Reach is an official, business like speech option. I regularly use "get a hold of" in more casual speech. Good luck!

Try "Deception" by Randy Alcorn. It's a modern detective story...LOTS of routine inside.

Question 1: Yes it means the dial has been red. Question 2: Y'all is slang for "You all". All is reference to the people/group involved in the situation. Another example. "What do yall want to eat?" (What do you all want to eat) Question 3: We're not reading the book (or is it a movie?) and I don't know what he means by 'gluck'. It could be slang for excrement, or it could be something else entirely. Question 4: It means he screamed (loudly) with his face close to the person receiving the scream.

With implies it's coming alongside someone/something else. "If I don't catch up with them they'll leave me behind." To leaves it more open to interpretation, perhaps whatever is doing the catching will stop when they reach them, or stop right before.

There is no difference in the message understand. The first example reads more fluently, however.

I don't need to practice Thai but I can help a bit with spoken English.

I believe it's a modern rephrasing of 'I'm coming undone'. The meaning in song context is a bit ambiguous but I would consider it artistic license of the former phrase.