Rating: 
Summary: Beware of The Association
Review: As a victim who has once lived in a homeowners association subdivision, I could completely relate to certain parts of this wonderful book. Luckily for me, I was only renting. Bentley Little weaves an all out suspense thriller which I found difficult to put down. I felt for the characters Maureen and Barry who thought they had found the perfect house with the perfect scenery, away from all the city life hussle and bussle. Needless to say,for every plus there's a minus. From the first garage sale they held ,to befriending a potential pet, to playing the stereo too loud etc...It all escalates from there. It was non-stop craziness what The Association inflicted upon this couple. I won't even go into the astronomical fines that were incurred from breaking even the slightest rule. I do understand what a fellow reviewer had said about this book being so stupid, especially where the main characters are concerned, but keep in mind...if you're a homeowner who has placed every nickel and dime into your dream home, the last thing you will want to admit is that you have made a huge mistake. I felt the characters were not only having to face the harsh realities of what's surrounding them, but the incredibility that its happening in the first place. Bentley Little wrote not only an intriguing plot, but an all and out nightmare. He has the gift to draw you in, take you for a ride and not let go until the bitter end. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Great! - Provided you set your mind to it
Review: This has been my first Little book. The book really caught me. Little is one of the best writer's I've read. His way of managing suspense really keeps you turning pages, not knowing what will be waiting for you after you do so. However there was something I didn't like about it and could not put my finger on it until I read the reviews in this site which corroborated my thoughts: this book is so far fetched. The situations it depicts are so absurd they become unbelievable. There is a serious problem with the character's motivations. What makes a scary story scarier is identification: if you can put yourself in the shoes of the character then when the character starts experiencing terrible situations you will feel scared or at least uneasy. Little's book made me feel uneasy cause I kind of set my mind to it. What I mean here is that before I started reading I had to tell myself "OK, Little perspective...1,2,3". There is just no way you can identify with the characters. P>Like I said the suspense is there. The pageturning is there. This is a book you can read in a couple of days and be spooked by it. It is kind of X-Filish. BUT for you to enjoy it (like I did) you have to set your mind for it: don't expect believable, expect things to get weirder and weirder, more absurb with every page. Me, I'm gonna give Little another shot. I've been waiting a while to read The Mailman, now it's in the mail. We'll see.
Rating: 
Summary: Read this book with your doors locked!
Review: Barry and Maureen found the house of their dreams in a gated community in Utah. At first glance, they both fell in love with the breathtaking scenery. It was perfect.
When you buy a home in Bonita Vista, you are required to belong to a homeowner's association. Slowly the association invaded their lives and Barry and Maureen learned that any infraction of the rules could result in fines, physical punishment or death.
This dark and evil excursion across the pages led to a terrifying conclusion. I reside in a gated community and after reading this novel, I check all the doors and locks every night. At least twice.
If you want the hairs on the back of your neck to stand tall, this book is for you. Bentley Little has the knack of making the reader leave the lights turned on . . . . long after the book has been closed.
Rating:
Summary: An Absorbing Read
Review: I must admit I was a bit shocked when I read some reviews on this book. I found the book to be highly intriguing. I read this book in one day and now one of my friends is mesmerized by it. If anyone has every seen the X Files episode that dealt with a homeowners association and liked it, you will LOVE this book. Admittedly, the characters did some things that caused me to wonder what they were thinking. However, ever horror movie I watch or book I read, I always wonder what they characters were thinking. My thoughts are with Eddie Murphy; if the house says get out, get out! This book is fast paced and will keep you on the edge of your seat. You will also always be wondering exactly who all is evil. I found myself thinking God that my association is normal. The only reason I did not give this book 5 stars is because of the ending. I felt like the whole book was so climatic and then - BOOM - it was over. It seemed like he put all of his energy into the body of the book and then got tired. Regardless, I still highly recommend this book. It has so many twists and turns and just when you think you have figured everything out.....you haven't. And as my friend asked - what is up with stumpy?? This book is funny, scary and very intriguing. A must read for anyone who loves the X Files.
Rating:
Summary: What were they thinking??
