Johnston's latest literary suspense novel paints a vivid picture of a small Wisconsin town haunted by the mysterious disappearance of three boys in the 1970s. The story centers on Sean Courtland, a drifter who ends up working for Marion Devereaux, a man shrouded in suspicion. Alongside Sean is Dan Young, another wanderer with his own secrets, and Denise Givens, a local waitress whose life becomes entwined with Sean’s after a bar altercation. Detective Corrine Viegas, determined to uncover long-buried truths, watches as these lives intersect and set off a chain of events leading to devastating consequences.

While the premise holds promise, the execution is slow. The first half drags with disjointed scenes that fail to build momentum. I repeatedly waited for the story to take off, but the payoff was minimal. Despite well-crafted, three-dimensional characters, the narrative lacked urgency. The book's pacing and fragmented storytelling left me frustrated, making it hard to stay invested.

If you appreciate stories heavy on atmosphere and slow-build character interactions—or have a fondness for DIY projects—you might find this worthwhile. However, if you’re looking for a plot with more action or intrigue, this might not satisfy. For me, it was a miss.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

** Thanks to the publisher for an advance copy. The opinions are my own.

Distant Sons is a gripping and compelling suspense novel with a healthy dose of drama. Two storylines unfold as two new strangers in town, and the rumours they're told shed light on the unsolved murders of three boys in the 70's, while also stirring up trouble with a few of the locals. Masterfully told with complex characters and heartfelt connections.

This was a fun mystery read and is a total treat for anyone who loves untangling a web of secrets. With a whole cast of intriguing characters. With so many characters, it can be confusing at times, but it’s fascinating to see how each one weaves into the other’s story

This small town is brimming with hidden secrets and surprises. The book is full of enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes. If you’re looking for a mystery that will keep you guessing and has a bit of emotional depth, *Distant Sons* is definitely worth a read!

To my mind, there’s a very <i> very</i> thin line between “Eek” and “Ick” in a suspense novel. Yes, the content must, by its nature, revolve around horrifying, shocking human behaviors like murder and rape, but I personally don’t want to feel contaminated by the entertainment.

Enter Tim Johnston. Johnston (<i>The Descent</i> and <i>The Current</i>) combine white-knuckle suspense and awful crimes with beautiful writing and deeply affecting characters. In Johnston’s latest, <i>Distant Sons</i>, the story begins with an ominous flashback to 1976, when a small Wisconsin town was haunted by the unsolved disappearance of one, two, three boys.

In 2018, Sean is an itinerant carpenter whose truck breaks down outside that same small town. By a series of small kindnesses and coincidences, Sean Courtland (who will be familiar to readers of <i>The Descent</i>, though you need not have read that novel to enjoy this one) finds shelter and a renovation project that should help him build up his savings and get back onto the road.

Sean quickly draws the attention of the police after he steps into a tavern brawl. An honorable man clearly haunted by his past, Sean gets the better of a local thug, Blaine Mattias, after the man wouldn’t stop bothering a cute waitress at the tavern.

The renovation project—in the cellar of a near-recluse outside town—grows complicated, so when chance (and Blaine Mattias) puts another wandering tradesman, Dan, into his orbit, Sean offers the man a job.

Dan Young (who will be familiar to readers of <i> The Current</i>, though again, no need to read that novel to enjoy this one) and Sean form a tentative friendship—perhaps a first for both, as they have been isolated and alienated by the trauma that each experienced in the past.

The plot coils itself tightly around loss and the ongoing effects of loss, in a way that’s both nail-biting and heart-breaking.

Johnston shows such compassion for these flawed and self-destructive characters! He’s a wonderful storyteller, calling to mind the suspense of Stephen King, Cormack McCarthy’s skill at conveying the laconic conversation of working-class men, but with a distinctive voice all his own. Johnston does not give his readers an easy resolution to the mystery, offering vivid details presented beautifully, like this gem:
“Years of lifting stones and cinderblock had left him bent-back, his knees permanently cocked. Holding the pickaxe he looked a stricken old rampager, a hunchback Viking, improbably standing in the wreckage of battle. He stood as though planning the next blow and Sean saw that he labored not to craft a grave or any other kind of hole in the earth but only to free the tire of the wheelbarrow from a small pond of ice, the result of Sean having left the barrow upended there against the side of the house instead of almost anywhere else he might have left it.”

In short: this is a glorious literary thriller; I can’t wait to press this upon my unsuspecting friends! Thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for the eARC in exchange for my unfettered opinion.

This was a great mystery read! There's a lot of characters and it was interesting to see how each character connected to each other and how some events can affect so many people! This smaller town has many hidden secrets. It's a story that's both haunting and heartbreaking with a lot of twists and turns, plenty of mystery and suspense that will have you wondering through “What if?” Thank you Algonquin Books and Tim Johnston for sharing this book with me!

Two outsiders, Sean and Dan two men, each with a secretive past arrive in a small town and befriend each other. The town has its own past - three missing boys from the 1970s. Sean enlists Dan to help with a construction project at an old farm, the two men end up talking and learning about each other and getting the attention of the town detective (as outsiders tend to do). In the end, outsiders are not really the problem in this town, the dark secrets from within are.

This is one of those novels that I wanted to like more than I actually did, the story was there but the execution just couldn't keep me engaged. I have been told that if I have read Johnson's previous novel, Descent I would have enjoyed this one more - so if you have read Johnson already you may will probably like this one more than I did (I wish I had known because this one has great potential). I also wish the first 3/4 of the book were as good as the last 1/4 because that last part was great!

3.5 stars

Thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for the ARC to review

I really liked Tim Johnston's other book The Current. I had trouble getting into this one. It may be a case of just not the right time for the book.

Book: Distant Sons
Author: Tim Johnston
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I want to thank the publisher, Algonquin Books, for sending me an ARC. This is one of those books that pulled me in and made it hard to put down. I don’t know what it was about this book that made me feel that way, but it did.

This is a book about what would happen if this hadn’t happened and chances. Sam’s truck has broken down in a small town and he has to get fixed. He is a freelance contractor. While waiting for his truck to be fixed, he takes a job. The only thing is that this person ends up being the town outcast. You see many years ago, three young boys went missing and were never found. All of this is supposed to be linked to Sam’s new boss. Things are weird there, but it is a job. By chance, Sam ends up teaming up with Dan, who is a talented plumber. We don’t know what Dan’s deal is for sure, but he is a good plumber. Both of them are drawn to end other. Sam also meets Denise, who is a waitress and who he ends up accidentally punching in the face. It’s a complicated story. All of these characters are brought together by chance. They all discover that maybe they all have more in common than they thought.

I started by saying this is a book of what-ifs. All of these characters have been brought together by chance. They don’t have a lot in common and would have never met had they not been brought together by chance. They all have different backgrounds and different stories. Despite all of this, by being together they give each other different views on life. They have amazing backstories and character arcs. None of them are anything but ordinary people going about their ordinary lives. They are blue-collared and are just trying to get through the day-to-day. There is a mystery woven in, but, for the most part, it’s just a day-to-day book.

This mystery/thriller is a lot different from those that I normally read. What I read is pretty cliched and unbelievable most of the time. We have the mystery of the three boys and Sam’s new boss woven in. A lot of what is being said is small-town talk. There are whispers about the boys and what is believed to have happened, but there’s proof. Trouble seems to find Sam, which the local police pick up on. Dan is a character who we know nothing about. His backstory is kind of up in the air. We don’t think he is running from something, but we aren’t completely sure. We see what labels can do to people and whispers. We see how these things can divide people and not give others a fair chance.

The mystery elements are there, but they are not the sole focus of the book. We get to know our characters very well. We get to frown on our views of them. Like the town, we have what we think we know and what is presented on the outside. We have the stories and the whispers. However, we get to see the other side of our characters. We get the story, but, yet, we don’t have the whole story. We get to see and know our characters through their actions and behaviours. We see those little moments that make them who they are and that allow them to mould into the world.

I know my review was on the vague side. This is one of those books that it is hard to go into detail about without spoiling it. If you like mystery/thriller with more of a literary side to it, then I think you will enjoy this one a lot.

This book is out in hardcover now but will be out in paperback on August 6, 2024.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/XWLogHyf0F4

Darkly atmospheric, Distant Sons left me unsettled. The plot threads keep building throughout the novel, and it seems like there’s another secret around every corner. While this book wasn’t for me, I still think it was well-written and there’s an audience that will love this book. I recommend it for people who like darker mysteries and don’t need tidy plotlines.

