All Iowa Reads at Knoxville Public Library

Description

The Knoxville Public Library invites members of the community to a program on the 6th of September, 2025 at 12pm to discuss the 2025 Adult All Iowa Reads title: Distant Sons by Tim Johnston.

Copies of the book are available to borrow at the front desk of the library. The discussion will be led by Cari Meissner, Knoxville’s Adult Services Librarian and meet at the library.

About the 2025 Adult All Iowa Reads Title: Distant Sons

What if Sean Courtland’s old Chevy truck had broken down somewhere else? What if he’d never met Denise Givens, a waitress at a local tavern, and gotten into a bar fight defending her honor? Or offered a ride to Dan Young, another young man like Sean, burdened by secrets and just drifting through the small Wisconsin town?

Instead, Sean enlists Dan’s help with a construction job in the basement of a local—the elderly, reclusive Marion Devereaux—and gradually the two men come to realize that they’ve washed up in a place haunted by the disappearance of three young boys decades earlier. As Sean and Dan’s friendship deepens, and as Sean gets closer to Denise and her father, they come to the attention of a savvy local detective, Corrine Viegas, who has her own reasons for digging into Dan’s past—and for being unable to resist the pull of the town’s unsolved mystery. And with each chance connection, an irreversible chain of events is set in motion that culminates in shattering violence and the revelation of long-buried truths.

This gripping crime novel is also about friendship, love, and hard work, and about how the most random intersection of lives can have consequences.

About All Iowa Reads

Established in 2003, the purpose of All Iowa Reads is to foster a sense of unity through reading. Iowans are encouraged to come together in their communities to read and talk about a single book title in the same calendar year. All Iowa Reads consists of three programs, each with one title chosen per year: adults, teens ages 12-18, and kids ages 8-12.

All Iowa Reads is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of Iowa.

Find out more about All Iowa Reads: https://statelibraryofiowa.gov/programs/all-iowa-reads