Descent
A Novel
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4.1 • 104 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Read this astonishing novel . . . The magic of his prose equals the horror of Johnston’s story.” —The Washington Post
Don't miss DISTANT SONS, the new literary thriller from Tim Johnston, available now.
The Rocky Mountains have cast their spell over the Courtlands, who are taking a family vacation before their daughter leaves for college. But when Caitlin and her younger brother, Sean, go out for an early morning run and only Sean returns, the mountains become as terrifying as they are majestic.
Written with a precision that captures every emotion, every moment of fear, as each member of the family searches for answers, Descent races like an avalanche toward its heart-pounding conclusion.
“A compelling thriller that is both creepy and literary . . . Descent is not just a mystery. It is an emotional story of evil, fear, acceptance and irony.”—The Denver Post
“What makes the novel unforgettable is its sense of character, its deliberate, unadorned prose and Johnston’s unflinching exploration of human endurance, physical and psychological.” —Miami Herald
“A super-charged, addictive read.” —The Missourian
“An original and psychologically deep thriller.” —Outside magazine
“Outstanding . . . The days when you had to choose between a great story and a great piece of writing? Gone.” —Esquire
“[A] dazzling debut . . . Exquisitely crafted.” —The Dallas Morning News
“Incredibly powerful, richly atmospheric.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune
“[An] engulfing thriller-cum-western.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Brilliant . . . As gripping as any Everest expedition.” —Peter Heller, author of The Dog Stars
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A young woman’s disappearance takes a devastating toll on her family in Tim Johnston’s superbly crafted thriller. Teenager Caitlin Courtland is about to start college on a track scholarship when she goes out for a run with her younger brother, Sean, during a family vacation in the Rocky Mountains. Hours later, Caitlin’s parents learn their son is in the hospital and his sister has vanished. Descent tracks the remaining Courtlands over the course of several years, as Caitlin’s mother withdraws into a deep depression, her father seeks revenge, and Sean becomes an aimless wanderer. Johnston’s atmospheric and evocative prose powerfully captures the pain of not knowing. Descent is a unique suspense story that’s both artful and hair-raising.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Johnston's sorrowful and suspenseful first adult novel, a family is forced to face its worst nightmare when one of its members goes missing. Caitlin Courtland, an 18-year-old runner about to enter college on a track scholarship, is vacationing with her family in the Rockies when she fails to come back from an early morning run. Over the course of the next two years, the family fractures as no sign of Caitlin is ever found. Grant Courtland, Caitlin's father, remains in the Rockies, while mother Angela tries to pick up the pieces back home in Wisconsin, where she eventually makes a failed attempt at suicide. Meanwhile, Caitlin's younger brother, Sean, drives aimlessly around the country, getting in and out of trouble. Although it begins as one more variation on Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, a late-in-the-novel coincidence sends the narrative in a new direction and turns it into a survival story involving a character who, heretofore, has played a relatively minor part in the drama. Johnston (Irish Girl) has a poet's eye for the majestic and forbidding nature of the Rockies, and a sociologist's understanding of how people act under pressure. He also has a knack for creating characters that the reader will come to care about, no matter how flawed they are. Combining domestic drama with wilderness adventure, Johnston has created a hybrid novel that is as emotionally satisfying as it is viscerally exciting.
Customer Reviews
Great Book!
You are invested in the outcome of this book and the development of its characters. Loved it.
I have no words..
I’m no writer. I’ve read a lot of books that were supposed to have been written by a writer but which just fall short of brilliant. Descent however was written by a write with a talent so enormous and stupendous I became at first in awe and then envious. To say it was poetic and brilliant and captivating just isn’t doing it justice. It was truly magical, transforming, transporting the reader, who heart swung in cadence with the characters. Tim Johnston please write more. And don’t stop painting. I do my best thinking while painting. I suspect you do as well.