Customer Reviews

His Father's Son

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read three of Bentley Littles books so far. This is the worse one by far, and is a bad horror novel in general.

There is no character you can connect with in this book. The main character is totally unsympathetic you just hope someone will off him at some point.

The main character steve gets the news that his father went nuts, and attacked his mother. He finds out his father is suffering from dementia. When he visits his father the old guy rambles some cryptic message.

This sends the main character on a detective case to find out the grim past his father might have been hiding. Then the main character spirals down ward, and starts killing people.

The murders are almost justifiable, and there is a revelation about the main character towards the end of the book that makes you think he will redeem himself.

Until almost at the end he commits one last killing that killed any sympathy that you might have had with this guy.

Also the story drags on, and on. Its constantly building up to some grand revelation or climax that never comes.

The best part of this book was the short story in the book called The Hand. Which was way better than the actually book it self.

If you want to try Bentley little out for the first time. Don't start with this one.

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.

Yes, I was deceived by the description on the back of the book or I misinterpreted what was written, so I decided to give Bentley Little another chance. "His Father's Son" was better than the previous two books I read (or tried) by this author, but the three stars I gave it represent its mediocrity. The biggest negative about the book was the frequent interludes which disrupted the progress of the story; they should have been directed into another book which I won't be reading.

I have read just about every book by Bentley Little. I really enjoyed stories like The Policy, The Association, and The Store, but really disliked others like The Town, The House, and Dominion. His Father's Son falls somewhere between these extremes.

The hero, or rather antihero, of His Father's Son thinks his dying father is a killer, and he begins a killing spree of his own. Unfortunately, the protagonist's journey is predictable (the killings become more violent and irrational for exsample), the deaths mostly uninteresting, and there are no real twists along the way. In fact, you may find yourself just waiting, as I did, for the big revelation in the end, which you know must be coming. Little sprinkles the narrative with bizarre and surreal images, but I think scary and evil clowns are a bit of a cliché now.

Still, I liked the surprising ending, and the protagonist is well-fleshed out. His Father's Son may also make you think, and any book that does that is worth the read.