What do you think?
Rate this book
The Disappearance
The perfect getaway turns into a nightmare when a girl vanishes without a trace in this horror novel that could only have come from the mind of Bram Stoker Award-winning author Bentley Little.
Gary, his girlfriend, Joan, and their friends intend to make the most of their three day vacation from UCLA partying at Burning Man. But soon after they arrive at the festival in the remote desert, Joan disappears. Calls to her parents' home yield only dead air. Her school records are gone. And there's no evidence that Joan, or even her roommate, ever existed. Most disturbing of all is what they do find.
Among Joan's belongings is a prayer written on a small scroll. It's a safeguard--and a warning--from something called The Outsiders. For Gary and his friends it's the only clue. Now, if they want to find out exactly what happened to Joan, they must follow it. But they may not like what they uncover....
Gary, his girlfriend, Joan, and their friends intend to make the most of their three day vacation from UCLA partying at Burning Man. But soon after they arrive at the festival in the remote desert, Joan disappears. Calls to her parents' home yield only dead air. Her school records are gone. And there's no evidence that Joan, or even her roommate, ever existed. Most disturbing of all is what they do find.
Among Joan's belongings is a prayer written on a small scroll. It's a safeguard--and a warning--from something called The Outsiders. For Gary and his friends it's the only clue. Now, if they want to find out exactly what happened to Joan, they must follow it. But they may not like what they uncover....
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
135 people are currently reading
1929 people want to read
About the author
Bentley Little
135 books2,566 followersBentley Little is an American author of horror fiction. Publishing an average of a novel a year since 1990, Little avoids publicity and rarely does promotional work or interviews for his writing.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 243 reviews
April 1, 2012
Really liked this book - finished it pretty quick - love Bentley Little's books - lots of mystery with some twists and turns - if you like Bentley Little, then this is must add for your book collection.
October 22, 2022
Bentley Little is hit or miss for me. Love horror genre ( as you can see from my bookshelf) and I know he is a must read if you are a fan. His novel, The Haunted, was great. The Store was good and great at underlining tones about consumer America. The Return was decent with a horrible ending. Those were the only three I read until I picked up this Gem. This was nothing like the other three. In a good way. There was no supernatural, no demonic, no weird sex scene ( although incest was mentioned) and this actually wasn't even a horror novel. It was a very good thriller.
This was a good , old fashioned suspenseful thriller with some descriptive horror and gore thrown in. I was not expecting this type of page turning suspense from Little and it was nice to see his versatility.
Whats scary is the fact that cults are real and exist and are blindly followed by their brainwashed brethren in everyday life. Religious cults are horrifying and real and adds an element of reality to this novel.
The Homesteaders and their complex was very well done. The Children can give a reader some mental-visual scares. Father was a great baddie. The onslaught that the homesteaders achieve is crazy. Online sabotage, identity theft, murder, arson, kidnapping, dog killing, bribery etc etc. Crazy that these college students stood up against all of that.
Must read if your a Little fan and a def must read if you like suspenseful thrillers .
This was a good , old fashioned suspenseful thriller with some descriptive horror and gore thrown in. I was not expecting this type of page turning suspense from Little and it was nice to see his versatility.
Whats scary is the fact that cults are real and exist and are blindly followed by their brainwashed brethren in everyday life. Religious cults are horrifying and real and adds an element of reality to this novel.
The Homesteaders and their complex was very well done. The Children can give a reader some mental-visual scares. Father was a great baddie. The onslaught that the homesteaders achieve is crazy. Online sabotage, identity theft, murder, arson, kidnapping, dog killing, bribery etc etc. Crazy that these college students stood up against all of that.
Must read if your a Little fan and a def must read if you like suspenseful thrillers .
January 15, 2011
Little's latest is a straight action-suspense thriller with no supernatural element. He examines the topic of religous cults, and the influence they have on the lives of those who join and are born into them. He does not take this one to the extreme lengths he does in most of his "if-this-goes-on" stories, and shows more restraint in the areas of graphic sex and violence than much of his earlier work. It's an interesting and well-paced story, though some of the plot threads aren't entirely convincing. The characters are engaging, for the most part, though I'm not sure about the names Reyn and Dror. The ending seemed realistic, though the presentation was a little flat after a frenzied build up.
