Rating: 
Summary: Dead Man Walking....
Review: The dead do not always rest in peace and sometimes they do not even stop walking. Across the country people are dying yet continuing to walk after the fact. What common thread holds these people together, why are they walking, and to where are they walking? All of these questions are answered as the chilling story of The Walking unfolds.
Rating: 
Summary: Why?
Review: This book is one of the most stupid once I read since a long time. It starts interesting - stays like this up to the middle and finishes horrible bad. It looks to me as if Bentley spent no longer then ten minutes thinking about the end and never figured out how he should end it.
Sometimes through the book I had the feeling that Bentley knew that the ending is bad cause he let's his main characters ask themselves "...how ridiculous this all is?".
Don't spent time and money on this one. Luckily I got my copy from the Library!- Holger
P.S.: Every King book is better!
Rating:
Summary: Great story that left me wondering
Review: "The Walking" was my first introduction into Bently Little's work. I have been searching for a good horror novel for some time and was seeking a new author who can spook me. "The Walking" provided a great story about dead people who continued walking. As a sort of shadow story we travel back in time to the wild west and are introduced to a town of witches. The story was fast paced, gripping and a good read. Unfortunatly, the story just ended. I was disapointed with the last 50 pages. It reminded me a too many modern horror movies that were pretty good until the had to end it and did so without much though. If Mr. Little could have reworked the ending a little, I believe this would have made a fantastic story and thus it gets only 4 stars as it went a full 80% but left the final 20% somwhere else.
Rating:
Summary: A great suspense novel, overall
Review: A great story throughout, which is usually the case with the author's work. His story of dead people walking and the creation of a witch's town is captivating and held my attention from the first page. Then ending was a bit rushed, and seemed a tad weak, but didn't take anything from the story overall. I've enjoyed two other stories from the author, and hope to read others when I get the opportunity.
Rating:
Summary: Walk away!
Review: When I first read the concept for this book on the back cover -- people who are compelled to walk even after they have died -- I thought it sounded mysterious and cool. But as with the other Little novel I read, an interesting premise is quickly transformed into a far-fetched plot with uninteresting characters and an ultimately unexciting climax. This one concerned witches and evil spirits, and there were very few walking dead people, considering the title. I'm not quite sure why Little is considered such a shining light in the horror genre when his novels can't even measure up to the formulaic but still suspenseful works of Dean Koontz.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Ending!
Review: I seem to be completely alone in that I LOVE the ending to this novel. The important questions are tied up and explained, but just enough is left unknown that the reader is able to think about the events of the book and draw his/her own conclusions. Most horror novels spoonfeed their readers and explain EVERYTHING, even though it's clear within the context of the work that the protagonists cannot possibly figure EVERYTHING out. Mr. Little does not do that. His very human characters have a realistically limited knowledge, and they do what they can with that knowledge. Yet it is also clear that there are mysteries beyond their ken. Well done.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat disappointing, but some good stuff too
Review: In "The Walking" the newly dead won't lay down; instead, they continue walking around, and eventually walk off and disappear. All this perambulation has a nefarious connection with a pioneer town founded by witches. If it sounds pretty neato, a good deal of the novel is pretty neato. There's some really bizarre stuff going on, and that is the good side of this novel. The bad side is the logic (or lack thereof) of a lot of this novel. I don't care how bizarre things get (frequently, the more bizarre the better, see Tim Powers and James Blaylock) but there should be an internal logic, there should be reasons for what's happening, and those reasons should make some kind of sense. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of that in this book. Weird stuff happens and then its forgotten, never to be explained or even mentioned again. In fact, towards the end of the book, one of the characters says something like "Not everything can be explained," which I think is the author's way of saying "Sorry, not gonna tell why that guy suddenly turned into a penguin." (Not that that happens, I don't want to confuse anyone.) There are a lot of good things about this novel (I actually liked and identified with most of the characters) but ultimately I was disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Good opening, LOUSY finish
Review: Nothing ruins a novel like a good opening. It sounds strange, but it's true; a good opening sets the stage for things to come, and unless the author is able to capitalize on his or her initial success, the result is invariably disappointing, to varying degrees. Sometimes an author's opening pages are such a success that they can carry the reader through a lot of treacle: other times, the opening, while hardly outstanding, can arouse in the readers an excitement for the upcoming events, a feeling of hope for a good night's read. Bentley Little's THE WALKING is a novel of the second sort, a rather bizarre and attention-grabbing beginning, whetting the reader's appetite for what no doubt will be an epic battle of good versus evil, a horrific clash of memorable proportions. Then, it all falls to pieces. THE WALKING starts with various seemingly unrelated events, all characterized by one singular detail; people are dying, yet continuing to walk. Where they are going, or why they continue to move, is a mystery to people, and Little does a good job of setting up this tale; the reader can't wait to find out. Neither can Miles Huerdeen, a private investigator whose father has joined the ranks of the walking