The Revelation

Rating:
Summary: Excellent debut
Review: Bentley Little's novels are widely available in paperback, and my curiosity got the better of me. I decided to pick up "The Revelation" after discovering that it won the Bram Stoker Award. I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't completely sold on this novel either.

Randall, Arizona has become a target of vandals. One of the local churches has been desecrated, and there have been several cases of livestock mutilation. Sheriff Jim Weldon begins looking into the crimes, wondering whether they are crimes or fraud since the Reverend of the defiled church has disappeared. A young boy finds himself involved in Weldon's investigation, and seems to have information he could not possibly have regarding the Reverend.

Meanwhile, local man Gordon Lewis and his wife Marina are expecting a child. Complicating this is the disturbing fact that several women in the town have suffered miscarriages, and Marina suspects there's something in the water. Or worse.

A lone Preacher comes to town. Brother Elias is his name, and his mission is clear: The End is nigh, and the sinners shall suffer...

The story picks up from there, with no shortage of shocks and thrills. Little is adept at bringing together a wide variety of workable characters into a bizarre situation. There isn't too much here that would be unfamiliar to a veteran horror reader, but that's part of the novel's charm. As others have pointed out, this story follows along with a "B movie" quality about it. I couldn't agree more. I felt like I was reading a tale along the lines of the movie "Tremors", complete with desert settings and over the top action sequences. The gore is plentiful, yet never outrageous. The pacing is quick, and the shock factor kept me turning the pages. Little speaks with a quick wit and describes the goings-on with gusto. I liken his writing style to early Robert McCammon.

The book is not without its flaws. There are times where Little stumbles, and dishes out bits of unnecessary violence. The kitten incident is a prime example; check the other reviews for a synopsis. The ending is a lot of fun, but the horror seemed suspended in favor of a near-cartoonish bloodbath.

I found out later that this was awarded the Stoker for best FIRST novel, which explained everything. For a first novel, Bentley Little scores big time. I'm going to pick up a few more from him, as he can only get sharper with his writing. I'm going to give "The Revelation" 3 1/2 stars rounding up to 4 for sharp, entertaining horror, shocking shocks, and being a quality debut that has me craving more.

Rating:
Summary: Revelation? I think not...
Review: I am not impressed with Mr. Little. This is my second attempt at reading his material and I seriously wonder how this man ever got a book deal. ..... To sum it up, every 100 years the devil tries to come back to life and this time he targets a small town that harbors a secret sea of graves from unwanted/ill children. Basically, evil babies, big and small, dig their way out of the mass graves to mutilate adults and children alike until they bring back the devil to rule through the "one" child. The book is full of disfigured, oozing babies trying to take a bite out of anything that moves. Am I the only one who finds this absurd???? After a few of the townies start shooting giant, green oozing babies I came to the conclusion that Bentley Little books should be dumped into mass graves instead.

Rating:
Summary: Revelation? I think not...
Review: I am not impressed with Mr. Little. This is my second attempt at reading his material and I seriously wonder how this man ever got a book deal. ..... To sum it up, every 100 years the devil tries to come back to life and this time he targets a small town that harbors a secret sea of graves from unwanted/ill children. Basically, evil babies, big and small, dig their way out of the mass graves to mutilate adults and children alike until they bring back the devil to rule through the "one" child. The book is full of disfigured, oozing babies trying to take a bite out of anything that moves. Am I the only one who finds this absurd???? After a few of the townies start shooting giant, green oozing babies I came to the conclusion that Bentley Little books should be dumped into mass graves instead.

Rating:
Summary: Boring and Silly
Review: I threw it down after 100 pages. It is just plain silly and boring. Having recently enjoyed an excellent collection of Bentley Little short stories, I had high hopes for this novel.
The only thing remotely interesting in the 100 pages that I endured was the obvious homosexual tension between the main character, Gordon, and his boss as they used the word "fag" excessively while seeming to always be on the verge of going bed with each other.
If this book is indicative of his other works, Mr. Little needs to stick to short stories and leave novels to the big boys.

Rating:
Summary: Boring and Silly
Review: I threw it down after 100 pages. It is just plain silly and boring. Having recently enjoyed an excellent collection of Bentley Little short stories, I had high hopes for this novel.
The only thing remotely interesting in the 100 pages that I endured was the obvious homosexual tension between the main character, Gordon, and his boss as they used the word "fag" excessively while seeming to always be on the verge of going bed with each other.
If this book is indicative of his other works, Mr. Little needs to stick to short stories and leave novels to the big boys.

Rating:
Summary: A Clunky Bore.
Review: Realized within a few chapters that this was a mess but struggled to finish it. My mistake and my waste of time. Real scares require real people and these characters unquestioningly dove into the nonsense as if they were just plot devices. The B movie comparisons are somewhat apt but too kind. This is lazy and inept storytelling. I picked this up because some of the later Little books that had stronger recommendations weren't immediately available. I think I'm done though, since I find it hard to believe that writing this weak could really get that much stronger.

Rating:
Summary: 'How this get award?'
Review: This book was the first book I've read of Bently Little (but not the last). I absolutely loved the book until I reached the last quarter of the story. From here things began to really get strange. Events were so unbelievable I just couldn't allow myself to be scared or spooked. I need realistic horror to be truly frightened and this book didn't do it for me. However, his other books "The Store" and "The University" were very scary due to more realistic events.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Debut
Review: This story is a good example of what you'll find in most of Bentley Little's works. Gore, gore, and some more gore. Some scenes are too disturbing to take with dead babies all throughout the book. I have a stomach for all types of things but find this utterly repuslive and bad taste. I do have the say that he kept the horror strong thoughout the novel though and that is his ultimate intention I'm sure.