Distant Sons - by Tim Johnston (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The actions of two young working men with secrets ignite the passions and violence of a small Wisconsin town still haunted by the unsolved disappearance of three boys in the 1970s"--

Book Synopsis

The paths of two young men collide and spark unexpected violence in a Wisconsin town where three boys went missing in the 1970s in this "intricate, haunting novel" (Michael Koryta, author of An Honest Man).

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 to Dan Young, another young man like Sean, burdened by secrets and just drifting through the small Wisconsin town?

Instead, Sean enlists Dan's help with a construction job in the basement of a local--the elderly, reclusive Marion Devereaux--and gradually the two men come to realize that they've washed up in a place haunted by the disappearance of three young boys decades earlier. As Sean and Dan's friendship deepens, and as Sean gets closer to Denise and her father, they come to the attention of a savvy local detective, Corrine Viegas, who has her own reasons for digging into Dan's past--and for being unable to resist the pull of the town's unsolved mystery. And with each chance connection, an irreversible chain of events is set in motion that culminates in shattering violence and the revelation of long-buried truths.

Gripping and immersive, this crime novel by bestselling author Tim Johnston becomes so much more: a book about friendship and love and good hard work--and a masterful read about how the most random intersection of lives can have consequences both devastating and beautiful.

Review Quotes

"I happened across a terrific novel...and want to commend it to you: Distant Sons, by Tim Johnston. It's a crime novel far more literary than that description suggests, with a big heart and violence to match."--Sam Sifton, New York Times Cooking Newsletter

"Excellent. Every one of his books just get better and better." -Tim Budd, buyer at Prairie Lights--Iowa Public Radio/ Talk of Iowa

"Complex characters . . . distinguish this literary thriller about a Wisconsin town's unsolved mystery and the outsider who uncovers buried truths."--People

"Quietly elevates the fragile codes of honorable men."--Kirkus Reviews

Named a Best Mystery Fiction of 2023 by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

Named a Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2023 by Kirkus Reviews, Novel Suspects, The Rap Sheet, & Thoughts From A Page Podcast

"Tim's writing -- lovely, smart, dark -- reminds me a bit of Peter Heller, Dennis Lehane, and Ivy Pochoda..."--Blood & Whiskey (Neal Thompson Substack)

"Set in struggling blue-collar America, Johnston's newest novel, Distant Sons, will strike a chord with fans of Peter Heller, Liz Moore and Cormac McCarthy."--Columbus Dispatch

"The secrets run deep in the eloquent crime novel... a moving tale of friendship, attraction and long-term loss, told with quiet grace and emotional precision."--Washington Post

"[An] exceptional whodunit... Johnston is a talented and intelligent writer... This Tim Johnston fellow, he's the good stuff."--Washington Independent Review of Books

"[A] wonderfully told story. Johnston had me fully invested... He masterfully wove together two distinct timelines and two completely different stories into one seamless gem of a novel that I highly recommend."--Novel Visits

"[A] suspenseful route through the emotions and changes of sons and fathers... a revelation about the cost and sometimes benefit of being flawed humans who care about others and struggle to find a way forward. That's easily twice as good as a simple crime novel."--New York Journal of Books

"[E]loquent and riveting... Johnston expertly crisscrosses these lives in a poignant novel that is both character-driven and action-packed."--Shelf Awareness

"[S]hocking, beautiful and captivating."--SheReads

"Johnston brings the same attention to his novels that he does to his carpentry... a patient focus on the little things that matter, whether he's describing a chair in an interrogation room or plumbing the depths of a character's heart."--The Capital Times

"Richly satisfying... Three-dimensional characters and a multilayered--though not overly complex--plot make this small-town saga sing. Johnston continues to impress."--Publishers Weekly

"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

"An exceptional novel."--Library Journal

"This book kept me up at night. Eerie, unsettling, and addictive."--Ash Davidson, author of Damnation Spring

"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

"Tim Johnston's Distant Sons is the kind of novel that inspires writers like me to want to step up our game. His prose is both elegant and raw, with characters so real you want to sit down and have a beer with them. Mr. Johnston is a writer with a gift, and if you haven't had the pleasure to read him, I highly recommend picking up this book."--Allen Eskens, bestselling author of The Life We Bury and Forsaken Country

"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

About the Author

Tim Johnston is the author of the novels Descent, The Current, the story collection Irish Girl, and the young adult novel Never So Green. He holds degrees from the University of Iowa and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is the recipient of the 2015 Iowa Author Award and currently lives in Iowa City, Iowa.