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The Turn
From internationally bestselling author Christopher Ransom,
The Turn
is one man’s hilarious and heartwarming odyssey through loss and addiction as he desperately fights to shoot par on the back nine of his life.
After a divorce and the death of his father, Casey Sweet is in a bad way. He’s drinking most of a bottle of whiskey every night, and his panic attacks at work have landed him on an involuntary mental health sabbatical for the summer.
Cleaning out his dad’s possessions, he stumbles upon a bag of rare vintage golf clubs—a set the old man protected like gold. Soon, Casey is golfing every day, drinking less, and—with the help of his bossy therapist—keeping his anxieties at bay. At the local course, where his father was a respected member, Casey forges new bonds with an eclectic band of regulars. The most intriguing member of Twin Peaks is twenty-two-year-old Josh Parker, a feral golf prodigy with dreams of qualifying for the PGA Tour and an immaculately restored 1987 Land Cruiser—a truck Casey recalls from a short-lived college romance with a woman named Damaris, who happens to be Josh’s mom.
Increasingly convinced that he has found a son he never knew, Casey embeds himself deeper into Josh’s life and attempts to rekindle things with Damaris. But fatherhood is more complicated than golf. What role is Casey supposed to play after stumbling into their lives? As they navigate one transformative summer, Casey, Damaris, and Josh must examine past decisions and present fears, leaning on each other to survive an eighteen-hole showdown as uplifting as it is unforgettable.
In the tradition of golf-comedy classics like Caddyshack and literary midlife misadventures like Sideways, The Turn is at once a story of personal redemption, a blistering romance, and a testament to the healing powers of the most obsessive game ever invented.
After a divorce and the death of his father, Casey Sweet is in a bad way. He’s drinking most of a bottle of whiskey every night, and his panic attacks at work have landed him on an involuntary mental health sabbatical for the summer.
Cleaning out his dad’s possessions, he stumbles upon a bag of rare vintage golf clubs—a set the old man protected like gold. Soon, Casey is golfing every day, drinking less, and—with the help of his bossy therapist—keeping his anxieties at bay. At the local course, where his father was a respected member, Casey forges new bonds with an eclectic band of regulars. The most intriguing member of Twin Peaks is twenty-two-year-old Josh Parker, a feral golf prodigy with dreams of qualifying for the PGA Tour and an immaculately restored 1987 Land Cruiser—a truck Casey recalls from a short-lived college romance with a woman named Damaris, who happens to be Josh’s mom.
Increasingly convinced that he has found a son he never knew, Casey embeds himself deeper into Josh’s life and attempts to rekindle things with Damaris. But fatherhood is more complicated than golf. What role is Casey supposed to play after stumbling into their lives? As they navigate one transformative summer, Casey, Damaris, and Josh must examine past decisions and present fears, leaning on each other to survive an eighteen-hole showdown as uplifting as it is unforgettable.
In the tradition of golf-comedy classics like Caddyshack and literary midlife misadventures like Sideways, The Turn is at once a story of personal redemption, a blistering romance, and a testament to the healing powers of the most obsessive game ever invented.
338 pages, Hardcover
Published May 27, 2025
5 people are currently reading
3862 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Ransom
8 books115 followersChristopher Ransom is the author of internationally bestselling novels including The Birthing House and The People Next Door. He studied literature at Colorado State University and worked at Entertainment Weekly magazine in New York, and now lives near his hometown of Boulder, Colorado.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 5, 2025
✰ 2.75 stars ✰
I could almost smell the gears turning for having this made into a potential film. 😆 Y'know, it just had a certain weight to its writing style that made you feel like it wanted to be made into a film. After all, there's nothing nicer than seeing someone who's basically hit rock bottom, but being lucky enough to make The Turn to home that would prevent him from crashing out and turning into an A-grade pos with his sad-ass, self-defeating, shit-for-nothing, f**ked-up life. 🙅🏻♀️
Our forty-five-year-old overweight, out of shape, drinks too much protagonist, Casey Sweet is fortunate enough to have an understanding boss who still recognizes the untapped potential left in him to grant him a sabbatical to get himself off the dog-bitten path and basically put himself together. 🙆🏻♀️ And what better way to find yourself again than to tee off on the golf course of Twin Peaks, where he may rediscover what he's lost about himself all along. ⛳
“Golf is man against himself. Most humbling game ever invented.”
