Every dream is a nightmare in waiting.
Fourteen-year-old Callie has a secret. One she doesn’t share with anyone except Daniel, a friend she has in her dream world called The Liminal.... A place where universes overlap—opening doors.… Some for a moment and others for eternity.
Callie is always in control…until tonight. It all changes when her twin brother, Luca, enters one of those doors and is taken captive by a creature there. Callie awakens in terror, knowing she must risk her own life or lose her brother forever.
The Liminal, at its heart, is a story about friendships, family, small towns, and the power of belief, wrapped in the package of a supernatural fantasy thriller.
The story begins with Callie’s dream in 2022 but has its roots in 1972 when a boy named Daniel disappears while out one night with a group of friends that includes Callie’s grandfather, Micky. The group wakes up the next morning in a schoolyard, without a memory of the previous night and without Daniel.
The narrative moves back and forth between the two times, eventually meeting head-on.
In 2022, Callie and her parents discover Luca is gone. Although the parents believe Luca snuck out for the night, Callie knows something more menacing is occurring. She comes clean about her dream and The Liminal, only to be put off by her unbelieving parents. She does convince them, though, to immediately get the police involved.
The lead investigator is Detective Eugene Clarke, who knows Luca, and is armed with the knowledge that another boy is also missing. During Clarke’s investigation, the other boy is found dead. Clarke also finds evidence Luca knew the other boy and learns that Micky was involved in another missing person case when he was a teenager. These facts create a deep distrust of Micky and make him the prime suspect.
Micky has a similar dream the same night as Callie. Micky is also contacted by his three lifelong friends who were there the night Daniel disappeared, and discovers that all three had the same dream. This begins a dream journey leading to the return of their lost memories of the night Daniel disappeared. They decide to risk their lives to save the two.
In the 1972 timeline, a history of trips into The Liminal by Micky before Daniel’s disappearance is detailed. The story of the police investigation after the disappearance is also told. One of the investigating officers is convinced Micky knows what happened to Daniel and is a ring leader of something nefarious. Evidence is found implicating Micky but is determined not to be as convincing as the officer pushed it to be to his colleagues and the newspapers. The officer gets embarrassed by the outcome of the investigation, which ultimately kills his career. His grudge against Micky eventually impacts the rescue attempt in 2022.
Returning to 2022, the four friends, with the help of Callie, devise their rescue plan. Detective Clarke continues to mistrust Micky, making plans to keep him under his control, but not knowing he is keeping Luca from being rescued. Micky and Callie continue struggling to convince Clarke or Callie’s parents about The Liminal, which alienates them more. The two conclude they will have to go to dangerous lengths to convince everyone that The Liminal exists and Luca is there. Their attempts are successful but not without collateral damage. Detective Clarke and Callie’s parents, now convinced, join forces with Micky and Callie.
The story builds as plans are established, strategies developed, and the rescue is attempted, which doesn’t turn out as planned. What happens to each of the characters will require a deep dive into the final part of the book and into the epilogue. Suffice it to say, the listener will cry, laugh, feel the warmth of friendships, and the grief of lost friendships.