dead, and disappeared. As Miles follows a series of clues and hunches, he discovers the mysterious Wolf Canyon, and the supernatural elements which surrounded the odd destruction of its inhabitants. Little contrasts this with the far more interesting tale of Wolf Canyon's past, and the unnatural life of its many citizens. Little raises high hopes for a great, pulpy read, a bare-bones horror saga of the type Stephen King used to pen long, long ago. But Little takes his terrific germ of an idea and . . . goes nowhere fast, leading to an abrupt conclusion that seems to signal that Little had no idea how to wrap up his tale. A large part of the rests on Little's astonishing laziness concerning the characters. While Miles is set up as the lead character, Little suddenly throws in new characters that come from nowhere, and lead to nothing. An FBI investigator (WAY too similar to Fox Mulder from television's THE X-FILES) pops up in the middle of the story, to no effect or importance. Miles' ex-wife Claire, a plot device and nothing more in the first half of the story, is suddenly thrust into the main plot with no forewarning or purpose. Miles's barely-important friend Hal becomes integral to the ending. A boy named Garden turns up, set up as a vital element, only to be disposed of pages later in a scene of no impact whatsoever. Many other characters are set up as important, then vanish. Little apparently has taken Stephen King's approach to horror writing to its lowest level (To misquote King from his terrific non-fiction book DANSE MACABRE, "I write to terrify. If I can't terrify, I will try to horrify. If I can't horrify, I'll go for the gross-out."). Little thrusts many scenes of gore on the reader, but none of it makes any impact. A man is ripped in half lengthwise. Another man is seemingly melded with a fence. A baby is killed. But none of it is presented to any effect. It all just sits there, like a train wreck; a scene of carnage, with no context to give it meaning. Little's complete ineptitude with characterization and plot really comes through in the conclusion, when Miles, Claire, and Hal face the 'deadly threat'. Little has Miles suddenly endowed with a supernatural instinct, whereby everything he does is a hunch, but 'feels right'. This is the laziest example of writing I can think of in recent memory. In the place of actually explaining to the reader how the various elements of the plot fit together, Little explains nothing, relying instead on Miles' 'hunches'. This device was likely intended to provide an air of mystery to everything, but all it ends up doing is frustrating and insulting the reader. Little gives the reader a stupifyingly farcical conclusion, then washes his hands of any explanation, wrapping it all up in an epilogue that is freakishly bad, even by the novel's already low standards. Little isn't completely incompetent; his alternate plot surrounding the creation of Wolf Canyon has some moments of suspense and intrigue that would make for a far more interesting story than the one Little ultimately provides. Little apparently has won some acolades in the past, receiving the Bram Stoker award for horror writing for a previous novel. But none of that talent is on display in THE WALKING. Instead of horror, it provides gore. Instead of suspense, it provides ludicrousness. And instead of providing a decent night's fright, it provides the reader with an opportunity to exercise his or her pitching arm, as the book is hurled across the room in half-hearted despair and disgust.
Rating:
Summary: I'd Give This More Than 5 Stars If I Could
Review: Granted, Bentley Little is one of the most polarizing figures in contemporary horror fiction. People either love him or hate him. But I find it curious that readers who deride his work and find his writing style not to their taste keep reading him. I read one Ruby Jean Jensen novel, for example, didn't care for it, and never read anything by her again. From my point of view, Mr. Little's characterizations are spot on. I find his people and their internal lives, their ruminations, very believable. Having recently lost my father to cancer, I also found the portions of THE WALKING that deal with Miles and his father extremely well done and quite affecting. Mr. Little not only has an incredible imagination but he is also able to create characters with whom I, at least, can empathize. I believe him to be one of the top three horror authors currently writing.
Rating:
Summary: C'mon Bentley!
Review: The Walking is the name of this, Bentley Little's latest novel. An enthralling enough title for a Little book, since it so perfectly sets and encapsulates his most dearest theme,of which is, Oddity, the inundation of the weird that will shortly hit you flat on your rump as soon as your brain has translated the very first few words of the book. Yet something was missing: Perhaps, the insolent words of a jaded reader, but nevertheless, I will go so far to affirm, this book was a hackneyed piece of production, embodying the usual Bentley modality, but miserably bereft of life and excitation. Concession time: Bentley Little's books are usually lacklustre affairs, apropos of his writing style; but the point is, they were always able to hold my attention. In this interestingly original book, people are dying, but rather than laying ever reposeful in demise, they are actually beginning to walk (literally, yes?!) mindlessly to some collective fate; something to do with the accidental drowning of an entire town of witches, an old Indian burial site, and a most nefariously ancient witch/vampire who must have the necessary comeuppance deserved her, or else, she doesn't know what she will do (borrow-not buy-a copy, and get clued in for heaven's sake!). The Walking is a 'decent' book, but at times, Bentley overdoes it: his characters are as stiff as door knob that have been mystically bestowed half-hearted life, and at times so maudlin, so self-internalizingly pathetic, that one has to wonder; 'Did this really get published?.'This book should imbue the true, no-talent writers of our time to put their pens to paper, and write like the devil, even as craniums threaten to burst against grandiose-plumped minds; at the very least, it was an okay read, and if you're into cliched horror, by gosh, pick it up!
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