English alumnus Tim Johnston's literary thriller newly released

Monday, January 12, 2015

Tim JohnstonUniversity of Iowa Department of English alumnus Tim Johnston is currently on tour to promote his new novel, Descent. Officially released on Jan. 6 by Algonquin Books, Descent has been favorably reviewed on NPR’s “All Things Considered”, The Washington Post, and Oprah’s O Magazine, among others.

The literary thriller begins with the abduction of an 18-year-old girl on a family vacation in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The story follows the devastation caused to the girl’s family during the years-long search after her disappearance.

While at the UI, Johnston studied in the Department of English, part of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. He spoke of his time at the UI in a recent interview with Publishers Weekly, saying: “It was just my luck to get the writing bug while going to college at the University of Iowa, which was like getting the Catholicism bug while living in Rome.”

Descent’s book tour includes a stop in Iowa City at Prairie Lights Books, where Johnston will give a reading on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.