Descent: A Novel

Sometimes a little too wordy, but still a 5 star read.Tim Johnson has written a heart pounding novel that keeps up the suspense. A family of four takes a vacation prior to their daughter leaving for college. A runner, catelyn and her brother Sean track up into the Colorado mountains. It is there the “Monkey” hits Sean with his auto and abducts Catelyn.What follows is a study for individuals: Angela, the mother, Grant, the father, Sean and Catelyn. Each study has a back story and how they maintain the vigil for the lost Catelyn.Descent will keep you turning pages long after you should.

Let me begin by saying I was very excited to read this book. It started out very well. It felt like stepping into a conversation that was already going, but one that wasn’t hard to figure out what was happening.Cue the dramatic event a few chapters in and then you follow a family as it tries to pick up the pieces. Mom goes nuts. Dad continues a search for the daughter long after authorities have given up hope. Younger brother goes AWOL. Lifetime movie comparisons abound.The main problem I had with this book was that the dialogue was like pulling teeth. For some reason that I’m sure has a concrete literary concept behind it, as the author is an actual creative writing professor, all the characters act like they’re deaf.I wish I was kidding. Imagine pages of this:“What do you think we should do?”“What?”“I said, what do you think we should do?”“I don’t know, you’re the one calling the shots. What do you think we should do?”“Well if I knew I wouldn’t be asking you, would I?”“What?”To be clear, this is not an excerpt from the book, but it is EXACTLY how I felt when I was reading some of the dialogue. Maybe it was a device to emphasize how distracted the characters were in the midst of everything or to make the conversations feel more natural. For me it just didn’t work.Then the book seems to have a problem with the story it’s trying to tell. We saw the characters as a family and we saw their individual stories of heartache and pain. Then [spoiler alert] we saw Caitlin. It was like the book couldn’t decide if it was going to be an action story of a heroine getting herself to safety or following the lives of a family in the aftermath of tragedy. Instead it tried to be both and neither one came away feeling very strong.Now all that being said, this guy can write. The language and descriptions he gave are honestly reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy. Like seriously, that good. The story kept my attention even when the plot seemed to get bogged down in tangent adventures that had no bearing on the story. The unraveling of the mystery of Caitlin’s disappearance was discovered in such a way that it hurt to think this was the best trail the author took to get us to the climax. Think of solving a crime like Scooby-Doo, not Sherlock Holmes.To the author’s credit he was trying to approach a beaten-like-a-dead-horse category of child-goes-missing, family-falls-apart genre and was able to do something unique.It’s worth a read, especially if you can ever find it for under $5. Which is what I would have liked to have paid after I read it.

The Courtland family—Grant, Angela, Caitlin, and Sean—travel to the Rocky Mountains for a summer vacation before Caitlin leaves for college. The destination is Caitlin's choice—a championship runner, she hopes to challenge herself on the rugged terrain of the mountains so she is ready to compete at the collegiate level in a few months. For Grant and Angela, struggling to rebuild their marriage, the vacation represents an opportunity to try and strengthen a fragile trust.Caitlin and Sean go for an early morning run/bike ride in the mountains. A few hours later, Grant gets a phone call from the county sheriff that Sean has been found badly injured on the side of a road, probably hit by a car, and Caitlin is nowhere to be found. All too quickly the idyllic vacation turns into a family's worst nightmare—what could have happened to Caitlin? Where is she? Is she alive? Will they ever see her again?Descent follows Grant, Angela, and Sean as they try to make sense of Caitlin's disappearance. Already deeply affected by another tragedy earlier in her life, Angela's grasp on reality becomes ever more tenuous, and she tries to reconcile her feelings for her husband and her son. Grant and Sean each try to deal with their feelings of guilt and anger in very different ways, while navigating the tension that has grown between them.I felt as if this was, in essence, two books in one. There was the exploration of family dynamics in the wake of a cataclysmic event, and then the tension-filled, heart-pounding conclusion. Tim Johnston is a terrific writer, and his use of language and imagery was almost poetic at times. I could have done with less introspection, because while I understand it was necessary to show just how vastly each individual was affected, I felt as if the same things happened over and over again. But once the action and suspense ratchets up, despite containing elements you've seen many times before, the book stepped itself up a notch or two.This is a well-written book that definitely gets your heart pounding at the end. But the quiet moments in the book are just as powerful, and prove Johnston's strengths as a writer.

There was a time when books had to be good to get published. Now anybody can write a book and self-publish. Finding a well written book today can be a challenge. I tend to pass on books whose only reviewers are other authors (think Amazon). When I find one with so many legitimate rave reviews, I dig in.This book is absolutely astounding. Tim Johnston's writing is lush and beautiful, insightful and and heartbreakingly personal--his characters so real, you feel as if you know them. His atmospheric descriptions are chilling in their ability to put you in each character's place. I am about to devour "Current", his most recent release. I pray that there will be many more to come.

A beautifully written novel. While it is a thriller, it tends towards the literary and in some places the pace does slow down - so recommended more for those who enjoy the writing style and character development as much as plot. I would definitely look out for anything else Tim Johnston writes.

Great gifts for the book lover in your life and amazing quality for second-hand. Bargain!

Good book

Very enjoyable, page turner but more literary thriller.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this author, but the story description seemed interesting. I'm really glad that I ordered this book. I found the plot to be original, the characters really well developed and the twists and turns amazing, believable and unexpected. As the story progressed it became more difficult to put the book down. I was actually in tears by the end of the book .(that hasn't happened in a decade or more) I finished the book this morning and I am still thinking about the characters almost 12 hours later.Highly recommend this BOOK & this Author!