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Hunter Newberg

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Descent

by Tim Johnston (Goodreads Author)

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Hunter Newberg said: " Tim Johnson’s novel Decent is a haunting literary thriller that explores the emotional and psychological struggles as a family’s worst nightmare comes true: their daughter's disappearance. With Johnston’s ability to build the element of suspense, he Tim Johnson’s novel Decent is a haunting literary thriller that explores the emotional and psychological struggles as a family’s worst nightmare comes true: their daughter's disappearance. With Johnston’s ability to build the element of suspense, he constructs a story that isn’t all about the initial crime but more about how the family deals with the aftermath and how they are unraved and have to rebuild from virtually nothing.
The Novel follows the Courtland family, Grant, Angela, and their two teenage kids, Sean and Caitlin, as they are on a vacation in the Rockies. Their perfect trip turns tragic quickly when Caitlin goes on a morning run and just disappears. What follows is not just a search for Caitlin, but a deeply personal exploration of grief, guilt, and survival. The book mainly touches on family trauma, isolation, and the different ways people cope with loss.
Johnston's characters are very emotionally complex and are deeply human. Caitlin is ambitious, strong, and athletic, having a scholarship for cross-country. When she suddenly vanished, it left each family member shattered in their own way. Grant, the father, becomes obsessed with the search; his unwavering determination leads him into dangerous territory. Angela, the mother, returns home, physically separated from the maoutians but unable to be separated from her grief. Sean, Caitlin’s younger brother, might be the most complex of the three; his quiet suffering and self-imposed punishment reveal how heavy the burden of guilt and helplessness is on a teenage boy. Each character is carefully crafted by Johnston, and he makes their emotional arcs feel real and tragic.
The plot of Descent unfolds very slowly, but each chapter has a purpose. Rather than rushing to solve the mystery, Johnston focuses on the emotions each character feels after the disappearance of Caitlin. The novel is constantly shifting perspectives, time periods, and setting, creating a fragmented structure that mirorrors the fractured emotions of the Courtland family. The suspense is understated but ever-present. Johnston is more interested in the way that people survive rather than who committed the crime.
A major theme in Descent is endurance, both physically and emotionally. Caitlin’s identity as a runner is symbolic of the resilience needed to survive. The novel also examines guilt, masculinity, and the concept of responsibility. Sean’s arc especially reflects a typical coming-of-age journey shadowed by the loss of his sister and personal redemption. “What had happened was not one thing, but a thousand things”, Johnston wrote, showing how the trauma unfolded in layers
I really liked how Johnston was able to build up his characters so much instead of focusing just on the crime. It gave the story an emotinal weight that I could feel connected to making it more than just a thriller novel; it’s a meditation on what it means to actually survive. The shifting of perspectives and timelines also were able to keep me emotionally invested without relying on cheap twists to do the trick.
The book was very well written and in a way it almost hurt itself. There were times in the novel where it almost felt too poetic slowing the pace of the story down. I think a few chapters could have been trimmed down a tad to tighten the narrative.
Overall, Descent is a powerful novel that lingers in the mind even after finishing the book. Johnston’s ability to explore loss and endurance felt raw and moving. While people who want a fast pace, action-packed may not enjoy this novel, readers who appreciate depth, lyrical writing, and psychological complexity will find that it’s a very good book with much to admire. ...more "

May 19, 2025 08:23PM · see review