Rating: 
Summary: Ultimately disappointing
Review: While sporadically exciting this book proved to be a disappointment. It started well but went progressively downhill. The plot became less believable and the characters more cardboard as the story went on. There were a few plot branches which went nowhere and there was a definite contrived feeling to the latter half of the book. Having said that, there was a kernel of a good story here and the book worked best for me when the action took place in the village. The story was far too disjointed, however, to engender any sympathy for the characters and the paper-thin characterisation led to little sympathy for those 'taken out'. Also, the ending was a real disappointment. It was hard to believe that it took more than 300 pages to reach such a feeble finale.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, ol' over-the-top fun
Review: The Walking is a very good book that read itself quickly. It is a novel that mixes witchcraft and zombies, horror and romance without shame. The first half of the book is amazing and intriguing. Two stories are being told; the first takes place in the modern period, where an investigator is given a case that includes strange deaths and disappearence and dead bodies that keep on walking. The second story takes place in the 1800s as a witch community is founded and, of course, things start going wrong. Slowly, the two stories interconnect and become one.I loved the first part of the book. I just couldn't put it down. The only problem is that there might have been too many characters, but that was just a minor problem. You start caring for Miles, the main character, early on in the story. His character is very well define, much more than your average horror book. Unfortunately, the book lost me in its last 50 pages, as it becomes way over-the-top and too unbelievable. But then again, that's a problem with most Bentley Little books. He puts way too much at the end. So instead of being a good, thrilling finale, you get all the blood and guts that can fit within 50 pages. After a while, too much is too much. But overall, The Walking is a great beach book that is easy to read. There are many very frightening moments in the book and the story is always intriguing. So overall, a good effort which is somewhat undermined by its ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Characters
Review: The problem with most contemporary horror is the absence of realistic characters with whom the reader can identify. One author who shall remain nameless always has main characters who are sex-obsessed simpletons, one has every character be an unbelivable action hero. But Little's characters are always quietly believable, with vivid internal lives. We get to know these people, and we care about them. Often, they remind us of people we know. THE WALKING is no exception. Miles Huerdeen has a stereotypical job but is anything but stereotypical. Even the way Little describes the detective agency at which he works is original. And his relationship with his father and his ex-wife ring very true to me as someone who's been there. Couple this with astounding imagery and a plot that unfolds slowly and carefully (although too many jerks have given it away here), and you have the best horror novel I've read all year.
Rating: 
Summary: Borrrriiinnnggg!
Review: This has to be a first in my experience--a new and novel idea so totally ruined by cardboard characters and muddy plotting that I had to force myself to finish the book. The idea of a community of witches that is ruined by the prescence of an evil character sounds different and promising enough that I was looking forward to the book. However, the characters were so washed out, so thin and self absorbed, that I barely finished. By the end, I could care less what actually happened to any of the protagonists, I just wanted to see the culmination of the original idea. The plot was plodding and distracted. Even the ending, while not necessarily predictable, was totally unoriginal and seemed slapped together just to finish the book. This guy is a hack--don't buy the book, unless you love King at his worst (ala "It").
Rating:
Summary: His Name may not be the same but he is the King of Horror
Review: I have read every Bentley Little Book I can get my hands on. Unfortunately I haven't yet read The Walking but that will be rectified soon. He has the best imagination in Horror today. There is no other author that writes like Bentley Little. What an imagination. He takes the most mundane things like a store or a mailman and turns them into a world of Darkness and Horror. This man is truly the most gifted at making you turn the pages and search the bookshelves. If I see a new Bentley Little I have to read it. He is that compelling. Once you read one of his books you can't stop. And his settings usually in Arizona make me feel as if I've been there a hundred times, when I haven't been there even once. If I was asked who is the one person in the world you would like to meet I would answer Bentley little. As an aspiring horror author myself I would relish the chance to find out what makes this man tick. How does he do it? I doubt anyone else will ever come close. After reading the Mailman I dreaded going to the mailbox for weeks, and I never Ignore people anymore! Shopping even has me looking up at the Store cameras and wondering! Keep them coming Betley I don't think I could bear the thought of you retiring! This is one fan who's hooked! You write them and I will definately read them. I am only missing a few of your books but not for long. Once I own them I can't part with them and I have read them all considerably more than once. Each time I do I find something I missed the first time. There are cleverly hidden clues and images in every book. Worth the read? You can bet on it!