August 12, 2018
Oh my, this story was a major thrill ride from beginning to end. I would have loved to be able to finish it in one sitting.
The story starts with a road trip to the Burning Man festival, but then becomes something very different and terrifying.
And this is one of those books that you don’t want to spoil for anyone, so I will end my review here. If a copy comes your way, grab it.
The story starts with a road trip to the Burning Man festival, but then becomes something very different and terrifying.
And this is one of those books that you don’t want to spoil for anyone, so I will end my review here. If a copy comes your way, grab it.
October 20, 2010
Bentley Little is way more hit than miss with me, but this one missed big time. The stock characters were not very interesting, nor was the situation they found themselves in. Little's books don't have to have an air of the supernatural to them to be good, but I was expecting it in this book and was sorely disappointed. It's another cult/brainwashing story and it played out exactly as I thought it would. No surprises at all.
February 24, 2015
If you want to know what the book is about, read the synopsis. I stopped doing book reports when I was in grade school. If you want to know what I thought of the book, read on
I was quite disappointed in this book as I have expected it to be more intriging than it was. I caught on pretty quickly to certain aspects so there were very little surprises. I also found it went on way too long. It seemed that the author was just trying to fill up a certain number of pages. Altogether - a big YAWN from me.
I was quite disappointed in this book as I have expected it to be more intriging than it was. I caught on pretty quickly to certain aspects so there were very little surprises. I also found it went on way too long. It seemed that the author was just trying to fill up a certain number of pages. Altogether - a big YAWN from me.
September 10, 2024
The Disappearance has what you would want if you are into the cult type thriller/mystery. Personally I loved the cult aspect in this and thought breaking the novel into 3 parts was really smart! There is definitely a lot that is going on in this book but not too much that makes it too diluted. The characters are all very relatable and overall a pretty enjoyable read! You most definitely will not want to put this book down until you find out how everything unfolds and who makes it out alive!
July 13, 2018
great story about a misleaded religious group... threatening...
July 11, 2024
TW/CW: Language, drinking, drug use, animal death, use of r-word, use of c-word, homophobic slur, death by suicide, incest, sexual abuse, gaslighting, cults
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Gary, his girlfriend, Joan, and their friends intend to make the most of their three day vacation from UCLA partying at Burning Man. But soon after they arrive at the festival in the remote desert, Joan disappears. Calls to her parents’ home yield only dead air. Her school records are gone. And there’s no evidence that Joan, or even her roommate, ever existed. Most disturbing of all is what they do find.
Among Joan’s belongings is a prayer written on a small scroll. It’s a safeguard—and a warning—from something called The Outsiders. For Gary and his friends it’s the only clue. Now, if they want to find out exactly what happened to Joan, they must follow it. But they may not like what they uncover....
Release Date: September 2010
Genre: Horror/thriller
Pages: 391
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ (3.5)
What I Liked:
1. Fast read
2. Writing style is fantastic
3. Plot just keeps going & going
4. Love the whole Wicker Man/cult vibes
What I Didn't Like:
1. What's with all the random sexual penis arousal moments
2. Spelling errors & missing words
3. Book is too long
4. Repetitive at times
Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}
Joan has disappeared from the festival and they were all drugged but his friends first suggest that they go to the police but when they get to the police now his friends are suggesting they just go home. I wouldn't trust my friends honestly. They're saying because there's drugs in their system it's going to look suspicious that she disappeared but the drugs in your system would match the story that you're telling the police. Going back to Los Angeles would make zero sense because she was last seen with Gary it would be more suspicious that he didn't report it. Don't go home Gary report it. I'm now even more suspicious of Joan doing something with Reyn. Okay at least he did go into the station to report it, though waiting 48 hours is actually a myth.
Everybody went to Jones dorm room only to see that now Kara is also missing, her roommate. So they finally decide to call the police and have them come investigate the disappearances of everybody. Thank God Gary is starting the paper trail for her disappearance.
