Gary Botkin

A lighthouse. A lantern. A truth buried beneath centuries of silence. In the shadowed marshlands of 1939 coastal South Carolina, Samuel Raines-a blind, reclusive Black lighthouse keeper-stumbles upon an ancient lantern washed ashore after a brutal storm. But this is no ordinary relic. It whispers. It remembers. It reveals visions of a past the world tried to forget. As Samuel unravels the lantern's secrets, he is drawn into a hidden history of rebellion, blood, and bravery-told through the eyes of his own ancestors.
Teaming up with Naomi Ellis, a determined schoolteacher searching for her heritage, Samuel follows a map encoded in fire and memory to uncover the last of the Five Lanterns-each forged by enslaved hands to preserve truths the world meant to erase. But powerful enemies are watching. The Order of Clean Light has already destroyed four of the lanterns, and they'll stop at nothing to silence the fifth.
What begins as a discovery becomes a battle-for history, for legacy, and for the soul of a nation. A richly woven tale of historical fantasy, mystery, and spiritual resistance, The Fifth Lantern is a haunting journey into the power of memory-and the light that never dies.