Two Days Gone

October 24, 2016
In this skillfully written thriller set in western Pennsylvania from Silvis (On Night’s Shore), Thomas Huston, a respected Shenango College professor and acclaimed author, appears to have murdered his wife, Claire, and their three children in their beds. Huston recently lost both his parents. Did he snap? Sgt. Ryan DeMarco, a state policeman and a friend of the suspect—who’s coping with his own personal tragedy—takes the case hoping to find some answers. On the Shenango campus, he meets a student, Nathan Briessen, who steers him to information about a novel that Huston was researching. Literary references to Nabokov and Poe, some meta-moments about characters and writers, fiction and truth, as well as DeMarco’s complicated relationship with his wife, Laraine, add seasoning to the plot. By alternating between Huston and DeMarco’s narratives, Silvis nimbly puzzles out what took place on the night of the multiple murders, and what it means to go on after a loss. Agent: Sandy Lu, L. Perkins Agency.

At the center of Silvis's very fine and sad thriller are two men who are trapped in what they've lost. Narrator Graham Winton never lets his performance slide into a dirge, which is a blessing for listeners. Sgt. Ryan DeMarco, alone and lonely after his own tragedy, is on the trail of Thomas Huston, a writer and professor who is on the run after the savage murder of his wife and children. Why would Huston do it? Did he? His family seemed so perfect. Winton's narration is straightforward and quite good. He captures the pain of both the protagonist and antagonist without being maudlin or sappy and handles the humorous baiting exchanges between DeMarco and his boss nicely. Well worth a listen. G.S.D. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine