The Revelation

It's Bentley Little. He's got a huge catalog, I have his books already, and he's my go-to author when I can't figure out what I want to read next.

This book is centered around mysterious happenings in a small town in Arizona. It's a little different from most of Little's books. It doesn't focus on the evils of corporate culture or the ruination of a cooperative community by the people who should be saving it. There is a furtive, enigmatic character who drops in the beginning who is clearly not quite human. Anyone who has read other Little books will recognize a deviation from the pattern this time. It's interesting for the author.

The other main characters are likable, with their own foibles. There are red-shirts galore.

I know there is show more going to be animal abuse when reading a Little book, so yeah, I have been warned. The second someone realizes the pet is missing, I know what's coming next. Now everyone else has been warned. It lasts for about a page and a half. The hard part in this one is that I just adopted an adorable black cat that bites. Skipped right on over that part. The problems with reading horror and having pets.

There's also some pretty horrible farm animal deaths in the beginning. Skimmed and got the main points.

Otherwise, the book is set in the 1980s. It was nice to drop back into a world without social media and smartphones. It was an enjoyable read. show less

This is Littles creepiest book. The beginning sent shivers down my spine - literally. Although the very end is a small let down, the majority of this book holds firm and scared the sh*t out of me. There's more gore than one can handle, grisly imagery - it's simply mind-numbing.

One thing that really works here is the atmosphere - most novels out there don't pack this much punch, that's for sure. It will have you looking over your shoulder before the night is through.

Each character rang the realistic bell; good job here.

Little stumbles sometimes, but all is forgiven by the time I came to the last chapter. Read this for yourself and see what I mean, but be warned - Little is not for the weak of stomach (or mind).

hotwords: religion, horror, "human monster", supernatural, "magic realism", "psychological horror", apocalypse, zombie, zombeh

my intro to Bentley was The Association, and it remains one of the handful of books i've read more than once, as riddled as it is with satire against fascists, socialists, and other pigs (can you tell yet that i'm Libertarian?) who oft attempt to dictate our actions and responses. all of the other books of his i've read follow the same formula, except The Revelation, which is telling -- it was his very first book.

The Revelation, a Bram Stoker winner and riproar of a debut, gets stickier with each page turn, and you just can't look away from what you're positively absolutely indubitably sure can't end well. yes, show more the plot line is reminiscent of hundreds of other horror novels featuring slain animals, desecrated churches, sinister preachers, dark strangers, evil births, and loved ones you're best off not trusting anymore. still, there's a reason people keep writing them -- there are people like me, who keep buying them. horror with religious overtones will be around as long as religion and the concept of good versus evil are, as well. in any case, Bentley does them up right, with his own shocking and nasty twists (as in all of this books).

plus, The Revelation features this badass surreal garbage dump that has zombie babies coming out of it.

check it. show less

I can't help but take "Revelation" as a commentary on abortion. If you were to count the number of times the word "abortion" comes up in this novel, it would be... quite a few.

I had a hard time with the first part of the novel. I could find no direction in it. Just as I had decided the novel was ridiculous nonsense, it picked up in intensity and I finished it out in the sitting.

Let me say that as a person who dislikes children and babies, I was pretty horrified by the whole of the story. I have actually had a dream like Gordon's dream. Just as in his, babies were in the tops of pine trees, only they were not in swings, but hanging upside-down from the tops of them as though gravity had been reversed for them. As Gordon was to rescue show more them in his, I was to rescue them in mine. Reading your own dream laid out in a horror novel is pretty damned creepy.

Brother Elias impressed me with his knowledge of the scriptures, though his quotes occasionally seemed out of place and irrelevant. I would wager Little has little actual biblical knowledge. Therein did show some sharp witticisms—I liked the subordinate wife scripture Brother Elias shared with the pseudo-eunuch Gordon. I also liked the small jab at Episcopalian preaching. Those church-goers amongst you will know exactly what I reference.

Overall, this was indeed a work of horror. I felt a sense of dread throughout. At one point in reading I heard something walking on the roof. I hope it was not a fetus. Not recommended for pregnant women. show less

This is a traditional horror novels that I remember reading while growing up: a small town where weird things suddenly start to happen. Just the type of story that I like. This time the town is Randall, Arizona and as you would expect people start dying, animals are butchered, weird things happen. The only people who really suspect something is going on is a small group of folks. These folks go on to find out the truth via an insane preacher who seems just a little too convenient as a plot device. This is about the biggest problem that I had with the book. Well, that and the characters weren't as likable as I would have hoped. Overall though, the novel is still good and suggested reading.

Good and evil was not invented by religion. Religion was invented to explain it. Dead babies' souls are collected to aid the side of evil. Predatory babies are creepy, but a little hard to take seriously even as they rip out your jugular.

narration was odd, changed pov without notice, always took me away from the flow of the story. character and dialogue were more consistent and realistic in this novel than his others.