Publishers Weekly
07/13/2015
Rash’s (Nothing Gold Can Stay) widely celebrated style lends his Southern Gothic–tinged books a suppleness that verges on prose poetry and, in the case of his new novel, elevates a small-town noir story. Les is a gentle sheriff on the verge of retirement in meth-wracked Appalachia, troubled by the petty rivalries that tear at his North Carolina community and his uncertain love affair with park ranger Becky Lytle. Following a nightmarish raid on a meth house, Les becomes drawn into the case of Gerald Blackwelder, a local eccentric accused of poisoning a trout stream in a land dispute. Gerald’s only advocate is Becky—but as a one-time associate of an infamous ecoterrorist named Richard Pelfrey, she’s been wrong before. Operating on opposing sides of an intrigue that touches on family quarrels and sins of the past, Les and Becky unearth a caper heavy in rich Southern crime and violence, one that’s a cut above the rest. Rash writes prose so beautifully that plot and character can come to seem like mere adornments, and certain touches—such the poems Les writes in his off-hours—feel like showcases. But there’s no denying Rash’s grasp of the North Carolina landscape and its reflection in the oft-tortured souls of its denizens, making this novel one of his most successful ventures into poetic humanism. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
[T]here’s no denying Rash’s grasp of the North Carolina landscape and its reflection in the oft-tortured souls of its denizens, making this novel one of his most successful ventures into poetic humanism.” — Publishers Weekly
“Combining suspense with acute observations and flashing insights, Rash tells a seductive and disquieting tale about our intrinsic attachment to and disastrous abuse of the land and our betrayal of our best selves.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Rash, a 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award finalist, is one of our undisputed Appalachian laureates, in company with Robert Morgan, Lee Smith, Fred Chappell, and Mark Powell.” — The Millions
“Rash is an enormously gifted storyteller... one of the few writers at work today with the insight, the talent and the vision to show us how sometimes, for all our sorry shortcomings, we’re able to achieve a certain redemption through our capacity for kindness and decency.” — Washington Post
“Rash captures the gritty realities of modern Appalachia with mournful precision...the novel contemplates timeless questions about human frailty, the divinity of nature and the legacies of our native landscapes.” — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“[T]hick with atmosphere, lyrical prose, and a visceral sense of place… Rash has crafted the finest prose of his career… another quiet, haunting ode to the natural beauty of the mountains.” — BookPage
“Ron Rash is one author who gets a lot of recognition regionally but I firmly believe should be regarded as a national treasure.” — Literary Hub
“Reading Above the Waterfall is like walking a railroad track - the scenery along the way is great, and I’m enjoying the novel’s journey.” — Charlotte Observer
“Above the Waterfall, with its quiet intensity and natural beauty juxtaposed against human ugliness, is the work of a writer who’s found his way with words.” — Mountain Xpress
“There’s a harsh reality to Ron Rash’s novels set in the mountains and foothills of the Carolinas. But he writes with a sparseness and grace that belies his beginnings as a poet.” — Clemson World Magazine
“[S]o well-crafted that it reads like poetry… [Above the] Waterfall will leave the reader pondering the imponderables of life - and grateful, as Rash portrays, in being witness to life’s beauties, even while surrounded by hardship.” — Jackson Clarion-Ledger
“[Above the Waterfall is] as rich and moving as his best. If you like detective novels, the plot twists are dizzying enough to keep you guessing. Fan or not, you’re going to find this one hard to put down.” — Charleston Post & Courier
“[A]s beautiful as it is disturbing… In past works, Ron Rash has tried to conjure places for respite, for light, but even his authentic, affecting language hadn’t yet been enough to uncover a permanent crack in the hard rock of his world. Now, maybe, just maybe, he has.” — Anniston Star
“[A] breathtaking novel weaving violent pasts and uncertain futures.” — Paste.com
“It was love at first page of Above the Waterfall, the new novel by this lyrical and evocative writer acclaimed for his novels, short stories, and poetry... You might call Rash our Appalachian Shakespeare.” — Philadelphia Inquirer
“A quick-paced, slender novel that captures the imperfections of how we all are, our weaknesses, our biases, our prejudices, and then, in times of stress and anxiety, if and how we emerge from those troubles with our morals intact.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“ABOVE THE WATERFALL may be [Ron Rash’s] most powerful.” — Winston-Salem Journal
“[Rash is] a writer who has demonstrated mastery of poetry, short stories, and novels, and one who has brought to the Appalachian region of the Carolinas a defining depth of place and character that has been repeatedly and accurately described as Faulknerian. He’s a writer worth discovering and savoring.” — PopMatters
“Many have labeled [Rash] a Southern writer or an Appalachian writer, but those terms are deceptive. Rash’s characters are certainly connected to their landscape, but, as with any work that transcends, Rash brings the reader to the universal human concerns inside the particular details.” — Electric Literature
“Enhanced by Rash’s lyrical prose, this fascination with the land occasionally forces readers to pause and appreciate the beauty of Rash’s language like they would a flower or a sunset.” — Kansas City Star
BookPage
[T]hick with atmosphere, lyrical prose, and a visceral sense of place… Rash has crafted the finest prose of his career… another quiet, haunting ode to the natural beauty of the mountains.
