The Association

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!
Review: Bentley Little at his best! Lots of strange twisted characters, a crazy home owners association and all those stumpies! Great read! Some may not like this book, but its pure horrorific enjoyment for me!

Rating:
Summary: The ending was lame
Review: Well, this was the first time that I read Bentley Little and I must say I was not overly impressed. The suspense that builds at the beginning of the book slowly ebbs as you get further into it and, by the end, it is so predictable that you will find yourself stifling a yawn. The Association is more a social commentary piece, written seemingly from the perspective of a liberal boomer. The Association personifies the exclusivity of conservative minded people (a.k.a. "the evil ones"), while the main character, Barry, (a.k.a "the good guy") personifies the liberal mindset. In the end, Barry fights the evil ones in a anticlimactic battle. Whether or not you enjoy this novel may depend upon your political leanings, but anyone who looks at it objectively will see that it is mediocre.

Rating:
Summary: The Association
Review: I have read several book written by Bentley Little (The Town, The Store, etc.)and have enjoyed them immensely. The Association, however, falls far short of what I'd come to expect from this fine author. In the fictional town of Corban Utah there is a gated community known as Bonita Vista. If one chooses to live there, they do so with the understanding that they must adhere to the rules and regulations of the Home Owners Association. The house and the panoramic views on the property are enough enticement for Barry and Maureen to purchase their new house for a song. Now starts the horror. The Home Owners Association, you see, is unlike any you have ever experienced. The restrictions they impose are so severe that this reader thought the Welch's must be dreaming the whole thing. These restrictions are so severe and so unbelievable that it spoiled the book for me. If you have a bald head you can't walk freely throughout the community without a toupee. You cannot walk out to pick up the morning paper in your bathrobe. The Association has the right to walk into your house uninvited and unannounced at any time for a full inspection of the way you live. These are but a few of the restriction imposed by the Association and you, have no recourse. In fact, if you break any of these rules you could be fined into ruination, or worse, dismembered. This was just to unbelievable for me to give this book a good rating. In any horror story there must be, at least, some plausibility. Or some childhood memory that makes you want to face the horror and come out in good stead. This book offers none of that.

Rating:
Summary: Good read, needless jabs
Review: From the title, you know what you're in for. The author does a good job of keeping you interested. The only complaint I have is the needless jabs at conservatives that surprisingly disrupt the flow.

Rating:
Summary: Utterly Ridiculous
Review: As a lifetime voracious reader I can only say "Don't waste your time".

Rating:
Summary: Edge Of Your Seat Book
Review: When Maureen and Barry move into a gated community. They think they are making a good choice. But they will live to regret their decision. In Bentley Little's new book you will be on the edge of your seat.While reading what happens to Maureen and Barry in their new home.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: Although Little kept a fast paced plot with plenty of violence and excitment, the outcome was what a reader would expect to happen at the beggining of the book. Some questions, although the answer is probably known by readers of the book, are answered just because of the way that the characters in the book act. I would have prefered to have the answers written in the text, because I feel it would provide some clarity. Even with these questions left unanswered I still feel that it's a good book, that certainly changed my perspective of homeowner's associations, and at some points even made me paranoid, hearing noises that were non-existent. I would probably read another Little novel (this being the first one I've ever read)despite having to stop reading the novel at points because things were just too gruesome to bare. This novel made me laugh, made me frustrated and infuriated while at other times feeling frightened or upset. These are qualitys that I think all novels should have, so I would reccomend this book to those who have especially strong stomaches, and a taste for gore.

Rating:
Summary: Go ahead...give this one a shot!!
Review: Great story...but it got kinda "far fetched" towards the end. It certainly held my interest though & was quite suspensful. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good suspence/OCCULT story. I will give this author another shot...I just bought The Mailman and will read it right away before I decide rate the author himself.

Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Satire!
Review: Bentley Little is a master of the modern horror story and has the most unique perspective of any horror author working today. His forte is the mundane evil of modern life, and as so ably demonstrated in landmark books such as THE MAILMAN, THE STORE and THE IGNORED, he has a firm grasp on his subject. In THE ASSOCIATION, he details the abuses of homeowners' associations and the elitist attitudes of gated communities. In what he refers to as "the dark side of democracy," he shows how these self-run organizations can turn into tyannical facists. Little is the only intellectual satirist working in the horror field today, and his work is as funny as it is scary. He's the modern Jonathan Swift, and this is one of his finest books.

Rating:
Summary: The Association
Review: In the past Bentley Little has written about some pretty scary stuff (i.e. vampires, zombie like creatures, crazy towns, haunted houses etc....). Now he writes a book about something really scary.......A Homeowner's Association. Ok! Barry and "Mo"
should have moved out after about 50 pages and they (Barry, Mo and friends) never really take the Assocation as serious as they should have. But otherwise this is a good horror novel.