A review of Red Mountain Burning without spoilers is difficult because it’s so full of delicious details that want to be told! A review that’s not full of summation, however, is the only way to entice future readers without ruining all the surprises—and there are many surprises!Readers will fall in love with, be angry with, be befuddled by, and almost might even want to write out some of the characters in Red Mountain Burning, simply to get rid of their negative influence to the mountain and to the other characters—but you’ll know that without every single one of them, the story wouldn’t be so rich and full and true to life. Each character will evoke either an understanding or a lack of understanding; a sense of calm or frustration; sympathy or empathy; sadness or happiness. One thing’s certain: No character will leave the reader with no emotion at all. Each character, from a young age through to an elderly age, has his or her own personality that you’ll love, be inspired by, detest, or want to throw off the mountain. It’s such fun to watch each character evolve as he or she deals with life on the mountain and the relationship interaction between the characters.As an older-generation reader, the story of Otis and Joan was of particular interest to me. Otis, an old curmudgeon (and who doesn’t know one of those?) is known on the mountain as The Grapefather because of his vast knowledge of vines and wines, but it looks like he’ll never be referred to as The Relationship Guru, because he seems to know almost nothing about personal connection with another human being. Even when Otis is acting like a jerk, he sometimes knows he’s acting like a jerk, but he seems to be unable to stop himself and gives no worry to the consequences. Joan, who should be known as The Patient and Understanding One, knows a lot about life and miraculously how to deal with Otis, no matter how hard he struggles with the world that he seems to think is out to get him. Joan is the one who has a level head on her shoulders and who manages to make Otis see the light, but it’s quite a struggle getting him to where he needs to be, even when he knows where he should be but is reluctant to go there. Without giving away too much information: Otis does manage to redeem himself, and an amazing sense of humor evolves that will make you laugh out loud. Seeing Otis evolve is a treat.Every character has a wonderful story with lots of ups and downs and will keep you guessing along the way. Just when you think you have it all figured out, you’ll be surprised. No loose ends were left at the end of Red Mountain Burning. You won’t be left wondering about anything.As a fan of Boo Walker’s writing since reading Red Mountain, I also read his other previously written books while waiting for at least a sequel about the characters on Red Mountain. It was only natural to want to devour every word of what became the chronicles, and I have never been disappointed. Red Mountain, Red Mountain Rising, and Red Mountain Burning are all delightful reads full of various characters’ personality traits; trials and tribulations; downfalls and growth; decision and indecision; and breaking up and coming together.The author has a way of making his readers feel as if we actually know the characters in his books, and Red Mountain Burning continues the practice—he has written another wonderful book about Red Mountain and its inhabitants. It’s not necessary to read the previous Red Mountain books to understand the story in Red Mountain Burning, but it’s something readers might want to do, just for the great experience of getting to know the characters even better and to learn about all the twists and turns in their lives that put them where they are.As the Red Mountain chronicles come to an end with Red Mountain Burning, I’m grateful to have had the first Red Mountain book pop up as a suggested read on Amazon. The summary looked good, so I ordered and read Red Mountain and became an immediate fan of Boo Walker’s writing style. Please do yourself a favor and read all of Boo’s books.