Distant Sons

By: Tim Johnston

Narrated by: Shaun Taylor Corbett

New York Times bestselling author of Descent and The Current Tim Johnston returns with an absorbing new crime novel set in a small Wisconsin town haunted by the unsolved disappearance of three boys in the 1970s.

What if?

What if Sean Courtland’s old Chevy truck had broken down somewhere else? What if he’d never met Denise Givens, a waitress at a local tavern, and gotten into a bar fight defending her honor? Or offered a ride and a job to Dan Young, another young man like Sean, burdened by secrets and just drifting through town?

Instead, over the course of just a few short weeks, Sean and Dan form a deep friendship as they get drawn into the lives of the people they meet—from Denise and her father, to Marion Devereaux, who needs some work done on his house, to Corinne Viegas, a savvy detective with top-notch instincts—all haunted in different ways by the disappearance of three young boys decades ago, in the 1970s. And as these characters converge, an irreversible chain of events is set in motion that culminates in shattering violence, and the revelation of long-buried truths.

Evocative and gritty, Distant Sons is another immersive, gripping suspense novel by Johnston about how the most random intersection of lives can have consequences both devastating and beautiful.

©2023 Tim Johnston (P)2023 Algonquin Books

Critic reviews

"Distant Sons is a mystery about a serial killer, yes, but it’s also not that at all: It’s a heartbreaking story about family, failure, and the fallout from violence. Tim Johnston has crafted a riveting novel that takes us into struggling blue collar America, and locates the hope hidden inside devastating loss. A beautiful book."—Janelle Brown, bestselling author of Pretty Things

"Tim Johnston has once again raised the bar for the literary thriller. Distant Sons is elegant and edgy, refined and complex. It excavates the truth from the darkest recesses of the past and shines a light towards the possibility of a redemptive future.”—Ivy Pochoda, author of These Women and Sing Her Down

"Tim Johnston returns in dazzling form with DISTANT SONS, an intricate, haunting novel sure to resonate with fans of Dennis Lehane, Peter Heller, and James Lee Burke. Johnston's plot is tense and his pacing swift, but he's after bigger game here, with questions of identity, intentions, and legacies merging in a tale that will linger long after it is finished. He's also one of the finest prose stylists in the game, stacking polished sentences with a master's touch. Don't miss this one."—Michael Koryta, New York Times bestselling author of An Honest Man

Great story

All his books are fantastic. Very good imaging and storytelling. Grips you. Pleasantly surprised that this book ties the other two together!

WHAT ?????

Maybe this writing style is just not for me. Every character had hearing and understanding difficulties. Author uses ( What ?) so often, and then it was a repeated phrase. I tried to excuse it for the personality of main character, but the old man does it, plus the lady detective and also the girl friend dad does it too.

One of the best series that’s not a series

In addition to great stories and exquisite prose, Tim Johnston has taken the unusual step of bringing characters from The Current and The Descent into this 3rd novel Distant Sons. All read well as stand alone works, but there is another layer of pleasure for readers if you follow the order of publication. The novels are rich in compelling detail and layered with a deep understanding of people who are pushed to the brink by circumstance. 6 out of 5.

Compelling characters and complex plot

l The author was able to make his characters come alive, out of the page. I felt the friendships developed were authentic. There are sections of the book that have an ineffable sadness to them, but in the sadness there is deep character development. I don't know why I ordered this book but am so glad that I did.

Boring and predictable

Storyline was boring and predictable…author does not finish each of the characters storyline adequately.

Confusing and slow

I Could not get into the story and did not finish it. Confusing story line.