Book Review – Two Days Gone by Randall Silvis

Title: Two Days Gone

Author: Randall Silvis

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Publication Date: 10th January 2017

Format: ARC e-book

Note: This book was received from the publisher in return for an honest review

About the book:

A literary page-turner about a beloved college professor accused of murdering his entire family, and one small-town cop’s dangerous search for answers.

Thomas Huston, a beloved professor and bestselling author, is something of a local hero in the small Pennsylvania college town where he lives and teaches. So when Huston’s wife and children are found brutally murdered in their home, the community reacts with shock and anger. Huston has also mysteriously disappeared, and suddenly, the town celebrity is suspect number one.

Sergeant Ryan DeMarco has secrets of his own, but he can’t believe that a man he admired, a man he had considered a friend, could be capable of such a crime. Hoping to glean clues about Huston’s mind-set, DeMarco delves into the professor’s notes on his novel-in-progress. Soon, DeMarco doesn’t know who to trust—and the more he uncovers about Huston’s secret life, the more treacherous his search becomes.

What I Thought:

I have to admit to being disappointed by this book. The description sounds like just my sort of read but I struggled to make it through to the end.

The book is focused around two main characters, Thomas Huston, the local author and professor who becomes the main suspect in the murder of his wife and children, and Ryan DeMarco the local trooper who becomes the lead officer on the case. I found I couldn’t really connect with either of the characters. Both Huston and DeMarco have suffered tragedies in their personal lives prior to the beginning of the story: Huston’s mother was killed and his father committed suicide not long after and DeMarco lost his young son in a car accident involving a drunk driver, and his wife left him shortly after. I know I should feel for both characters but I just don’t. As a result I didn’t feel that urge to keep reading that I normally do, I wasn’t desperate to find out if Huston really was guilty or not.

I also struggled with the style of writing at points. Huston spends much of the book on the run, unsure of who he can trust, there are several sections of the novel where he attempts to distance himself from reality and acts as though he is a character in one of his own books. To me this came across as the author trying to be clever for the sake of being clever. There was also two points within the novel where a significant paragraph was dedicated to talking about a brick path and apartment that DeMarco had started to work on for his wife but never finished after his son’s death. I found it strange that it was focused on twice within the story, I don’t feel it was crucial to the plot, to me it read as though the author had decided to move it to a different section of the story but had forgotten to remove the original paragraph.

Would I recommend it?

Would I suggest you hurry out and buy it? No. However the plot is interesting, if crime fiction is your cup of tea and you’re stuck for something to read check out your local library for a copy. Maybe you’ll connect with it in a way I couldn’t.