Oh gosh the part with Terri walking across campus toward her dorm room was absolutely anxiety ridden. I was reading it on the edge of my seat and when she talked about how dark it was and then this random man standing at the bottom of the stairs - no thank you. I'm actually shocked that she would walk past him and risk that situation. I can't tell if that was written because women are always afraid of offending men and seeming impolite, so turning around and going the other way would look rude to the stranger or if the author being a male just thought that's something a woman would do in the dark all alone. In the end though was super sad that she was killed by a car. Unsure if she was hit by the man, somehow he got to a car and on the road and hit her or if he just happened to walk up on the scene.
I'll be honest with you I thought Riley sagers characters jump to the craziest conclusions but Gary has some weird thoughts whenever he comes upon something that he doesn't understand it's always worst case scenario
I keep thinking that Reyn is a part of this. Gary goes out of town and Reyn knew that he was going out of town so he goes to his dorm room and destroys it. He keeps giving him weird advice. He tells them that the police suspect him of something with Kara's disappearance but that doesn't make any sense because she was seen after Gary was out of town and already gone when he got back. How would he be a part of her disappearance if he wasn't even in town?
Trying to understand Gary's obsession with Joan being sexually assaulted. It's been mentioned like five or six times already. It's weird.
In this era of politicalness right now in the United States I had to laugh at this one part. There's a truck that drives past them and it has flags all over it;
"Ya, and what's with those flags?" "We're all Americans here is he trying to let us know that he's more American than we are."
My thoughts exactly whenever I drive past somebody who has 600 flags on or is decked out in red white and blue.
[MID BOOK THEORY]: Reyn was the one that drugged himself and his friends. He knew The People were going to come and take Joan because they're in a cult and he's apart of it. I think Joan was going to try and leave the cult and her parents or whatever didn't want her to leave so they had her kidnapped, kidnapped her roommate because her roommate knew about her family, and killed Terri to cover their tracks.
Of course Gary is suspicious of the tow truck driver that makes perfect sense.
Gary gets kidnapped by this group of Hills Have Eyes men. Sadly uses the r-word when referring to their looks. No Gary we don't use that word!
When Gary called Reyn he never mentioned the sheriff's name, so how would Reyn know that Gary was in danger and that's where the sheriff worked?
Gary's dad telling him he can Western Union him some money wouldn't work as you need an ID to prove who you are to get the money.
The idea for Gary and everyone to catch an Outsider seems silly. I just keep thinking that they'll just send more when those other two don't come back.
What's up with Detective Williams? He tells Gary and his friends that they can go to investigate the address and the sheriff of that town will look the other way. He thinks that if Gary gets in trouble he can get the Sheriff out there to investigate and maybe bring these people down for kidnapping. When Stacy asks if Detective Williams will be going to he says "it's complicated". Now my mind is spinning because what does that mean? Does Detective Williams have something to do with this cult? It doesn't make sense and the group should be suspicious that a police officer was saying it's okay for them to go to this random cult and approach them about a kidnapping. I don't believe any detective would advocate for this to happen. But Detective Williams is writing them addresses and direct numbers to the sheriff. Honestly I'm just suspicious now
Getting Jones POV proved I was wrong and actually her parents and her escaped The Cult. So her parents being the one sending for her was wrong.
Then through Jones pov we also get to see that Kara was actually working with Father and she's called a convert.
If Kara was a part of the kidnapping of Joan then why would the people wait until they went all the way out to Burning Man to kidnap Joan? Wouldn't it have been just easier to kidnap her from the room? I mean they make it seem so easy they were able to get to Gary and kidnap him so why go to the extent of drugging three other people and trying to kidnap a person at a festival that's an hour away from where they're normally at?
Omg Gary mentioning Joan being sexually assaulted again. And then Joan thinking the same thing. What's with the authors obsession of this thought? Also someone putting a pad inside her underwear when she was out is such a bizzare thing to do. It's kind of brushed aside as an afterthought by Joan but I have so many questions.
Getting Joan back from the cult was just too easy. I wasn't a fan at how this was presented. She happens to find some people growing mushrooms that can make people hallucinate they then work together to poison the people because she's now allowed to work in the kitchen. At the same time this is going down with Joan and those people Gary and his friends are also breaking in to the homestead, so they're both able to escape. It just feels like this huge buildup to get Joan back and it's over in like 2 seconds without any confrontation. Very disappointing.
My God this book is so long. We rescued Joan and we still have another hundred pages left.
I think the hardest thing for me to believe about this book is that Joan has been kidnapped and missing for I assume weeks at this point and Gary has already been kidnapped once barely escaping with his life, and they just return back to normal and return to school like nothing even happened. There is a crazy cult leader trying to find them. But these two continue to go to their classes. I'm sorry there's just no way that mentally they would be in the head space to concentrate on school. To me this was the most ludicrous part. These 20 year olds have got to be the most focused students in the world. The amount of stress they've went through and everything they've done and they just manage to keep school as number one focus.
Father is like 80/90 years old but he just has the energy to move around like he's like 30.
Gary, Stacy, Reyn learn about Brian being murdered but pretty much ignore it to go find Joan. They only learn about it for sure once they call the police to let them know where they're going.
I'm still suspicious of Reyn. After all this time suddenly now he remembers where the smell is coming from what the homesteaders have to start fires with. It's in the Mojave Desert. Oh and he went on a field trip with school to learn about it at this Preserve but like I'm just thinking like what if that's where he met father. Too coincidental for me. Plus nothing has happened to rain at all. Him and Stacy have been fine this whole time. Nevermind, Stacy died in the next chapter and Reyn wasn't apart of the cult.
Joan is rescued AGAIN, Stacy is dead, and Reyn is alive but weirdly acting all normal despite his girlfriend being killed.
Final Thoughts:
I'm going to be honest with you this is my second Bentley Little book and I enjoyed it way more than the first one I read, which was The Haunted. I feel like this book had more structure and more of a story that drew you in. I know that I had a lot of issues with the book but I would say that happened mostly in the middle of the book because for me the beginning of it was fantastic, but as with any book that's too long the middle started to drag and then we got to the end and you just kind of feel like why didn't it already end. It just keeps beating a dead horse.
The message here is to find yourself a boyfriend like Gary. Gary has only been dating Joan for 4 weeks and look at all the crap he's went through to get Joan back. If a man doesn't go through this for you he doesn't love you. Be a Gary.
The ending frustrated me. It felt so underwhelming to me.
This book is 25% worried that Joan is going to be sexually assaulted and less worried about her being murdered or even beat up.
We never even really talked about why Joan lied to Gary about her parents but was willing to take her roommate and her friend Terri to meet them. I didn't understand the point of that. Why would she keep telling Gary that she has a horrible relationship with her parents and doesn't talk to them if it wasn't that bad? But why would she trust her roommate and friend more? It's really never brought back up again so that's just like a weird plot hole floating in the universe.
I wanted to add that this book was not a horror book but I'd say thriller with some horror/scary elements in it.
IG | Blog
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Gary, his girlfriend, Joan, and their friends intend to make the most of their three day vacation from UCLA partying at Burning Man. But soon after they arrive at the festival in the remote desert, Joan disappears. Calls to her parents’ home yield only dead air. Her school records are gone. And there’s no evidence that Joan, or even her roommate, ever existed. Most disturbing of all is what they do find.
Among Joan’s belongings is a prayer written on a small scroll. It’s a safeguard—and a warning—from something called The Outsiders. For Gary and his friends it’s the only clue. Now, if they want to find out exactly what happened to Joan, they must follow it. But they may not like what they uncover....
