Gripping horror and acutely observed allegory (The Store - Bentley Little)

Member Name: doctordarke2389

Product:	The Store - Bentley Little
Date:	21/08/09 (13 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A meaty tome, with good characterization and storyline

Disadvantages: Unimaginative titling in Little's books

The Store by the Arizonan horror writer, Bentley Little, is an absolute gem. Now, you may, or may not, see this tome as an allegorical swipe at Wal - Mart, but I'm sure it isn't intentional ... hm.

Like many of Little's (and, indeed, others' horror fiction) books, The Store is set in the hicksville milieu of the American mid west, in Arizona, and concerns a small town that is fairly isolated from large population centres, very much in the manner of much of so - called 'middle' America. This is an area that Little is evidently comfortable with, although he does venture away from his home town locale with other books that he has written.

Into this ostensibly idyllic 'American Dream' setting comes The Store, a monolithic, cancerous growth of unfettered capitalism with a sinister hidden agenda that is spreading its tentacles across the entire country, town by town, city by city. This is where the comparisons with Wal - Mart come in, as the parasitic roots and modus operandi of The Store start to resemble the slash and burn tactics of the aforementioned WM, thus eliminating the competition and having the town's consumers (sorry, citizens) at its mercy. If you care to look around you, there may indeed be similarities that you can detact on your own high street.

Faced with this seemingly unstoppable and pernicious force are the 'goodies' of the town of Juniper, AZ. Headed by the affable yet strong - willed Bill Davies et al, a man who realises that The Store is slowly but surely spreading its malignant influence into every facet of town life - police service, local government, and the entire machinery of local 'democracy'.

Having the town's population now in thrall to its deadly commercial embrace, The Store insinuates itself into the very fabric of the consumers (golly, there I go again ... ) customers' purchasing instincts to get them to buy home brands (bit like Tesco's 'Value' baked beans - see my review to that effect ... ) and to generally pervert them into doing its bidding.

Moreover, the overtly sinister aspects concern the activities of the 'night managers', a shadowy, oleaginous group of Store workers who may - or, may not - be quite human ... so, the question has to be asked: what exactly IS The Store up to, and what is the ulterior motive of its CEO, Newman King? Hm .. what, indeed ..

The Store is a finely observed study of small - town American politics and life; this is something that Little does particularly effectively, with his ability to attach evil, sinister goings - on, and general skullduggery to even the most banal and ordinary things in life. Little brings out the characters' strengths and weaknesses, and creates a sustained and growing sense of dread and menace to very good effect. He clearly knows his geographical locations - its oddities, and narrow parochialisms, very well. This offering from Little is well worth a read, as indeed are many of his other tomes, especially The Mailman, The Association, and the University. Check him out.

Summary: A good, meaty read. Not for the faint hearted