GUESTS
(AKA THE TOWN)
By
BENTLEY LITTLE
This book is known as 'Guests' in the UK and 'The Town' in the USA
It is exactly the same book, just with a different name.
THE AUTHOR
Have you come across Bentley Little yet?
Little is a horror writer, very much in the ... Read review
Advantages: Some good writing in parts Disadvantages: Badly drawn characters, rather unbelievable
== GUESTS ==
=== (AKA THE TOWN) ===
By
=== BENTLEY LITTLE ===
This book is known as 'Guests' in the UK and 'The Town' in the USA
It is exactly the same book, just with a different name.
=== THE AUTHOR ===
Have you come across Bentley Little yet?
Little is a horror writer, very much in the genre of Stephen King (who is, in fact, a fan ... ...
Uninvited guests have arrived in McGuane.
Guests that cannot be seen.
Guests that cannot be heard.
Guests that cannot be stopped.
=== My Thoughts ===
I was a little disappointed with this book, to be honest it kept reminding me of a poor relation to 'The Shining'.
This is a novel about a haunted house and also a story about religious ... more
GUESTS
(AKA THE TOWN)
By
BENTLEY LITTLE
This book is known as 'Guests' in the UK and 'The Town' in the USA It is exactly the same book, just with a different name.
THE AUTHOR
Have you come across Bentley Little yet?
Little is a horror writer, very much in the genre of Stephen King (who is, in fact, a fan of Little's work), he puts his love of this genre down to the fact that he was born just one month after his mother went to watch 'Psycho'!
His works are generally set in the southwestern United States- particularly Arizona. His horror is raw and frequently disturbing in his pursuit of true horror, there are no holds barred.
STORY
Welcome to McGuane, Arizona. Population: 200...199...198...197...
'Guests' opens with Gregory Tomasov winning the California lottery, $40,000 a year for 20 years. This convinces both Greg and his wife, Julia, to leave their jobs and move as soon as possible.
So Greg and his family move to the small town where Greg was raised, McGuan in Arizona, this is a "haunted place" as one character sums up the town; it has a squalid history of religious intolerance.
Greg's family is of Russian Molokan descent, a culture that is richly described in this book, (it is actually part of Little's ancestry)
The Tomasov family move into a beautiful house and start to interact with the town folk.
Each of the family members deals with the move in a different way. The Father loves the fact that he is home and can reunite with old friends. The wife is very uncomfortable in the new home, and just feels like something is wrong. The three children resent that they left a fun life behind to live in a small, dull town. Greg's mother seems to be the most comfortable. She is a purebred "Molakan" and very set in her ways, even blessing the entire house before anyone can enter.
Unfortunately, the idyllic small-town life that Greg so desperately wants for his family doesn't materialize.
Something else is waiting for him in McGuane instead.
Something strange.
Something frightening.
Something that is making the inhabitants of McGuane die.
When these strange murders start to happen to the people of McGuane- it is Greg and his family who get the blame.
Greg doesn't know what is happening; but his mother and the other Russian members of her Molokan church do.
Uninvited guests have arrived in McGuane.
Guests that cannot be seen.
Guests that cannot be heard.
Guests that cannot be stopped.
My Thoughts
I was a little disappointed with this book, to be honest it kept reminding me of a poor relation to 'The Shining'.
This is a novel about a haunted house and also a story about religious conviction. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it is also a novel that does not combine these elements into a believable story. I found it quite interesting for around half the book, but then it began to get very predictable (except for the cactus baby - I mean, who would have predicted THAT!)
The book isn't exactly boring, just weird, with too many horror clichés and a lot of unbelievable scenes. I spotted two mistakes that made it so unbelievable. Firstly we the reader is expected to believe that a brutal. bizarre ritual rape and murder that happened when Greg lived in McGuane as a boy, somehow completely slipped his mind. In a similar way, his mother, the mystical grandmother, also seems to have forgotten all about the time the townspeople turned lynch mob, attacking the Molokans, and burning down their section of town.
I didn't really think that the writing was that good either. There were parts were flashes of great writing shone through, for example his description of Arizona was beautiful and believable.
Unfortunately the descriptions of the characters just didn't get the same good writing. I didn't feel like I was really that involved in the lives of any of them and I didn't really like them all that much, either.
The ending also seemed very rushed; and there were story threads that were not followed up on. The book could easily have been an extra 25-50 pages long and been a lot better.
Should you read it? Well if you really need something to read and you want a story about a haunted house and some weird happenings then check it out. If you want something new and original then look elsewhere. And certainly if you haven't read a Little book before, don't start with this one; try 'The Summoning' instead.
BOOK DETAILS
· Paperback: 438 pages · Publisher: Feature (12 Mar 1998) · Language English · ISBN-10: 0747252572 · ISBN-13: 978-0747252573
