BOOK REVIEW - KINFOLK BY MATT KURTZ

If I were to distill down Matt Kurtz’s Kinfolk into a single word, something to give you an idea of how you will feel as you blast through this story, it’d have to be tension. From the very first moment until the last blood-soaked scene you will be left breathless. It is a grizzly affair that deals with inbred cannibals, redemption, and holding on to your humanity. Nothing is held back as you are plunged into a battle that won’t let go until long after you are finished.

Right from the start Kurtz shows that he is not messing around. We are introduced to a young man, let’s call him Red Shirt, going on a cross country road trip alone. Red Shirt catches a ride with a pervy truck driver that dispenses him in the middle of nowhere. A “friendly” old man picks him up and the next thing Red Shirt knows is that he is face down on a grimy bed wishing he stayed home. It is a shocking opening that seems to be a test for the reader, asking you if you can handle this. 

I will say it is probably the most gruesome part of the book, so if you are at all queasy or uncomfortable with the types of things inbred hillbillies might do to someone they kidnapped, maybe skip that section and jump into the next chapter.

I haven’t read much from Grindhouse Press(though I have more of their books on my slate), so I’m not sure how much they lean into the “grindhouse” aspect of their name, but if they are fully onboard with that label, then Kinfolk fits right in. We are given vivid details of every gunshot, knife wound, eating of flesh, and rock smashing that happens in the book. But, honestly, it doesn’t feel gratuitous. Kurtz’s use of language and description is so magical that we are almost lost within the beauty of word choice to notice that someone has had their brains splattered against a wall. Yes, there is a lot here that’ll make you cringe, but at the same time you can’t help but be impressed by the skill in which it is told.

I have to tip my hat to Kurtz on his ability to wield tension like it’s an extension of his arm. After he introduces us to the inbred cannibal family, he lets those images and thoughts simmer in the back of our minds while he focuses on the two brothers, Eric and Ray. They are leaving a small town in Texas to get revenge on the man responsible for Ray’s wife’s death. These two are not good guys, they’ve done terrible things in the past, and the mission they are on is not a good one. While we are following them, our anticipation is building, our legs twitch, our sweaty fingers flip through the pages faster, and we imagine the epic battle that is surely coming between these two forces. But, Kurtz keeps us on the leash, teasing us along, asking us to just wait and see where it’s all going to go. He even throws in a couple of false starts to make the final confrontation all the more sweeter. And once we get there, it hits hard.

As the two groups battle we are stuck in the sweaty balance of who is going to come out on top. Kurtz is not afraid to hurt his heroes or his villains, making every scene all the more terrifying. Both sides do dumb things that’ll make you scream out, “why?”. These characters are not perfect, they are living in the moment and doing what they can to survive. Kurtz plays with this realism to keep us guessing at what the outcome is going to be.

I did find some faults with Kinfolk. At moments it drags on a little too long. Maybe they are there to give the reader a chance to rest, but it comes across as padding. We also find our characters pausing to relish the position they are in, either moments away from a kill shot or chance to escape. As is always the case, this pause is taken advantage of at the detriment of the character. Yes, it does add dramatic tension and prolongs the story, but feels a bit played out. Then there are a couple of the scenes that might be hard for some readers to read. It might turn some off of reading the rest of the book or might trigger something. We can debate the merits of certain acts of violence all day long, but in the end, it is worth noting there are things in here that not all can handle.
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In the end, this is really a fabulous book. Any time I had to put it down for work or sleep, I always thought about ways I could slip in a few more pages. I never found anything over-the-top for the sake of being over-the-top; it’s a brutal story about criminals and cannibals, of course they are not going to take things easy. Kurtz comes across as a master of tension and description, never letting you go until he wants to. If you are looking for a grizzly good time, then hunt down Kinfolk and be prepared to get what you asked for.

KINFOLK BY MATT KURTZ

Criminal brothers Ray and Eric Kuttner pulled off what they thought was a seemingly simple score, until Ray’s innocent wife, Rachel, was brutally murdered in retaliation. Hell-bent on revenge, the brothers delivered their own merciless payback.

Three years later, something sheds new light on Rachel’s murder and it requires the brothers to drive across Texas to Oklahoma on a new mission of vengeance that’ll finally bring them closure. 

After an incident forces them to take back roads to elude the cops, they get stranded along a hunting ground patrolled by a family looking for fresh meat to feed their hunger for flesh. 

In a race against the clock, Ray and Eric must fight their way out of the backwoods of Texas and still make it across state lines to accomplish their plan of revenge . . . all before one very large—and pissed off—family secret is unleashed to stop them.

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