R.W. Ridley Review – The Kestrel Waters: “Another Southern Masterpiece”

Here’s what you should know about Randy Thornhorn. He dives deep as a writer and creates a lyrical wonderland as a storyteller. He has the talent to blend a kind of mystical back drop with gritty southern realism that I didn’t think was possible. He did that with Wicked Temper, the first book I read written by him, and he did it again with The Kestrel Waters, the second book I read by him. And I will read a third and fourth and onward until his pen stops bleeding or fingers stop tapping. He’s a writer you read obsessively, compulsively – pick your adverb of need.

In The Kestrel Waters you have a tale of bluegrass playing brothers, the Brothers Brass. The way Mr. Thornhorn draws us into this musical fantasy is seamless from the opening pages. It’s incredibly easy to see them spontaneously and feverishly playing a tune on a train ride to their next gig. Using their southern charm to chat up pretty girls and looking for trouble. This is a love story at its core, and the reader is taken there experiencing the passion, appetites and misfortune that such a “nail to the head” provides the oldest brother, Kestrel. It’s a story of family ties and sacrifices that are at once beautiful and tragic.

If I had to pick one thing that sets this author apart from other southern storytellers (beyond his ability to mix of fantasy and realism), it would be the masterful way the sprinkles backwoods dialect into meaningful dialogue. You almost get the sense that you’re learning a long lost language, one that is simple and alluring.

Once again, my hat is off to Mr. Thornhorn. Here’s hoping he gets the recognition he deserves.

~ R.W. Ridley

http://www.amazon.com/The-Kestrel-Wat...


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(My heartfelt thanks again to author R.W. Ridley for his amazing, humbling review. Be sure to visit his endlessly fascinating blog, which you can find at this link. - RT)