Or did Shetler intend to escape his life and drop off the grid? There’s no definitive answer, but the journey is fascinating and well rendered.