Seth and Carter have been friends since forever. They haven't kept in touch over the last couple years because Seth's controlling and abusive boyfriend, Tony, has isolated him from his few friends and family. Seth felt this was acceptable, to some degree, because he harbored a long-time crush on his straight best friend. A good boyfriend wouldn't talk to guys he finds attractive, right? And, especially not when his boyfriend doesn't want him to do so, right? Besides, Carter's at college, and he has a girlfriend. He doesn't want to hear Seth's troubles... 
 The book opens with Seth on a strange train platform, uncertain how he arrived there, and wondering how to get home so he can make Tony's dinner. Immediately the reader knows that something awful has happened to Seth, and that Tony has likely had some role in it. A ghostly train arrives and Seth steps aboard. The conductor gives him the low down--it's a train of souls on the way to their final destination. Thing is, Seth's not dead...yet. He has the power to step off the train at any station, as long as the doors remain clear to his vision. If he lingers, however, that option will disappear, and Seth will be dead. While Seth sorts out if he should disembark, he's shown to his cabin, and his roommate is Carter. 
 Carter has only 6 stops remaining until he's a lost soul. He knows this, knows he must make peace with himself and his choices, but he's struggling. He hid his disease from the two people he loved most in the world--Seth is one of them--and he's saddled with regret for never telling Seth that he loved him. 
 Even now, as they share space and final moments on this train, both Seth and Carter are shielding their deepest secrets from the other. Carter wants Seth off the train, right now, but Seth won't leave. He can't remember how he came to be on the platform, and he needs to solve this mystery before he decides if he wants to return. Did Tony beat him into a coma? Was is some other trauma? This makes a difference to Seth; he doesn't want to return to the living if he's only going to make the same mistakes. 
 Carter watches the stops tick off, and is unable to let go of his past--mostly because his love for Seth is so strong. When he finally confesses, it's not to the reaction he expected. Seth is angry that they never had their chance, and frustrated that Carter hid his bisexuality. They do work it out, over the course of the train ride, and they get their collective houses in order, too. 
 I'm not going to say more about the plot. It's fantastic, and heart-rending, and tumultuous. I feel better having read this book, not for any sense of spirituality, but for thinking about my own regrets and soul burdens, and considering how best to let them go. This is a love story, at it's core. Seth and Carter have an epic love for each other that was never acknowledged in life, but this ride of reckoning allows it time to bloom. 
 Small flashbacks allow the backstory to be inserted at poignant moments. The clock is always ticking, however, and Seth wishes to linger with Carter forever. Will he? Carter died young, and his regrets are many. Can he clear his soul and enter the afterlife? Or will he be one of the tormented lost souls that claw at the doors of the train whenever it stops? I will say that the book has a happy ending, even if it's not a convenient as it could have been. I liked that. Hard choices make for good conflict and interesting stories. At each turn we could have had the "easy" answer, and we really never get that, here, which is a credit to the story. I loved the idea of soul mates meeting as souls, and it's very well handled here. It's even a bit steamy, which was awesome. Highly recommend!