Remember Me Like This

A gripping novel with the pace of a thriller but the nuanced characterization and deep empathy of some of the literary canon's most beloved novels, "Remember Me Like This" introduces Bret Anthony Johnston as one of the most gifted storytellers writing today. With his sophisticated and emotionally taut plot and his shimmering prose, Johnston reveals that only in caring for one another can we save ourselves. Four years have passed since Justin Campbell's disappearance, a tragedy that rocked the small town of Southport, Texas. Did he run away? Was he kidnapped? Did he drown in the bay? As the Campbells search for answers, they struggle to hold what's left of their family together. Then, one afternoon, the impossible happens. The police call to report that Justin has been found only miles away, in the neighboring town, and, most important, he appears to be fine. Though the reunion is a miracle, Justin's homecoming exposes the deep rifts that have diminished his family, the wounds they all carry that may never fully heal. Trying to return to normal, his parents do their best to ease Justin back into his old life. But as thick summer heat takes hold, violent storms churn in the Gulf and in the Campbells' hearts. When a reversal of fortune lays bare the family's greatest fears--and offers perhaps the only hope for recovery--each of them must fight to keep the ties that bind them from permanently tearing apart. Praise for "Remember Me Like This" "Enthralling and skillful . . . The book's beauty is in its complexity, in its characters' endless search for the truth, even once their prayers are answered.""--The New York Times Book Review" "[Bret Anthony] Johnston's scenes are exquisite, the internal and external worlds kept in taut balance. . . . [A] fully immersive novel in which the language is luminous and the delivery almost flawless."--"The Boston Globe" " " "There's real humanity in Johnston's writing, and it's heartening to spend time with these folks as they relearn how to be a family. Rendered in these compassionate, candid chapters, theirs is a struggle that speaks to those of us who have endured far less."--"The Washington Post" "A gripping study of the complexities that follow a traumatic life event . . . The reader is transformed into a silent witness alongside the characters."--"Nylon" " " "I know the novel you're looking for. It's the thriller that also has interesting sentences. It's the one with the driving plot but fully realized characters as well, the one that flows like it was plotted by Dennis Lehane but feels like it was written by Jonathan Franzen. . . . It's a surprisingly rare breed. . . . Fortunately, there's Bret Anthony Johnston's "Remember Me Like This." . . . The book is riveting, with the elements of suspense neatly folded into an elegant series of interlocking arcs. . . . There is nowhere you want to stop."--"Esquire" "[Johnston's] first novel is so spellbinding, so moving, that one's only complaint is that we had to wait ten years to read it. . . . Johnston is a master at creating honest portraits of family members that could easily be your neighbor. Make no mistake about it: Bret Anthony Johnston is a writer to watch."--"BookPage" "From the Hardcover edition."