Distant Sons

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

"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."
 

“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.”

“Complex characters . . . distinguish this literary thriller about a Wisconsin town’s unsolved mystery and the outsider who uncovers buried truths.”

“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.”

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

"[An] exceptional whodunit… Johnston is a talented and intelligent writer… This Tim Johnston fellow, he’s the good stuff."

“[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.”

“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.”

“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.”

"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." 

"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."

"This book kept me up at night. Eerie, unsettling, and addictive."

"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."

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

“An exceptional novel."

“Quietly elevates the fragile codes of honorable men.”

"[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."

“[S]hocking, beautiful and captivating.”

“Tim’s writing — lovely, smart, dark — reminds me a bit of Peter Heller, Dennis Lehane, and Ivy Pochoda..."

“Excellent. Every one of his books just get better and better.” –Tim Budd, buyer at Prairie Lights