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: The Walking begins when John Hawks' body starts walking, much to the horror and consternation of his family. It circles the house for several days before it finally walks into the depths of a nearby lake. I was hooked after that. Miles Huerdeen is a private investigator who doesn't have any real ambition in life. I considered him a mediocre character until his father dies of a stroke, then starts walking himself, disappearing from the morgue a day or so after the meatwagon deposits him there. In the meantime, Miles is investigating a stalking case, involving Liam Conner, a former worker on the dam project of Wolf Canyon. As he delves deeper into the investigation, he learns that Liam and several of his colleagues made a terrible mistake on a dam project, which killed sixty-three people in the nearby community of Wolf Canyon. The Walking alternates from the present day to nearly one hundred years in the past, when Arizona was a territory. Back then, Wolf Canyon was established as a community for witches, who were trying to escape the persecution of Christians. Little weaves an interesting tale, where the founder, William, meets Isabella in the desert. He senses her evil nature, but becomes spellbound by her. He brings her to his town and marries her, despite the community's misgivings about her. Soon, she starts running the town, killing anyone who isn't a witch, then killing any dissenters. Her victims die horribly. Several people flee. Those that stay on, turn a blind eye to her attrocities. I won't say anymore about the plot, but I will tell you that Isabella is the most interesting out of all the characters. Little depicts her as a powerful witch, then a vampire, then a monster. She was the ultimate evil, and she was the reason I kept reading this book. I wanted to know how Miles and his friends were going to destroy her. Little's description of the desert and the surreal nightmare land were superb; however, I found myself disappointed by the ending. After a tight, intriguing build-up, the climax ends too quickly and too patly. I remember feeling this way after I read The Mailman. My impression is that once Little gets to a certain point in his story, he grows tired of it and wants to move onto something else. He makes it too easy for the good guy to win. This is why I give The Walking four stars instead of five. The book was entertaining while it lasted.
Rating:
Summary: What a waste of time.
Review: As the title states... it's a waste of time. Not only is this book inconsistent, tedious, and sophomoric in terms of being a literary achievement, but some 7 dollars that could have gone towards something more worthwhile. For me, the structure was mediocre at best, the character development was below zero, the excitement was ho-hum, and the thing with the parallel stories just didn't work out for me. I've seen other books do this with greater impact and grandeur. And worst of all, this book doesn't scare me. Not even for a fraction of a second. Frankly, I have not read any of Bentley Little's other works. I MIGHT give it a try, but after reading this book, I highly doubt I will. This book doesn't even deserve the rank of the "bathroom reader". That's how pitiful this book is. The entire book is formulated and predictable in such a way that it already passed the "It's So Predictable I'm Sherlock Holmes and It's Funny" stage. There's nothing new here, and every plot device seems to lead to something kinky-- in other words... every thing is an excuse for sex (well, almost). And finally, near the end of the novel, where the supposed climax is supposed to appear, there really isn't any. If you want to REALLY read something scary (or heck, ANYTHING, for that matter), look elsewhere. Don't expect to find the hairs on your nape standing.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down .....
Review: From the very first chapter you're hooked. I couldn't put this book down! This is the first of Bentley Little's writing's i've ever read and I intend to treat his books as I do my collection of Stephen King novels, priceless pieces to read over and over again . His writing style keeps you riveted from cover to cover. I will definately continue to read more of everything from this author.
Rating: 
Summary: A Little Disappointing
Review: I picked up The Walking based on the fact that I enjoyed the heck out of The Ignored and University. Usually when my expectations are running high for a given novel, I'm apt to be let down and this case was no exception. I'm not going to summarize the plot and ruin the book for you in case you haven't read it(like approximately 75% of other reviewers feel they have to do, God knows why), but I want to point out that it was written from the third-person perspective, unlike The Ignored and University, and I think that's one of its main weaknesses; it just seems like Bentley Little's writing style lends itself better to the more personal, offhand first-person style of story telling. Still, I really admire his unpretentious prose. Unlike many lesser writers, he's more concerned with telling his story in a clear, concise manner than impressing people with unnecessary bullhockey. As for the story itself, while the first couple pages presented an intriguing idea, by the time I was three quarters through the novel, I was having a hard time suspending my disbelief. Still, through about 300 pages, I had some hope that all would be tied together near the end, but that just wasn't the case. The last 100 pages seemed forced and contrived. Everything's given an explanation, but it just wasn't the least bit believable. Had this been much longer, I would have been angered by this fact, but the novel's short enough not to require too much of a time investment on the reader's part, not to mention the fact that Little's still head and shoulders above writers like Edward Lee and John Shirley even on a bad day, so I'm still pretty glad I read it. If you enjoy Stephen King and Dean Koontz, I think you'll probably like Bentley Little. If you're more into Poppy Z. Brite, wearing black eyeliner, and listening to The Cure, Little's novels would probably be too readable and not pretentious enough for you to accept. Proceed accordingly.
Rating:
Summary: May Be Not This Time
Review: Like most of my deisires in a grocery store the decision to purchase The Walking was made in less than ten seconds. The aftermath of that decision is still quite unclear, thus far. I did like Little's spooky story plot and especially Isabella's mistique but I do think she ( as a character ) was not developed enough. The ending really disappointed me as it was totally not original and entirely predictable. The more I think about the story the more questions I have. Someone please enlighten me what in the world was the purpose of the dead dwarf in the cave surrounded by the dolls? And how can such a strong creature as Isabella that had managed to exist for centuries and had become stronger with each new fatality, is so easily defeated at the end in a matter of less than a couple of pages ? Anyways.... next time I am in a grocery store and I am thinking of buying a book solely on its coloful covers I might have to say to myself " May be not this time ". Cheers
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