Customer Reviews

His Father's Son

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Lots of people complaining that this isn't the Little they are used to...so what? When Bentley put out THE IGNORED, that was the same problem readers had...and now it is a classic.
This novel is more scarier than most Little books because it has happened before...no ghosties, no vampires, werewolves, evil stores, evial home associations, etc. Thi sis about a son picking up where he thinks his dad has left off...and the want of a father's approval...all real things. A brilliant novel by the best horror writer woring today.

I have been waiting for Bentley Little's latest - His Father's Son - for months. I love Bentley Little, I have a collection of some of his rarer works, including the infamous Murmurous Haunt (I was lucky enough to score a signed copy a while back), a couple of ARC's of his earlier books, a couple of signed hardcover copies of his books, and even an early promotional copy of The Store that is actually printed on standard 8 ½" x 11" copy paper, complete with a cover and promo letter from the publisher/publicist. So, to say that I am merely a fan is a bit of an understatement. I liked the guy before he was cool. I have issues of The Horror Show Magazine (and several others) from the 1980's, having trolled for them on Ebay because he contributed to them.

His Father's Son is the story of your middle aged everyman, Steve Nye. He is dealing with a situation that many of us have or will have to face during the course of our lives - the mental and physical deterioration of a parent. In Steve's case, his father just snaps one day, physically assaulting his mother. The attack is completely out of character, and Steve's father is diagnosed as suffering from a degenerative form of dementia and is committed to a psychiatric facility.

During one of Steve's visits, his father appears to be perfectly lucid. It is during this period of lucidity that he says the words "I killed her."

After hearing what he perceives as his father's confession, Steve begins an investigation into his father's past that makes him question everything he has ever know about his father, his family and himself.

The way this book is written, I really can't say much more about the plot without being a spoiler.

There are dozens of little reasons that I have become such an avid Little fan. However, there have always been three big ones that have never varied or wavered. 3) He is among the most prolific writers I have ever read. It is a delight to troll around for obscure magazines and anthologies that he has contributed unique short stories to. You always find something different, but it always has a distinct Bentley Little flavor. 2) His flair for the surreal. Regardless of the specific plot or subject matter in a given book or story, you can count on Little to warp the very fabric of reality. All of his work has a certain level of wrongness to it, which is what makes it such great horror. 1) The man is deals in real, unapologetic horror. Nothing is taboo or off limits.

With all of the above being said, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with His Father's Son. Maybe I have read too much of his stuff, because I kept thinking of how this story line should have gone down as I read. Unfortunately, it was fairly predictable (in my opinion), and it lacked a lot of both the surrealism and the depth of the majority of Little's previous novels. His short stories even. I had a very hard time getting into the book, which is almost unheard of for me, although after the first few chapters it did hold my attention fairly consistently.

Unfortunately, I was left feeling shortchanged. I kept waiting for something to happen, and it never really did. There were instances of short stories being intertwined throughout the novel (Steve Nye happens to be a writer), and it was only throughout these several short chapters that I was able to really feel Little's true nature leech into the story. It was almost as if this book was thought up by a publisher or something, and the integrated short stories were Little's metaphorical middle finger.

All in all, the book was a big letdown for me. I have read a lot of criticism of Little's work, and it always contains suggestions that would make his writing more mainstream and less out of the box and controversial. Frankly, I am a Little fan because of the blatant sex and violence and carnage that his books are (unapologetically) crammed with. I feel as though this was a pandering release, put out there to placate the whiners. I hope that his next book is a return to his surreal and totally unique flavor of storytelling, written for his fans - not everybody else. Three stars.

This latest chiller by Bentley Little is certainly in the top half of his better work, but nowhere near my favorite. It has a great premise and actually manages to pull off most of it very effectively. The steady build keeps you hooked for the entire story. It was a pleasant change to see him working completely in reality instead of his usual supernatural fare. However, I did predict the ending very early on - something I usually do not manage to do. And there were a few threads that were not quite sewn together. Regardless, this book was a lot of fun to read and certainly puts Little back on track to once again earn himself the reputation as one of the top 10 horror novelists working today.

For readers looking for more great work after reading this, may I suggest The Ignored, The Store, The Association, The Policy, and Dispatch - my five favorites from Bentley Little.

No need to give a plot summary as there are enough on the page already. I'll just start by saying that, although this is a departure from Little's usual formula, this is a very enjoyable book. It's very creepy and brings us a very interesting main character - maybe not likeable, but interesting.

Those of you who are hardcore Little readers (as I am), should be aware that this is, at first blush, far removed from the "The" books.

However, it's still dark, quirky, and has some of that Bentley Little flavor. If you go into this expecting something a little different, but still very dark, you should enjoy this one.

Plot/Storyline: 2 Stars

I was pretty disappointed in this book as I didn't feel that it lived up to Mr. Little's usual standards. The plot sounded exciting in the description. Although the description didn't really lie, it still played up the wrong parts of the book, making it appear to be a thriller, when it was really rather mundane and repetitive.

