Book Review: Red Rain, by Bruce Murkoff
April 6th, 2011 | Published in Book Reviews
Bruce Murkoff’s writing gives the impression he thinks in sepia tones. Such is the clarity of the prose in his second novel, Red Rain.
Set during the Civil War in the Hudson River Valley town of Roundout, New York, Red Rain begins just after the Union Army defeat at Cold Harbor, one of the bloodiest battles of the war. While not a principle driver or the plot, the battle’s shadow hangs heavy over the town and the principle characters of the novel as they go about their lives, trying to move on in the face of the destruction and death surrounding them. This endeavor is met with varying degrees of success and failure.
Red Rain is composed of plot lines as numerous and free flowing as the rivers that snake the western lands which Will Harp, the story’s principle character, has run from. But as all rivers eventually converge in the sea, so too do Murkoff’s plot lines link, coming together in a primordial swamp entombing the bones of a giant mastodon.
Read the full review at MakeMag.com