This book wasn't for me, but that doesn't mean someone else won't like it. To me, it just felt messy. I thought the flashbacks could have been fleshed out better and the supernatural element played up even more. Instead, we get a book with vague resolutions, and everyone is basically a murderer.

Sean Courtland is a carpenter who lives a nomadic lifestyle. When his truck breaks down, he is stuck in a small Wisconsin town. He gets in a bar fight over a woman's honor and accidentally hits said woman in the face. From there he meets Dan, a man he just randomly gives a ride to, and Dan is a plumber. What do you know, Sean needs a plumber for his current job at crotchety old Marion's house. Oh, and in the 70s three ten-year-old boys went missing over three consecutive summers.

I get the point the book was trying to make about interconnectedness and the pain people can carry. However, it just felt like too much and poorly executed with no real resolution. In the end, as the reader, you're left to draw your own conclusions about motivation and what really happened. Which would be fine, if this wasn't a murder mystery. The story itself was interesting with some light supernatural elements, but it just felt like so much character-driven plot that had no satisfying resolution.

This book just felt flat for me.

Thanks to Algonquin Books for the advanced reader's copy; all opinions are my own.

Honestly, tried to remember if I had read anything by this author before because the name and other titles seemed familiar, but I can't recall. However, now, having read this book I am definitely going to pick some of his other titles up. The story was interesting, surprising, and well done in a way I really appreciated despite the fact that it was so different from anything I had read before. The main character shows up in a small town in Wisconsin, and learns of their secrets, mysteries, and issues with each other. The characters were so realistic, and the character arcs were so much more relatable than other books I have read before. I would recommend this to anyone looking for something fresh or different than what we normally find in thrillers.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Sean and Dan end up in the same town by coincidence and find work renovating a local elderly man's house. As they work on the man's house, they find out he was the main suspect in the disappearance of three boys decades prior. Every character has their own past and secrets they're holding onto but as Detective Corrine delves into the boy's case again, she might finally reveal what happened. Overall, a slow paced story set in a small town that is less mystery and more about the interactions of the characters.

Thank you Netgalley. This was a bit of a slow burn but well worth the wait. The characters were some of the best I've read in a while. The story was a bit slow but still full of mystery. The writing itself is excellent and very atmospheric.

DNF 48%.

This is the first DNF for me in a long time. The writing was good and I could see the story was interesting but it was too slow for me. The different timelines may have paid off in the end but I couldn't make it. I read half the story and can't really summarize what it is about. Others seem to like it a bit but it wasn't for me and with a bunch of other books I am excited for, I decided to move on.

Another fantastic book by Tim Johnston. I love how atmospheric his writing is. I loved the way the stories of these two young men came together—couldn’t put it down.

Published by Algonquin Books on October 17, 2023

Distant Sons is the story of two young men following the same path, men who meet by coincidence or fate. They are both on the move, both trying but failing to leave their pasts behind, both uncertain they should allow that choice to be dictated by others. The crimes that underlie the plot — three boys who went missing forty years earlier, a women who has been dead ten years — lurk in the background, but the story’s suspense surrounds the choices the young men will make as they move forward with lives that have suddenly intertwined.

Sean Courtland is a carpenter. He has driven into Wisconsin from Minnesota when his car overheats. A man who gives him a ride to a mechanic tells him about an old man named Devereaux who needs a carpenter. Devereaux wants to build a first-floor laundry room because he’s become too old to walk up and down the basement stairs.

Sean gives Devereaux a call. He takes the job despite rumors that connect Devereaux to three boys who disappeared forty years earlier. Sean expects the project to take about a week but realizes he might need to help to get it done within that time frame.

Sean offers a ride to a young man named Dan Young. They chat a bit and Sean offers Dan a job helping with the plumbing on the Devereaux job. Dan left his truck in Minnesota after someone put a bullet hole in it. Dan is suspected of causing a woman’s death ten years earlier. The suspicion is probably unfounded, but who knows?

Dan notices something odd about the carpentry in the basement. Sean has noticed that Devereaux’s dog whines whenever someone goes into the basement. While this isn’t a supernatural thriller, Dan has visions that make him wonder whether Devereaux or his creepy uncle or both are responsible for crimes that have long gone unsolved.

