Review: Great wordplay and scenery
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 19, 2013
This is the second story I've read by Ratliff and I certainly see the growth.  He wasn't bad before, but he's certainly established himself in my mind as a talented writer with this short piece.Just Beyond the Trees is the story of a lawn mower/professional "gopher" with larger aspirations who one days stumbles upon a horrific tragedy.  From there we get a story of two young men bonding, trying to make sense of their present circumstance and their futures.The story is filled with relatable characters, such as the religious, prude boss Quinn and the lady from accounting Margery.  The other co-workers are well done, too, as their dialogue is easily comparable to normal, everyday conversations.Best of all is the imagery and the one liners.  A prominent example would be the initial description of the setting, which is portrayed with total clarity without taking too much away from the story, nor boring the reader.  Some turns of phrase that struck a cord with me (rather for their humor or ability to create tension) include "perpetual motion through redundancy" and "caused my heart to leap into my mouth.  I could practically feel its beat on the back of my tongue."While I did mention flaws in a previous review of Ratliff's work, this time I have none.  The aforementioned flaw was in regard to the redundancy of certain phrases, but that certainly wasn't a problem here.  Each emotion experienced by the main character is fresh and described in a new and witty way.This story is a pleasurable, although at times suspenseful read that I would recommend to anyone.