The premise was a good one with plenty of threads to work with to make for an exciting story. However, the entire thing just caved in under its own weight.

The father had a stroke and got a little violent in the very beginning. However, the reader did not get a front seat for that attraction, only a second hand story from the mother, and even that was hinted at being exaggerated.

The rest of the storyline was paper thin and so easy to see through that there was almost zero suspense.

Character Development: 1 Star

Steve, although having center stage with the story being told from his viewpoint, was completely flat and unsympathetic. By the end of the book, I was actually starting to hope that he would be killed or commit suicide, but I only hopes a little because mostly I just didn't care.

He bemoans his childhood a little, but aside from being ignored, it just didn't seem that bad. He knows little to nothing about his parents, so they are just as flat. There is no real motivation given for his actions or even for the actions he places on his parents' heads.

His girlfriend/fiancee was equally weak. I found her to be unbelievable and watered down.

Writing Style: 4 1/4 Stars

The saving grace that got me through this novel was Mr. Little's outstanding writing style. It did suffer a bit in this book with his efforts to pad this weak plot. However, the same, wonderful descriptions and sentence flow were still present in this work. The dialogue was a little weak, but mostly believable.

Rating: PG-14 for Adult Situations, Violence, Murder, Graphic Sex

Bentley Little is one of the most unique horror story writers around. Though this is not his best effort, it is still a worthy effort. No one makes the banal seem more horrific than this author.

When Steve Nye is contacted by his mother and says that his father tried to kill her and is confined to a psychiatric ward, Steve pays him a visit. Although he is apprised by his father's doctor that his dad has dementia, Steve begins to believe that his father harbors a guilty secret, by virtue of a statement his father makes to him. He reads something into it that renders Steve speechless, causing him to undertake a very personal investigation.

Where that investigation takes Steve and how he views his girlfriend subsequently, is the stuff of which this book is made. Juxtaposing the banal and commonplace alongside murder in a matter of fact way that is chilling is the strength of this book. This book is an intriguing foray into the author's ability to turn the commonplace into something sinister.

When I read THE STORE I was just blown away. Here was a fresh new voice in the horror domain, and I've eagerly read his works ever since. His greatest strength is finding hidden terror in mundane facets of daily life such as 'big box' megastores, homeowners' associations, the daily delivery of mail, etc.

And until I read HIS FATHER'S SON Little had a great batting average with me. Sorry, Bentley, this time you blew it.

Steve is a young (and, sadly, uninteresting) man whose relationship with his parents is distant. His father unexpectedly goes wild, attacking Steve's mother, and winds up hospitalized. Steve hears an astonishing confession from his dad in between torrents of nonsense. He begins to suspect that his dad was a murderer before marrying Mom and settling down.

Steve begins following his father's trail across the country and finds evidence that dear old dad may have been a serial killer. As Steve begins to find out strange things about his father, he learns stranger ones about himself.

All this would have been fine, except for some fatal flaws. First, the book is more than 100 pages too long. And it's bad enough that there are no characters for the reader to like, but worse that there are none who are flesh and blood enough to care about.

I don't have to like the main character, he doesn't have to fit any standard of virtue: Stephen King's BLAZE was about a mentally challenged criminal who has helped in kidnapping a small child. But give us a reason to care if these people live or die. For a portrait of a well educated professional man descending into homicidal madness, one need look no farther than AMERICAN PSYCHO.

The underlying subtext of the father's confession is excellent. When I read it I was very disappointed in not having figured it out for myself, and it made the effort of plowing through all those pages more worthwhile.

I'm being deliberately vague here. The big reveal is well thought out, and I'd never want to give away such a clever plot twist.

Little is a hugely talented writer. I'll continue enjoying his work, but I do hope he gets his game back.

I really enjoyed this book. It's up there with my other Bentley Little favorites like "Dispatch", "The Store" and "The Ignored".
I love Mr. Little's dark sense of humor.

Part psychological thriller, and part black comedy, I was thoroughly engrossed in "His Father's Son." If you are looking for something based in the supernatural, however, look elsewhere. But if you want a great novel written by one of the best horror fiction writers, you'll love this. Little's knack for holding the reader in suspense is intact, and his imagination has expanded into horrors that are somewhat conceivable in the real world. Highly recommended!

I absolutely love all of Bentley Little's books, and while this one isn't an exception I do recognize that he is trying to go in a different direction. Normally his books are so bizarre and off I feel uncomfortable and actually frightened, but this one mostly lacked that. Once one separates this book from his normal works, it is easier to enjoy it for what it is; more of a dark thriller delving into the strange workings of a serial killers mind. While it is nowhere near as scary as "The" books, I think its worth reading.

I take a star away for two reasons. Firstly, I found there to be some grammatical errors that did not seem intentional. Second, Steve (Main char.) often did things that were not supported by previous character development. Occasionally his spontaneous actions didn't seem shocking, but left me feeling confused and unconvinced.

I'm looking forward to a more traditional novel from Little, but this one sates me in the meantime!