The Current: A Novel

An Amazon Best Book of January 2019: Tim Johnston’s Descent, a complex missing-person thriller set in the shadowy wilderness of the Rocky Mountains, was one of 2015’s most pleasant surprises. His follow-up, The Current, is equally, if not more, impressive: Two young women are pulled from the frigid winter waters of a Minnesota river, one dead and the other barely alive. The incident—which is no accident—recalls a similar tragedy 10 years earlier, and the survivor soon realizes their stories have deeper connections than just the river. Small towns with secrets is well traveled territory, but Johnston rises above any tropes through his fully realized characters, each filled with currents of grief, regret, and especially love. And as methodical as Johnston is at unwrapping his carefully plotted story, readers will churn through The Current's 400 pages—a paradox that only the most accomplished mystery writers ever achieve. The only complaint is that we might have to wait another three years for his next one. —Jon Foro, Amazon Book Review