Still Here - Catlin Curtis

A missing boy. A primal threat. How do you find your way back when you’ve lost who you are?

Seventeen-year-old Charlie Nyle has always felt most alive in the woods. Behind the lens of his camera, he finds a rare kind of peace, chasing light, shadows, and stillness away from the noise of the world. But when a quiet Saturday afternoon walk takes a sudden, terrifying turn, that peace is shattered. In a heartbeat, Charlie vanishes without a trace into the dense wilderness.

What begins as a frantic, small-town missing persons investigation quickly spirals into a harrowing, heart-wrenching race against time. While a desperate community gathers and his family searches the rough terrain for answers, Charlie is forced to confront a chilling reality deep within the unforgiving forest. Stranded and alone, his fight for survival is pushed to the absolute brink against the elements. Yet, as the days stretch into a living nightmare, Charlie learns that survival isn’t just about keeping your heart beating-it’s about keeping hold of who you are when your world is completely stripped away.

But the wilderness is only the first battle. Returning to civilization brings a new kind of war as Charlie faces severe PTSD, gruelling physical therapy, and relentless nightmares. Instead of finding comfort, his traumatic reality is twisted by people trying to rewrite his story. Surrounded by a world making up its own versions of the truth, Charlie must find the inner strength to break a crushing silence, claim his own voice, and fight for the truth.

Still Here is a gripping, deeply emotional psychological thriller that masterfully explores the devastating aftermath of trauma and the resilient triumph of the human spirit. It is a haunting, unforgettable look at what happens when the hardest part of being lost is finding the strength to stand up-and prove you are still here. Perfect for fans of intense, character-driven suspense, emotional survival stories, and gritty contemporary fiction, this novel will hold you captive from the very first page until the final, breathless sentence.