Review: Being a Bentley Little fan, I dived into this book with all of the relish of a major fan. The beginning was innocuous enough, and it tended to plod a bit during the moving scenes. But how long does it take a person to get a clue when they uncover mysterious notes in their house? Okay, I will admit that I probably would chalk it up to eccentricity, but after the other signals--the letters from the Association, Maureen's stalking, mysterious deaths of neighbors--I honestly wonder why they didn't just hightail it out of there without looking back. Bentley always spins a good yarn, but sometimes his characters are slightly stupid (or at least stretch the boundaries of human intelligence). Although Barry did find his brain in the last third of the novel, I think that if he'd wised up some twenty pages earlier, this novel could have been a chess game of human endurance. We would have been treated to machinations and manipulations on both sides instead of targeted victims. But, in typical Bentley style, it is a fairly decent story. Not great, mind you, but decent.
Rating: 
Summary: UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE STUPIDEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ!
Review: I agree 100% with the reviewer who said that this book had a good premise, but turned out to be unbearably stupid. Several times during the course of reading this book I was ready to throw it across the room in frustration. I mean, it was just so SILLY. The two main characters, Barry and Maureen, have more than enough evidence that some MAJOR EVIL is going on here, yet they still talk about it as though it is a normal situation with normal solutions possible. For example, if you knew that people were breaking into your house in the middle of the night while you were in the other room sleeping, if you knew that they poisoned your pet (and also some children), if you knew that they secretly videotaped you in the bedroom and in the bathroom, if your friends suddenly disappeared without a trace, if there was a "Stumpy" or two writhing around in the woods, would your reaction be to say, "Hey, let's attend the next homeowners' association meeting and see if we can vote against the board"???? I mean, the book is just too silly for words. So many situations were totally implausible. Why in the world would Maureen have agreed to spend the night alone in that house with all the weird and scary things that had been happening? Why in the world did no one try to bring in police from outside the town of Corban? And, incidentally, what was the deal with that FBI agent? He said that he "wouldn't live anywhere else" but a community that had a homeowners' association, with the implication being what? That Bonita Vista was only one of several of these types of wacky communities? Reminded me a bit of the movie "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" for some reason! Finally, I too was annoyed by the reference to "that jackass William Rehnquist." Bentley, keep your political views to yourself, please. They didn't belong in here. I get enough of that reading the New York Post.
Rating:
Summary: More over-the-top, entertaining horror
Review: Bentley Little, an author of several works of horror, has written yet another entertaining read. "The Association" contains several features that are found in another of his works -- "The Store". Basically, a large organization grows in power, topples the "little man", and eventually grows so large that everyone must go with the flow or get trampled. The story involves a couple that purchases a home in a gated community which is monitored and maintained by a homeowners association. Things appear somewhat normal at first, until they start receiving ticky-tack notices about violations that are contained in the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (handbook of rules). People who oppose the Association start to disappear, the fines increase, pets are poisoned, etc. Like all of Little's novels, there is a big, fast-moving buildup that leads to a quick resolution. This is the main knock I have on several, but not all, Little novels. Even with that prevalent feature, Little's novels are still highly entertaining. While this one does go over-the-top a bit with the rules enforced/adopted by the Association, the premise of the large, evil organization is effective. The author supposedly decided to write this novel based on some bad experiences he had with his local homeowners association.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the dumbest...
Review: ....books I have ever finished. After the first third, which was not all that bad, I found myself skimming just to see what other absurdities this author would write. This is a shame because the premise was not bad, but the plot got dumb and dumber as the book went on. Not only that, but it was full of holes that you could drive a truck through. And it just ended up being plain silly. Did this author really expect us to believe that two well-educated people like Barry and Maureen would not read through their sales contract and the covenants but that they also would stay and endure such abuse? I will not be re-visiting this author's books.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Better than Bentley Little
Review: I Love Bentley Little, his style of writing is that of noone other. He makes you feel for his characters. I was sucked into this story and read it in a day. Nothing conservative/liberal here(wink wink). People who thrive of thier Power trip [stink]. And dont think that they arent out there. You may not be part of an Association, but even the smallest man has rules that are at times unfair. If anyone pulled out my bushes and painted my house, would be in for one hell of a fight. Way to go Barry and Maureen. Those terrible C.C. and R's. I would have liked to have seen more...kicking with the association, but I loved the story nonetheless. Way to go Bentley you did it again and I look forward to The Collection in June 2002. Rock on.
Rating:
Summary: Lookout AT&T you're next!
Review: ...This story may be slightly amusing to people who actually have to deal with a homeowner's association, for the rest of us poor schlubs it's one long, boring dinner party tale. Quite frankly Mr. Little lost me when his "hero" exhibited more outrage about his lost knick-knacks than about his horrendously maimed neighbor. Further, his portrayal of the FBI was the most inept representation of a serious profession since Major Healy's astronaut.
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