With unhurried ease The Current carries us along, mirroring that fatal river, as clear as winter ice on the surface while beneath flowing darkly into the past.

This will be the Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri of the book world, and I hope it actually wins the prizes!

Johnston imbues each character with believable motives. The nuanced plot delves deep into how a community—and surviving relatives—deal with the aftermath of a death.

I really loved Johnston’s previous novel, Descent, so I mean it as an enormous compliment when I say that this book blows that one out of the water. The Current is a gorgeous, heartrending punch to the gut, and I loved every page.

How the hell did he write an even better book than Descent? I am motivated to break my record of selling 100 copies of a hardcover without an author event!

I don’t usually rate suspense novels this high, but Johnston’s…characters are fully drawn, and he knows how to build suspense and keep readers flipping pages. I liked this even better than his first novel.

I simply had to give this one the mighty 5-Star medal of honor…it’s his uncanny ability to hone his characters into believable, raw, achingly human individuals who tread the high roads of life as well as the dark, foreboding roads, too.

Johnston writes in gracefully exact language with genuine heart.

Readers will churn through The Current’s 400 pages—a paradox that only the most accomplished mystery writers ever achieve.

A page-turning mystery and a deeply moving story.

Heart-stopping and heart-wrenching…Like a current, Johnston’s story sweeps us in and doesn’t let go.

Tim Johnston’s second novel, The Current, is even better than his first, which is saying something.

If you read literary suspense, this is your book. If you are looking for a book you can’t put down, this is your book. If you need a story that will follow you for days, this is your book.

In this thoughtful yet driving mystery, two young women plunge into a Minnesota river, but only one comes out alive.

As deceptively thick yet brutally delicate as winter ice itself…this novel has at its heart a strong belief that love, for all the pain it brings, is the one thing that truly saves us.

A gripping thriller and page turner but also a masterwork of mood and language…You’ll want to go fast at the same time you’ll be compelled to savor each and every word.

Another freezing mystery from Tim Johnston, this time on the border of Minnesota and Iowa. So much fun!

I would have taken a break long before 2:00 a.m….were it not for Johnston’s masterly ability to rummage inside the heads of his characters…women and men fighting to free themselves of the legacy of those watery deaths.

A first-rate thriller…exquisitely suspenseful.

It’s doubtful you’ll ever read a more beautifully written book than The Current.

Johnston’s masterful novel…soars above the constraints of a traditional thriller.

Johnston creates people you can believe in, with all their conflicts and confusions and sorrows…Maybe ‘thriller’ is the wrong name for what he’s created. It’s an awfully good novel of any genre.

The characters, thrown together by acts of violence, reveal a vulnerability that is more powerful and more engrossing than the crime itself—steering his readers toward a powerful message around humanity.

Johnston has quickly become my favorite writer in this genre, and his books are perfect for thriller readers who want a bit more substance to their stories without sacrificing suspense.

The Current is a haunting story…Johnston masterfully brings out both the brutal and loving sides of human nature. It is a real treat for those who love thrillers.

This novel is full of believable and sympathetic characters whose stories…keep the reader hanging on…I found myself aching for justice and closure…definitely a must read!

Atmospheric, Emotional and Raw.