Setting aside ancient crimes, Sean intercedes when he sees Blaine Mattis bothering Denise Givens, a waitress in a tavern where Sean has been eating his meals. Sean accidently smacks Denise’s face she he tries to punch Blaine but Denise tells the investigating officer that the blow was accidental. Sean ends up dating Denise and even does a small home renovation that will help her father navigate his wheelchair through a doorway. Denise gets a restraining order against Blaine but he isn’t the kind of guy who cares.

Distant Sons unfolds over the course of an eventful week. It is a bad week for both Sean and Dan, arguably a bad week for everyone whose lives intersect theirs. While Sean blames himself for being a harbinger of doom, Denise’s father reminds Sean of Shakespeare's observation about “wills and fates” that “contrary run.” Maybe Sean made life worse for some by coming to the small Wisconsin town where he meets Dan and Denise, but maybe he made life better for others. In the end, balancing good and bad is beyond Sean’s power. He can only do what he thinks is right and hope for the best.

Tim Johnston captures the quiet eloquence of capable men who feel deeply but say little, men who don’t vocalize their thoughts unless the effort of expression seems worthwhile. The mystery of the missing boys is ultimately resolved, but this isn’t a story about heroic efforts leading to a serial killer’s capture. It is a simpler story of people poking around the edges of mysteries, people whose lives are at risk for reasons they cannot reasonably anticipate. It is a powerful and surprising story of fates that run contrary to wills.

RECOMMENDED

I had read Descent by this author and it was a very good book, so I went into this one thinking it too would be a good book, and it was, just a bit long at times, but still enjoyable. Sean Courtland is passing through a small Wisconsin town when his truck breaks down, as he's looking at the engine another driver stops and provides assistance in the manner of a place to get it fixed and the name of a person who's looking for someone to do some work for him. Sean accepts both offers and meets with Marion Devereaux to find out what he wants done, turns out he's an older fellow and wants a room modified and the washer/dryer moved into the room. They agree on a price and Sean starts work. After work he's in a local bar and after a waitress is harassed by (it turns out) her boyfriend, he decides to defend her honor and ends up accidently hitting her. Sean meets Dan Young another young fellow who he talks into helping him with the job he's doing, Dan agrees. These individuals set the scene for all that happens after, the whole 'what if I didn't stop in this town' is Sean's mantra after all is said and done. There are flashbacks to a period of time in the 70's where 3 young boys go missing, Marion is the prime suspect in their disappearances, but the police can find no evidence to pursue charges. A very good book which I would highly recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Algonquin Books for the ARC.

Distant Sons is filled with mystery. Tim Johnston gives us many mysteries in this book. I think the book would have been better with one less mystery. So many tales going on involving one individual was just too much. I think Johnston could have separated the two main mysteries and made a better book.

I loved the mystery and friendship of Sean and Dan. I think this could have made an excellent duology. Their chemistry was amazing. I just loved them together. Johnston writes a good mystery and I liked each of them individually. It was just really busy.

Johnston covers a multitude of issues in Distant Sons. The editing is done well. It took me a bit to get through the book because it was just a lot of information to track and it didn’t really keep me engaged. Read it and tell me what you think.

I think Tim Johnston is a very good writer. This one had a slow-burn plot with great character development. I feel like he is similar to Ivan Doig in his storytelling, just in a more modern setting. Recommended.

Sean never expected his humble life to have much impact, until it suddenly does.

Sean never intended to spend any time in the small Wisconsin town where his truck breaks down. But he goes where he finds work, so when he’s offered a job along with a ride, it’s worth his time to stick around and finish once his truck is fixed.

Likewise, Detective Corrine Viegas never expects much to happen in the small town where she works, until a few people new to town keep popping up where she least expects them. Everyone in this novel has a past that may not be common knowledge, and most are content to keep their stories to themselves indefinitely.

The unassuming characters in this story had their own histories and lives. While their secrets may not have been secrets intentionally, once they were discovered, they were life-changing for others. The book was not generally action-packed, but once a reader becomes engaged with the characters, no one could resist the urge to get to the end and find out how it all connects.

This story earned 3 out of 5 stars. The nostalgia of the stories still re-told around town from the 1970s was heartfelt and realistic. Anyone who enjoys small town family dramas would certainly enjoy this book.