I'm not a golf fan. Most boring game ever. 😪 Yes, I know it's all about precision and focus, and it's only you against the green - your only obstacle is the wind, the curve, etc. But, it's refreshing to see an author take wisdom from the motivational tips of having a good game and turning it inward. 😥 Reuniting with his past life he left behind, Casey stumbles his way into forgotten relationships and rekindles new ones that make him feel like he belongs and that he has something worth being there for.
It's nice to feel wanted, and golf gave him a new lease on himself. True, not all are hugs and rainbows. There are trials and fears. Middle-age crisis treated with bravado and gusto, but with a hint of empathy and resolve. 🙂↕️ Friendships that need delicate care, newfound truths that have him questioning whether he's up to the task. but golf is there to remind him that he is capable of being better - to improve, a healthy outlet of change. Not only for saving his liver from the unhealthy dependence he'd fostered with alcohol, but that he is capable of being someone to count on - trust and rely on.
“We each took a swing. Good swing, bad swing. Either way, the only thing we have now is the next swing.”
I do think there was an imbalance to the portrayal of relationships. It started off with Casey and his golfing buddy, Vince, finding their groove on the course. but once Damaris and Josh entered the game, it really became all about them and their toils and troubles, and finding where he deservedly fits with them. 😕 The romance was fine; Damaris got a bit on my nerves on how hot and cold she treated Casey, at first, but she eventually warmed up to him - and their bed. 😏 👩🏻❤️👨🏻
The love of the game definitely is one of the major factors of gluing the three of them together. 🏌🏻♀️Along with some interesting turns that makes them question whether or not it's right or even worth rekindling the flame burned long ago, or walking a never-been-touched father-son path that might just be his salvation.
When his father passed away, it really played a defining force in his downward spiral. So to latch on to that one intimate connection that he and Josh shared over his father's passion for golf was centerfold; it was nice, in a strange way. It was almost therapeutic for him to see the items his father cherished could still be treasured in the hands that he was lucky enough to call family. 🫂
And yeah, luck really does play a big hand in a lot of Casey's life; typical Hollywood, I suppose. 🙄 Everything just seems to work out for everyone here, which I always chalk up to convenient storytelling; then again, no one wants to see the underdog stay the underdog, amirite?
“You hurt yourself most of all. Now you’re healing. Forgive yourself. Swing for a new day.”
Yet, Casey's cathartic moment didn't exactly land with me.The writing centered too much on the golf game, itself, which oddly didn't really center around Casey, yet, inadvertently, did – but, it sadly took me out of the plot. The golf lingo whizzed over my head; I couldn't pay attention, nor feel the anticipation or thrill that came with successfully landing the hole. 🚩🥳
Uff, I know golf aficionados are ready to come at me. It's disrespectful, I know, considering I KNEW beforehand that it would play a significant part, but the fact that Casey's lightning strike moment didn't exactly hit, because it was highlighted on another's - I wasn't able to feel it. 😔
Perhaps if I could have shaken off that made for the screen vibe I got from the writing, I might have enjoyed it more. Heck, it could've even convinced me to take up golf! 😅 Which, it didn't, but I'm sure that wasn't really the point. For it’s truly about one man’s journey of healing the damaged parts of himself, in order to wake up every morning with a profound appreciation of the merits and aspirations he still has yet to offer his now more meaningful existence. 🫡
“RELAX. There are places left just for you.”
I could almost smell the gears turning for having this made into a potential film. 😆 Y'know, it just had a certain weight to its writing style that made you feel like it wanted to be made into a film. After all, there's nothing nicer than seeing someone who's basically hit rock bottom, but being lucky enough to make The Turn to home that would prevent him from crashing out and turning into an A-grade pos with his sad-ass, self-defeating, shit-for-nothing, f**ked-up life. 🙅🏻♀️
Our forty-five-year-old overweight, out of shape, drinks too much protagonist, Casey Sweet is fortunate enough to have an understanding boss who still recognizes the untapped potential left in him to grant him a sabbatical to get himself off the dog-bitten path and basically put himself together. 🙆🏻♀️ And what better way to find yourself again than to tee off on the golf course of Twin Peaks, where he may rediscover what he's lost about himself all along. ⛳
“Golf is man against himself. Most humbling game ever invented.”
