Welcome to one of the stops on the Thomas Allen & Son blog tour for Tim Johnston’s novel, The Current! Read on for my thoughts as well as information on how Canadian residents can enter the tour wide giveaway to win a copy of The Current!

The Current by Tim Johnston
Source: ARC courtesy of Thomas Allen & Son. Thank you!

Publication: January 22, 2019 by
 Algonquin

Available in Canada through Thomas Allen & Son


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Book Description:

One of Entertainment Weekly’s Most Anticipated Books of 2019.

Tim Johnston, whose breakout debut Descent was called “astonishing,” “dazzling,” and “unforgettable” by critics, returns with The Current, a tour de force about the indelible impact of a crime on the lives of innocent people.

In the dead of winter, outside a small Minnesota town, state troopers pull two young women and their car from the icy Black Root River. One is found downriver, drowned, while the other is found at the scene—half frozen but alive.

What happened was no accident, and news of the crime awakens the community’s memories of another young woman who lost her life in the same river ten years earlier, and whose killer may still live among them.

 Determined to find answers, the surviving young woman soon realizes that she’s connected to the earlier unsolved case by more than just a river, and the deeper she plunges into her own investigation, the closer she comes to dangerous truths, and to the violence that simmers just below the surface of her hometown. 

Grief, suspicion, the innocent and the guilty—all stir to life in this cold northern town where a young woman can come home, but still not be safe. Brilliantly plotted and unrelentingly propulsive, The Current is a beautifully realized story about the fragility of life, the power of the past, and the need, always, to fight back.

The Current, the newest novel from bestselling author Tim Johnston (Descent), is a potent, unsettling, and captivating blend of suspense, character study, and slow burn revelations.

Two young women, Audrey Sutter and Caroline Price, are driving from college to Audrey’s hometown in Minnesota to visit her father Tom, the town’s former sheriff, who is terminally ill. Caroline and Audrey are making progress on their road trip, but a stop at a stark gas station changes everything. In a matter of minutes, a visit to the restroom turns violent as two men assault the friends: Caroline and Audrey escape and flee back to their car, driving away, seemingly safe from danger… until their car swerves in the snow and finds itself at the edge of a river bank…until a nudge from another car- possibly their assailants- rocks them into the shocking numbness of the river. The news of the accident and resulting death of a young woman rips through Audrey’s hometown, where a disturbingly similar accident claimed the life of another young woman named Holly Burke- the victim of a ten-year-old murder case that Audrey’s father lead as Sheriff and was never able to solve. As the story takes a dive into the lives of Audrey, Tom, Holly Burke’s father Gordon Burke, and the Young family (central to Holly’s murder case), lines tightly drawn and heavily rotten among certain members of the small community, begin to strain once again.

On the face of it, it appears that The Current will be Audrey and Caroline’s story; however, the central fixation becomes on Holly Burke’s murder, the never-charged young man that Audrey’s father seemingly let go, and new developments that just may, possibly, bring some kind of justice to the memory of Holly Burke and Tom Sutter. While the initial pages seem somewhat at odds with the overarching style, I have to say that once I got in-line with the story’s particular rhythm, and slightly distant and shifting narratives, I was totally and utterly there in the story- riveted. Some readers may find themselves wanting at the story’s culmination: The Current does not offer final answers, nor does it offer ultimate resolutions to all main characters- but I found the road to the story’s end extremely satisfying and its finale effective. It is an attentive story that asks the reader to be just as attentive to its movements, character reflections and careful, careful disclosures.

Overall, The Current is a fascinating, deliberate, and darkly moody story that examines guilt, retribution, and peaks into the horrific, unjust world facing female victims of sexual violence. Imagine the bone-chilling coldness and strangeness of Fargo, mixed with the raw feel of a less violent Coen brothers film, all centered around a strongly written, cerebral mystery along the lines of Zoe Whittall’s The Best Kind of People or Mindy Mejia’s Everything You Want Me To Be. Readers of mysteries and suspense novels who enjoy the work of authors such as Linden MacIntyre, Megan Abbott, Giles Blunt, Claire Fuller, or similarly atmospheric reads might especially enjoy Tim Johnston’s latest novel.

Get Your Copy Today:

Indigo
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com
*Also available to order through your local independent bookstore.

Tour Wide Giveaway Information:

The winner will receive 1 hardcover copy of The Current by Tim Johnston!


Details: Canada only (excluding Quebec—full rules found in the T&C on Rafflecopter). The giveaway begins on January 21st and ends on February 4th, 2019 at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be drawn randomly through Rafflecopter, contacted via email and will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

Click here to enter the giveaway! 

I hope you are able to check out the other great blog stops on the tour for more reviews; all of the sites participating are linked below!

Blog Tour Schedule for Tim Johnston’s The Current:

January 21st – Literary Treats

January 22nd – Mickey Reads

January 23rd – Fab Book Reviews

January 24th – nichi.i_readpastmybedtime

January 25th – Novelties

I received a copy of this title courtesy of Thomas Allen & Son in exchange for an honest review and for the purposes of this blog tour. All opinions and comments are my own. Giveaway fulfilled by Thomas Allen & Son.