The Mailman

Rating:
Summary: Not the Best, but a Little above the rest
Review: This isn't my favorite Bentley Little book but then again it's hard to figure out which is so far. I'm one of those fans who have read four or five books and am still needing a "Little" fix. There are times in this book when the characters don't seem to have a solid characterization and so they appear to act stupidly or in ways that don't make sense. The whole purpose of this book though, I think, is to give you a nightmare version of the "Americana image" and he does this. The best horror writers put the unreal in your reality and the nightmares in your waking hours and make you believe that it could happen. Unreal enough to be entertaining and believable enought to be scary. Now I'm ready to start Little's, The Summoning!

Rating:
Summary: Not the Best, but a Little above the rest
Review: This isn't my favorite Bentley Little book but then again it's hard to figure out which is so far. I'm one of those fans who have read four or five books and am still needing a "Little" fix. There are times in this book when the characters don't seem to have a solid characterization and so they appear to act stupidly or in ways that don't make sense. The whole purpose of this book though, I think, is to give you a nightmare version of the "Americana image" and he does this. The best horror writers put the unreal in your reality and the nightmares in your waking hours and make you believe that it could happen. Unreal enough to be entertaining and believable enought to be scary. Now I'm ready to start Little's, The Summoning!

Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK GIVES YOU WHAT KING AND KOONTZ HAVE YET TO...
Review: This novel was the only horror novel I have ever read that actually made me fear of something as simple as a mailbox and as complex as the human mind. This book is great, mysterious and a plot which only the best could make happen. Trust me, if you pay attention to this book and put yourself in any of the charcters places (**it is neat that you can place yourslef in the place of a character--they are that rich!)and you will have a fear of something mentioned within the novel by the time you are done with this. Existing as a young--published author, I would really like to say that this book is one which uses the horror genre, but in such a way and careful technique, that it would most defiantly qualify as one of the most most well-written novels of the 1990's. Bentley is a lower rated horror novelist which can afford to take his time on novel projects such as this work and many others. Still, his work is so outstanding, there is no reason why every novel should not be acknowlegded on the New York Times. I only wish there could could be a movie that followed this book as it was written. He has the craft of writing and knows how to make you afraid.

Rating:
Summary: Did I read the same book as everyone else?!?
Review: This story might make an okay episode of ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, but stretched out to book length it's just ludicrous. The local cops won't do anything...so why doesn't someone go higher up the ladder? Screwing with the mail is a FEDERAL offense, after all! But then, none of the characters act realistically. Everyone knows the mailman is doing bad things, but no one even considers taking a ballbat to his knees? C'mon! This has to be the most laughable story I've ever read, the PLAN 9 of horror novels, and Little's writing style leaves a LOT to be desired

Rating:
Summary: Great Book, Great Ending
Review: Too often in horror, particularly epic apocalyptic horror of the type written by King, McCammon etc., the endings are a letdown, a generic, "let's blow everything up with a big fire." Here, Bentley Little actually stays with the concept of his story and concocts an ingenious ending that is both logical and satisfying. His horrific postal worker can only cause damage by using the mail--and it is through the mail that he himself is destroyed. This is one powerful piece of fiction.