I'm not a golf fan. Most boring game ever. 😪 Yes, I know it's all about precision and focus, and it's only you against the green - your only obstacle is the wind, the curve, etc. But, it's refreshing to see an author take wisdom from the motivational tips of having a good game and turning it inward. 😥 Reuniting with his past life he left behind, Casey stumbles his way into forgotten relationships and rekindles new ones that make him feel like he belongs and that he has something worth being there for.
It's nice to feel wanted, and golf gave him a new lease on himself. True, not all are hugs and rainbows. There are trials and fears. Middle-age crisis treated with bravado and gusto, but with a hint of empathy and resolve. 🙂↕️ Friendships that need delicate care, newfound truths that have him questioning whether he's up to the task. but golf is there to remind him that he is capable of being better - to improve, a healthy outlet of change. Not only for saving his liver from the unhealthy dependence he'd fostered with alcohol, but that he is capable of being someone to count on - trust and rely on.
“We each took a swing. Good swing, bad swing. Either way, the only thing we have now is the next swing.”
I do think there was an imbalance to the portrayal of relationships. It started off with Casey and his golfing buddy, Vince, finding their groove on the course. but once Damaris and Josh entered the game, it really became all about them and their toils and troubles, and finding where he deservedly fits with them. 😕 The romance was fine; Damaris got a bit on my nerves on how hot and cold she treated Casey, at first, but she eventually warmed up to him - and their bed. 😏 👩🏻❤️👨🏻
The love of the game definitely is one of the major factors of gluing the three of them together. 🏌🏻♀️Along with some interesting turns that makes them question whether or not it's right or even worth rekindling the flame burned long ago, or walking a never-been-touched father-son path that might just be his salvation.
When his father passed away, it really played a defining force in his downward spiral. So to latch on to that one intimate connection that he and Josh shared over his father's passion for golf was centerfold; it was nice, in a strange way. It was almost therapeutic for him to see the items his father cherished could still be treasured in the hands that he was lucky enough to call family. 🫂
And yeah, luck really does play a big hand in a lot of Casey's life; typical Hollywood, I suppose. 🙄 Everything just seems to work out for everyone here, which I always chalk up to convenient storytelling; then again, no one wants to see the underdog stay the underdog, amirite?
“You hurt yourself most of all. Now you’re healing. Forgive yourself. Swing for a new day.”
Yet, Casey's cathartic moment didn't exactly land with me.The writing centered too much on the golf game, itself, which oddly didn't really center around Casey, yet, inadvertently, did – but, it sadly took me out of the plot. The golf lingo whizzed over my head; I couldn't pay attention, nor feel the anticipation or thrill that came with successfully landing the hole. 🚩🥳
Uff, I know golf aficionados are ready to come at me. It's disrespectful, I know, considering I KNEW beforehand that it would play a significant part, but the fact that Casey's lightning strike moment didn't exactly hit, because it was highlighted on another's - I wasn't able to feel it. 😔
Perhaps if I could have shaken off that made for the screen vibe I got from the writing, I might have enjoyed it more. Heck, it could've even convinced me to take up golf! 😅 Which, it didn't, but I'm sure that wasn't really the point. For it’s truly about one man’s journey of healing the damaged parts of himself, in order to wake up every morning with a profound appreciation of the merits and aspirations he still has yet to offer his now more meaningful existence. 🫡
May 31, 2025
this was cute , too much golf lore for me but it wasn’t like a completely horrible read
June 14, 2025
give it a pass
I love golf but this book doesn’t cut it on any level and the language is very bad. If you are looking for a poorly written book with bad language then this is it.
I love golf but this book doesn’t cut it on any level and the language is very bad. If you are looking for a poorly written book with bad language then this is it.
August 21, 2025
4.5 solid golf book
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews