Customer Reviews

The Association

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Let's face it. Homeowner's Associations can be a tool dispensing a veritable fountain of useful dictations - provided that you want to follow them. They, the police policing policy, look through all the little things we do and they create bylaws to keep them from becoming too overwhelming. In some cases, that means that you wouldn't be allowed to have a basketball behind your house, keep a flagpole in your yard, or build that utility shed you wanted. In others, it could mean fines because you paint your house some strange color or because you put too many plants in your yard. And some, as Barry and Maureen Welch soon find out as they acquire a home in Bonita Vista - gated community in the middle of nowhere (the ultimate desire of the extremely wealthy to either live or vacation in) -, go farther, making life a miserable little game of limb loss and bully tactics.

What begins with an infraction for having a yard sale soon introduces the reader to a world that isn't such a nice place. Here, an Association lords over everything, hatching sinister plots while using a tome of laws they use like some kind of suburban bible. It is suspected of poisoning animals, of making people leaving int he middle of the night, and other rumors are spoken of about people always watching other people. This makes the residents therein all distrust one another, all thinking they're quite possibly spies for the Association. But why? What horror could possibly motivate people to think like that? Well, in answering that, you need to add in townsfolk living outside of the gated community that hate the residents therein for their own reasons, cats stuffed into mailboxes and tales of a man named Stumpy because of his lack of appendages, and monstrosities.

Now, I'm a fan of Little's work, having liked his creation of The Collection and The Walking, and I expected a lot out of him. Well, after absorbing this book and the way it all came together, I would have to say that I walked away a little disappointed but that I got a nice laugh out of the way this was set up. I liked the fact that there was an Association of Homeowners becoming the pivot in the master plan for terror, and I loved the fact that it laughed at the life hidden behind those tarnish-proof gates.
My problem here came because the ending seemed rushed, like the bizarre was approached too quickly for a build that took quite a bit of time only to ultimately disappoint. It was a shame, too, because it seemed as if the story were going to go somewhere for a while, with the characters meshing well and Little's writing style panning out. Unfortunately, some of the description began to drag and the book began to drone a little, making me long for something to punctuate it all. That said, I was still hooked, wanting to know how the Association was going to try to up its hand and if it had a garden where it grew baby stumpies.
And, in a way, this compulsive "knowing" disease I've somehow acquired, the one that makes me keep reading, gave me some mixed emotions.

If you want some of Little's better works, you could try The Walking (although the ending is a little anticlimactic) or you could obtain The Collection first to see what you think on it. Personally, The Collection would be the choice I would recommend and I would say that you might want to work up to this piece, unless you can see the humor in the horror that an Association could provide.

Barry and Maureen found the house of their dreams in a gated community in Utah. At first glance, they both fell in love with the breathtaking scenery. It was perfect.
When you buy a home in Bonita Vista, you are required to belong to a homeowner's association. Slowly the association invaded their lives and Barry and Maureen learned that any infraction of the rules could result in fines, physical punishment or death.
This dark and evil excursion across the pages led to a terrifying conclusion. I reside in a gated community and after reading this novel, I check all the doors and locks every night. At least twice.
If you want the hairs on the back of your neck to stand tall, this book is for you. Bentley Little has the knack of making the reader leave the lights turned on . . . . long after the book has been closed.

But ultimately 4-stars wins out - mostly for the sheer entertainment value this book presents.

The premise itself is almost laughable - Bentley Little is gonna conjure up a 438 page horror novel with a Tenants Homeowners Association as the source of evil? Unfathomable...and yet Little manages to pull off a very brisk and readable tome, that while isn't quite as horrific as some of his other works, is certainly as gory and suspenseful as anything he's ever done.

And while there are certainly a few head-scratching plot holes and inconsistencies - for anyone looking for a fun, readable book in this genre you really can't go wrong with this one.

I thought this book was incredible! It kept me on the edge of my seat!A real nail biter!! Bentley Little is an amazing artist with the ability to combine such horrific scenes and undescribable fear into those of his readers within a fictitous story of such believable real life circumstances. It would actually give you the impression that the "good life" isn't so good after all. And with all the great; comes all the terrifying!! This book is a must read for all you horror fanatics out there who like the gruesome and grotesque details of a superbly put together novel. Congratulations Bently Little on a fantastic book!!

I enjoyed this book, and not just because I have some horror stories of my own to tell regarding those socialist homeowners associations. Little's take is exaggerated, weird, sick, outrageously over the top, satiracle and just plain fun.

We're talking about a group of older men who worship article 90 in the ccr handbook, who murder children, minorities and gays. An association that can watch your every move, that dictates not only which color you may or may not paint your house with, but that dictates who your friends are, how you are allowed to wear your hair, etc.

There are some gruesome butchery scenes described as well, and some loveable characters, like Stumpy, the limbless man who lives in the forest.

If you are familiar with Bentley Little, then I need say no more. If you are not, well all I can say is that you will most likely either love or hate him. His stories are extremely exaggerated, gory and full of satire. If you are easily offended, then you'll do well to avoid his works. If you happen to enjoy stories about talking macaroni, crazy James Dean cults and Wicked gated communities, then give his stuff a try, you'll be in for a treat.

This author has a decent writing style, unfortunately, whether the story he tells here is meant to be ridiculous or not, it's ultimately a failure with whatever it tried to be. The lead character, Barry, comes across loudly as one of those khaki pants/pale blue shirt wearing, oh so liberal freedom fighters who thinks people and choices should be free..as long as they agree with him. A very conservative liberal, if you will. (nudge/wink) Barry's choice of vehicle, and even Barry's choice of music, that is so convienantly namedropped throughout the book, tells the reader a great deal about the character. I eventually became more terrified of Barry (and Maureen) than the Association. Give the Association their dues, at least they were original and weren't like the Stepfordized Boomer Hero and his wife ! If this novel was indeed meant to be funny as an anti-conformity tale, it simply didn't reach it's goal. The author should be very careful about creating the lead hero, for every avid reader knows they usually inject a lot of their personal charateristics into their good guys....and if this is the case here, well, I'm more scared of Bentley Little than his novel, which only provoked sarcastic laughter and not a trace of horror nor suspense.

My many thanks to Bentley Little for finally bringing to light the true evil that lurks in our world: The homeowner's association!

Anyone who has dealt with one will get the fiendishly tongue-in-cheek satire of the rules and regulations set by the Bonita Vista Home Association. Their audacity and absurdity are brilliant. That's where Bentley Little's newest story works best.

You can tell Bentley has an enormous amount of fun populating his novels. The characters are at once instantly recognizable, yet all have their own distinct underlying personalities.

Ray and Liz are the older neighbors who secretly defy the association and welcome in Barry and Maureen. Neil Campbell is the clipboard- toting neighborhood snitch. Jasper Calhoun is the mysterious Association president. And then there's Stumpy, the armless-legless-toothless-tongueless resident slinking around in the surrounding woodlands. (What? Doesn't your neighborhood have a Stumpy?!)

Bentley has obviously cast himself as the lead character of Barry Welch. Like Bentley, Barry's also a horror writer and there's nothing wrong with that. My only SLIGHT issue with "The Association" is a recurring theme that seemed to plague his last outing "The Town".

Several characters in his last novel were constantly saying things to the effect of: "It's just like a horror movie." In "The Association" Barry Welch has this annoying habit of referring to an event as something out of his own horror novels.

There are over a dozen such references of a situation being "something out of one of his horror novels". On Page 249 it happens twice in as many pages. It happens again (twice in as many pages) during the story's finale. That sort of took a bit away from an otherwise interesting read. It's my only small nit-pick with the story.

It's not a bad novel by any stretch. It was better than his last novel "The Town". Oddly enough, I think there may have even been a paragraph on page six that I swear was used verbatim in that last novel.

I'd put it in the bronze medal position behind "The Store" and "The Ignored". Two other Bentley Little novels that shouldn't be missed.

In Bentley Little's latest, "The Association," a youngish couple, comprising Barry, the writer, and Maureen, the accountant, leave California to live a quieter life in Utah. They manage to get a sweet deal on a nice home. The one drawback? It is in a gated community called "Bonita Vista," and they are required to join its homeowner's association and pay membership fees.

The Association has more rules of conduct than God himself, spelled out in a phonebook sized manual called the "C's, C's, and R's." For the residents of Bonita Vista, it is their bible, and punishment for non-compliance ranges from stiff fines to physical dismemberment.

Soon, the Welch's find that they are living in a nightmare from which they are unable to extracite themselves. No amount of legal maneuvering can help--the law is on Bonita Vista's side, and the Association is able to conduct their gastly business with impunity. Basically, the Association owns them.

In a novel reminescent of "The Store," Bentley Little espouses themes of groupthink, mind control, and--as he always does--the differences between classes. Sometimes, it seems as though Little has some rather condescending views towards those who "just aren't our type, old chap," (the working class.) Still, that hardly diminishes the quality of his work. His novels never fails to draw me in and keep me reading--sometimes at the deriliction of my personal life--until I am finished, and his books have a way of staying with me long after I've completed them.

The one complaint I have about this book--and Little's books in general--is the way that it ended. This one had a stronger finish than "The Town," but Little isn't always the greatest at tying up every loose end, and he tends to leave some plotlines unexplained and unresolved. Whether he does this intentionally or this is simply a weakness that he has as a writer,I'm not sure, but I personally don't like it when I'm forced to fill in the blanks that the writer leaves. But that's only a minor complaint in an otherwise great read.

As far as I'm concerned, Bentley Little is right up there with a Koontz or a King, not just in quality, but also in readability and bestseller ability. Apparently, he's made a number of enemies in the publishing business, and he's not huge on self-promotion, but I honestly believe that he could be a household name.

If you're a horror fan who's been sticking with King, Koontz, and Saul, I'd recommend giving Bentley Little a try. I'm glad that I've discovered him--he's such a unique writer and a welcome breath of fresh air.

When I first saw this book I bought it immediately because I had never such a great, original premise for a horror novel. The first third of the book does a great job of setting up the characters into a genuinely creepy, psychotic situation. I was all set for a great ride of psychological terror.
Unfortunately, the final few chapters were a great letdown as the true nature of the villain was revealed, it all seemed rather... silly.
The other thing that really held me back from really enjoying the novel was Little's occasional editorializing. The main character, Barry, is himself a not-quite-famous horror novelist, and through him Little seems to vent on topics ranging from the state of the book publishing business, to religion, and a couple of other things in scenes that add nothing to the story.
This is the first Bentley Little book I have read, and while I enjoyed his style enough to pick up something else by him in the future, I would say this book was more of a catharsis for him personally than it was a novel to be read by others.

Before I incur the wrath of previous reviewers, I must state that the majority of their points (with the exception of a few I don't care to argue) are valid. This is not Mr. Little's master work. Yes, this book is over the top. Those of you seeking fiction strictly within the bounds of reality might want to seek your reading material elsewhere.

For the rest of us, Bentley Little plunges us into a well-crafted alternate reality, leaving us firmly cemented in Theater of the Absurd. I'm not here to debate whether these events could occur within our context of reality, but I was thoroughly entertained and will think twice before entering a housing association, and since these were seemingly the intentions of Mr. Little, I will have to give it my recommendation.