The Millions
Rash, a 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award finalist, is one of our undisputed Appalachian laureates, in company with Robert Morgan, Lee Smith, Fred Chappell, and Mark Powell.
Booklist (starred review)
Combining suspense with acute observations and flashing insights, Rash tells a seductive and disquieting tale about our intrinsic attachment to and disastrous abuse of the land and our betrayal of our best selves.
Mountain Xpress
Above the Waterfall, with its quiet intensity and natural beauty juxtaposed against human ugliness, is the work of a writer who’s found his way with words.
Washington Post
Rash is an enormously gifted storyteller... one of the few writers at work today with the insight, the talent and the vision to show us how sometimes, for all our sorry shortcomings, we’re able to achieve a certain redemption through our capacity for kindness and decency.
Clemson World Magazine
There’s a harsh reality to Ron Rash’s novels set in the mountains and foothills of the Carolinas. But he writes with a sparseness and grace that belies his beginnings as a poet.
Charlotte Observer
Reading Above the Waterfall is like walking a railroad track - the scenery along the way is great, and I’m enjoying the novel’s journey.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rash captures the gritty realities of modern Appalachia with mournful precision...the novel contemplates timeless questions about human frailty, the divinity of nature and the legacies of our native landscapes.
Literary Hub
Ron Rash is one author who gets a lot of recognition regionally but I firmly believe should be regarded as a national treasure.
Kansas City Star
Enhanced by Rash’s lyrical prose, this fascination with the land occasionally forces readers to pause and appreciate the beauty of Rash’s language like they would a flower or a sunset.
Charleston Post & Courier
[Above the Waterfall is] as rich and moving as his best. If you like detective novels, the plot twists are dizzying enough to keep you guessing. Fan or not, you’re going to find this one hard to put down.
Electric Literature
Many have labeled [Rash] a Southern writer or an Appalachian writer, but those terms are deceptive. Rash’s characters are certainly connected to their landscape, but, as with any work that transcends, Rash brings the reader to the universal human concerns inside the particular details.
Paste.com
[A] breathtaking novel weaving violent pasts and uncertain futures.
PopMatters
[Rash is] a writer who has demonstrated mastery of poetry, short stories, and novels, and one who has brought to the Appalachian region of the Carolinas a defining depth of place and character that has been repeatedly and accurately described as Faulknerian. He’s a writer worth discovering and savoring.
Philadelphia Inquirer
It was love at first page of Above the Waterfall, the new novel by this lyrical and evocative writer acclaimed for his novels, short stories, and poetry... You might call Rash our Appalachian Shakespeare.
Jackson Clarion-Ledger
[S]o well-crafted that it reads like poetry… [Above the] Waterfall will leave the reader pondering the imponderables of life - and grateful, as Rash portrays, in being witness to life’s beauties, even while surrounded by hardship.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
A quick-paced, slender novel that captures the imperfections of how we all are, our weaknesses, our biases, our prejudices, and then, in times of stress and anxiety, if and how we emerge from those troubles with our morals intact.
Winston-Salem Journal
ABOVE THE WATERFALL may be [Ron Rash’s] most powerful.
Anniston Star
[A]s beautiful as it is disturbing… In past works, Ron Rash has tried to conjure places for respite, for light, but even his authentic, affecting language hadn’t yet been enough to uncover a permanent crack in the hard rock of his world. Now, maybe, just maybe, he has.
