Review: Distant Sons by Tim Johnston

Distant Sons

by Tim Johnston 

Publisher: Algonquin

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads: 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 in the Wisconsin town where he lands? Or Dan Young, another young man like Sean drifting through, having fled Minnesota for reasons unknown? Instead, together Sean and Dan pick up carpentry and plumbing work for an old man named Marion Devereaux, and Sean gets drawn into the lives of Denise and her father—and of the townspeople, all haunted by the disappearance of three young boys decades ago, in the 1970s.

As the paths of these characters converge, observing them all is Detective Corinne Viegas, a woman whose drive to seek justice comes from her father's own failure to find those boys and the violence once done to her sister. And over the course of just a few weeks, an irreversible chain of events is set in motion that culminates in shattering violence, and the revelation of long-buried truths.

Kritters Thoughts:   In 2018, Sean Courtland has truck problems which find him a small Wisconsin town where he is able to find work to keep him there for a bit.  From there dominos start falling and many events happen from there.  At the same time, woven throughout the book are storylines that happen in 1975, 76, and 77, where young boys go missing and there are no clues to their whereabouts.  This one had a large cast of characters, some of whom show up in both timelines, so I took notes to keep everyone straight!  

Sean Courtland is our main character and he is a young man who has lived a life already and has maybe been through a thing or two.  When he ends up in this small town in Wisconsin, he is able to find a job at the Devereaux home helping him with some construction.  Then another encounter with a woman at a bar puts him on the radar of the local PD.  And another with Dan Young will change the course of his life.  

While I enjoyed this book, for me it took a while for the action to begin and it was hard for me to keep the motivation to keep reading.  The character development of Sean Courtland was a large part of my continuing to read because I wanted to find out where his story would go and where he would end up.  So if you are a reader who likes the slow burn where the author builds up the setting and the characters then this book is just for you.       

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2023 Challenge: 7 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Algonquin books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.