Arthur Louis Pullman the Third is on the verge of a breakdown. He's been stripped of his college scholarship, is losing his grip on reality, and has been sent away to live with his aunt and uncle.
It's there that Arthur discovers a journal written by his grandfather, the first Arthur Louis Pullman, an iconic Salinger-esque author who went missing the last week of his life and died hundreds of miles away from their family home. What happened in that week--and how much his actions were influenced by his Alzheimer's--remains a mystery.
But now Arthur has his grandfather's journal--and a final sentence containing a train route and a destination.
So Arthur embarks on a cross-country train ride to relive his grandfather's last week, guided only by the clues left behind in the dementia-fueled journal. As Arthur gets closer to uncovering a sad and terrible truth, his journey is complicated by a shaky alliance with a girl who has secrets of her own and by escalating run-ins with a dangerous Pullman fan base.
Arthur's not the only one chasing a legacy--and some feel there is no cost too high for the truth.