Washington Post
Rash is an enormously gifted storyteller... one of the few writers at work today with the insight, the talent and the vision to show us how sometimes, for all our sorry shortcomings, we’re able to achieve a certain redemption through our capacity for kindness and decency.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rash captures the gritty realities of modern Appalachia with mournful precision...the novel contemplates timeless questions about human frailty, the divinity of nature and the legacies of our native landscapes.
Charlotte Observer
Reading Above the Waterfall is like walking a railroad track - the scenery along the way is great, and I’m enjoying the novel’s journey.
Kansas City Star
Enhanced by Rash’s lyrical prose, this fascination with the land occasionally forces readers to pause and appreciate the beauty of Rash’s language like they would a flower or a sunset.
Booklist (starred review)
Combining suspense with acute observations and flashing insights, Rash tells a seductive and disquieting tale about our intrinsic attachment to and disastrous abuse of the land and our betrayal of our best selves.
Library Journal
05/01/2014
Author of the New York Times best-selling novel Serena, coming to the big screen this fall in a film adaptation starring Jennifer Lawrence, Rash again takes us to beautiful but hardscrabble Appalachia. A brutal crime brings together longtime sheriff Les, burned out by the impact of crystal meth on his insular community, and a park ranger named Becky who's trying to forget the past. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
School Library Journal
11/01/2015
In a rugged, mountainous North Carolina county, Les is the sheriff with just a few weeks before retirement. His tenure has been marked with the sorrows of the country people whom he's known since birth, like old-timer Gerald, who burned down his son's home after the boy was killed overseas. Lately, Gerald has been wandering on the property of a downstream resort, to the frustration of the resort's manager. When someone pours kerosene into the water, poisoning the fish stocked for the resort's guests, Gerald seems to be the culprit. It doesn't sit right with Les or with Becky, a woman with a traumatic past who has befriended Gerald. As Les, who has his own demons, attempts to solve the mystery of the poisoned stream, his investigation is complicated by the interlacing bonds of a community long insulated from outside intrusion. The whodunit here is not terribly confounding and is secondary to the intricate relationship of the characters and the beauty of the surrounding mountains. As there are no teen protagonists to pull young readers in, the novel's chief appeal is the eloquent voice of nature, expressed by a moonlight view of black-eyed Susans or the movements of a trout. Rarely will readers find such gorgeous poetry in the guise of a novel. VERDICT Teens may be more readily attracted to Rash's 2012 novel, The Cove (Ecco), also set in the mountains of North Carolina but featuring youthful characters.—Diane Colson, Nashville Public Library
Kirkus Reviews
2015-06-15
For his sixth novel, Rash (The Cove, 2012, etc.) plays a park ranger's past traumas against a sheriff's present crises. When Becky Shytle was in elementary school in Virginia, a gunman invaded her school, killing the teacher who had escorted her to safety. For months afterward she couldn't speak, finding her voice only in the safe haven of her grandparents' farm. Later, as a park ranger, a relationship ended badly when her boyfriend became an eco-terrorist and was killed. That time, it was the Victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins who saved her soul, along with the anonymous cave painters of Lascaux. In an unnamed town in the North Carolina mountains, Rash's invariable setting, Becky, now the superintendent of a state park, has found a kindred spirit in the sheriff, Les. He too turned inward after his wife's suicide attempt led to an exceptionally painful divorce. Les is 51, retiring after 30 years' hard grind; just two more items of business left. The first is a meth bust, so nightmarish a rookie officer quits on the spot. (Rash on meth-heads is always riveting.) The second involves the poisoning of trout at a fishing resort. The prime suspect is elderly landowner Gerald Blackwelder, a good man but ornery and Becky's staunch supporter in all things environmental. She alternates as narrator with Les; her Hopkins-infused musings are a counterpoint to Les' action-oriented segments. There are six players in the poisoning case, so Les has his work cut out for him, and this storyline takes over the novel. An ordinary whodunit seems to have elbowed aside a more spacious novel about characters whose deep affinities with the natural world, and its interpreters, sustain them among unremitting man-made violence. For once this major American writer appears, uncharacteristically, to have veered off course.
