The never-ending quest for inner peace leads one man far into the trackless depths of India in Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas, Harley Rustad's compelling and personal investigation into Justin Alexander Shetler's life.
In the summer of 2016, American adventurer and traveler Justin Alexander Shetler set off on a spiritual pilgrimage in the Parvati Valley with a Hindu holy man, never to be seen again. Known to his thousands of social media followers simply as "Justin Alexander," the 35-year-old was a trained survivalist who sought the most authentic experiences of solo living in nature. With his quiet intensity and kind eyes, he made friends easily as he moved through foreign lands, living out his own personal mantra "Be Kind, and Do Epic Shit."
Rustad (Big Lonely Doug) explores the formative years of Shetler's peripatetic lifestyle and how he came to India. He also reveals the fascinating phenomenon of "India Syndrome," best described as a combination of a traveler's preconceived expectations of India along with hallucinatory drug use to achieve a spiritual awakening. These startling and documented tales are just part of Rustad's dense narrative of Indian spiritual traditions that ultimately form the stage for Shetler's final act. While the mystery of Shetler's disappearance remains just that, his spirit of adventure may attract new followers to far unknowns of the world, while also confirming for many more the comforts of the known and the near. --Peggy Kurkowski, book reviewer and copywriter in Denver