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Book Review: Behind by Bentley Little

cover art for Behind by Bentley Little

Behind by Bentley Little

Cemetery Dance,2024

ISBN: 978-1-58767-970-4

Available: Kindle edition

Buy: Amazon.com

 

 

A new Bentley Little novel is always cause for celebration for horror fans. The author has made a living playing off our primal fears through the lens of what truly causes us terror– school, corporations, identity, dysfunctional families, and the DMV. This time, Little tackles something a bit more recent– the big C (no, not that one. The one that kept us on lockdown and showed us who had brains and who didn’t). Yet instead of focusing on the pandemic itself, the author dives into how life itself changed.

 

Alex Lowry finds himself out of work, thanks to downsizing. He could go the normal route, as many did, seeking another corporate job to bore the life out of him:. his wife, Jennifer, begs him to use her father’s connections to find something “respectable.”. Of course, that doesn’t happen– and that’s where the Bentley Little we know and love, unfolds his story in prime fashion.

 

His ex-colleague, Britta, brainstorms a cool idea. It’s like DoorDash, GrubHub, or one of the other delivery services that rose to prominence during the dark years. Yet, instead of food or toilet paper, they deliver odd items to even odder clients. It begins innocently enough, as most of Little’s plots do, but soon takes a hard left turn. It pays well, once the business takes off. Alex finds himself enjoying his strange new profession.

 

There’s one problem, though. When he was a child, he saw a house behind his own. It wasn’t supposed to be there. By the laws of physics and reality, it can’t be there, but it is.

 

His parents died in an accident, and he moved on– until now.

 

The house is back. His in-laws notice it– and reality begins to unravel.

 

What’s behind it?

 

If you’re familiar with Bentley Little’s work, you know this is where things can get truly odd, but still relevant to the social issues of the day, complete with characters who embody us– although that includes the darker, stranger, hidden sides of us that we keep from the scrutinizing eyes of those on our block, our workplace, and our relationships.

 

Part satire, part horror story, but all entertainment, Behind  is Little’s best work in a long time. Some might say it’s a straight-up ghost story or haunted tale, but fans know it’s something deeper.

 

The writing is smooth and deceptive. It might appear simple at first, but readers will find themselves immersed in the language and relevance to who and what we are.

 

It’s a fascinating, terrifying novel, and one that comes highly recommended. What makes a great horror novel is the people who inhabit them. Little has always known this and loves to screw with his readers– and they love him for it.

 

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Posted on August 22, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: You Better Watch Out: A Thriller by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth

cover art for You Better Watch Out by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth

You Better Watch Out: A Thriller by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth

St. Martin’s Press, 2024

ISBN 9781250286260

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com

 

 

You Better Watch Out by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth is a fast-moving thriller reminiscent of the TV series Survivor and the book trilogy Hunger Games. It’s Christmastime, and five strangers are mysteriously kidnapped, awakening in a snowbound village in upstate New York. The three men and two women have checkered pasts, including thievery, hit-and-run homicide, drug dealing, scamming and addiction. The village is a killing field strewn with deadly, macabre booby traps. One-by-one they meet gruesome deaths trying to escape while facing starvation and hypothermia. Why were they brought here? Who is killing them? Will any of them escape?

 

Murray and Wearmouth are veteran authors who have an accessible writing style. The third-person narration is direct and easily understood. The plot flows well and has enough twists and turns to draw readers in and keep them guessing until the surprising end. Or, is it an end?

Recommended for older teenagers and adults.

Contains: Profanity, violence, gore, mild sexuality

 

 

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee

 

 

Posted on August 21, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: Stolen Pallor by Sean Eads and Joshua Viola

cover art for Stolen Pallor by Steve Eads and Joshua Viola

Stolen Pallor by Sean Eads & Joshua Viola

Blood Bound Books, 2024

ISBN: 9781940250649

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Amazon.com

 

 

With Stolen Pallor, the authors throw a twist on the old saying  that “suffering creates great art”.  Here, great art creates suffering.  Readers won’t suffer from boredom while reading this horror/mystery novella that snaps right through its 99 pages in impressive fashion.

 

Cole Sharpe is a private investigator called in to investigate some bizarre happenings at a museum in the fictional town of New Florence, a community basically dedicated to all forms of art.  The town itself is an interesting study in setting: what would it be like living in a town where artistic concerns trump most other routine matters?  The strange events at the museum consist of people suddenly going catatonic while staring at random paintings, later shuffling off and…vanishing.  It’s Cole’s job to find out where they go.

 

Cole is a strong lead character with a pretty firm moral compass and some emotional baggage from childhood trauma.  He would have been good enough to carry the story on his own, but his lover and part-time detective partner Mikey adds some good color and contrast to the story.  Mikey is more lighthearted, less serious, and also a bit more self-centered, and the conversations between Cole and Mikey add a good dose of emotional heft to the story.  The two of them together provide the material for one of the book’s most important questions: how much of what you have are you willing to risk to do the right thing?  In this story, there’s not an easy answer for that one.

 

The story also does a good job incorporating the fantastic into the mundane, as shown with the parallel version of New Florence, which the authors tie back into the obsession with art that permeates the original New Florence. That being said, the ‘alternate reality’ New Florence does allow the door to be opened to a darker realm, with fun characters like soul-sucking wraiths… and how can you not love a vampire whose name is Fangsy?  The story ends in a Hitchcockian fashion, and the final ambiguous pages leave it up to the reader to imagine where the story will go.  It’s a good way to finish up a book that works with some shades of gray, instead of just black and white.

 

Bottom line: there’s a lot of good stuff crammed into 99 pages: this one is definitely recommendable.  Hopefully, this won’t be a one-off pairing for the authors. It would be interesting to see what they could do with a full-length story.

 

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on August 20, 2024 by , Reply
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