Release Date: September 2010
Genre: Horror/thriller
Pages: 391
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ (3.5)
What I Liked:
1. Fast read
2. Writing style is fantastic
3. Plot just keeps going & going
4. Love the whole Wicker Man/cult vibes
What I Didn't Like:
1. What's with all the random sexual penis arousal moments
2. Spelling errors & missing words
3. Book is too long
4. Repetitive at times
Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}
Joan has disappeared from the festival and they were all drugged but his friends first suggest that they go to the police but when they get to the police now his friends are suggesting they just go home. I wouldn't trust my friends honestly. They're saying because there's drugs in their system it's going to look suspicious that she disappeared but the drugs in your system would match the story that you're telling the police. Going back to Los Angeles would make zero sense because she was last seen with Gary it would be more suspicious that he didn't report it. Don't go home Gary report it. I'm now even more suspicious of Joan doing something with Reyn. Okay at least he did go into the station to report it, though waiting 48 hours is actually a myth.
Everybody went to Jones dorm room only to see that now Kara is also missing, her roommate. So they finally decide to call the police and have them come investigate the disappearances of everybody. Thank God Gary is starting the paper trail for her disappearance.
Oh gosh the part with Terri walking across campus toward her dorm room was absolutely anxiety ridden. I was reading it on the edge of my seat and when she talked about how dark it was and then this random man standing at the bottom of the stairs - no thank you. I'm actually shocked that she would walk past him and risk that situation. I can't tell if that was written because women are always afraid of offending men and seeming impolite, so turning around and going the other way would look rude to the stranger or if the author being a male just thought that's something a woman would do in the dark all alone. In the end though was super sad that she was killed by a car. Unsure if she was hit by the man, somehow he got to a car and on the road and hit her or if he just happened to walk up on the scene.
I'll be honest with you I thought Riley sagers characters jump to the craziest conclusions but Gary has some weird thoughts whenever he comes upon something that he doesn't understand it's always worst case scenario
I keep thinking that Reyn is a part of this. Gary goes out of town and Reyn knew that he was going out of town so he goes to his dorm room and destroys it. He keeps giving him weird advice. He tells them that the police suspect him of something with Kara's disappearance but that doesn't make any sense because she was seen after Gary was out of town and already gone when he got back. How would he be a part of her disappearance if he wasn't even in town?
Trying to understand Gary's obsession with Joan being sexually assaulted. It's been mentioned like five or six times already. It's weird.
In this era of politicalness right now in the United States I had to laugh at this one part. There's a truck that drives past them and it has flags all over it;
"Ya, and what's with those flags?" "We're all Americans here is he trying to let us know that he's more American than we are."
My thoughts exactly whenever I drive past somebody who has 600 flags on or is decked out in red white and blue.
[MID BOOK THEORY]: Reyn was the one that drugged himself and his friends. He knew The People were going to come and take Joan because they're in a cult and he's apart of it. I think Joan was going to try and leave the cult and her parents or whatever didn't want her to leave so they had her kidnapped, kidnapped her roommate because her roommate knew about her family, and killed Terri to cover their tracks.
Of course Gary is suspicious of the tow truck driver that makes perfect sense.
Gary gets kidnapped by this group of Hills Have Eyes men. Sadly uses the r-word when referring to their looks. No Gary we don't use that word!
When Gary called Reyn he never mentioned the sheriff's name, so how would Reyn know that Gary was in danger and that's where the sheriff worked?
Gary's dad telling him he can Western Union him some money wouldn't work as you need an ID to prove who you are to get the money.
The idea for Gary and everyone to catch an Outsider seems silly. I just keep thinking that they'll just send more when those other two don't come back.
What's up with Detective Williams? He tells Gary and his friends that they can go to investigate the address and the sheriff of that town will look the other way. He thinks that if Gary gets in trouble he can get the Sheriff out there to investigate and maybe bring these people down for kidnapping. When Stacy asks if Detective Williams will be going to he says "it's complicated". Now my mind is spinning because what does that mean? Does Detective Williams have something to do with this cult? It doesn't make sense and the group should be suspicious that a police officer was saying it's okay for them to go to this random cult and approach them about a kidnapping. I don't believe any detective would advocate for this to happen. But Detective Williams is writing them addresses and direct numbers to the sheriff. Honestly I'm just suspicious now
Getting Jones POV proved I was wrong and actually her parents and her escaped The Cult. So her parents being the one sending for her was wrong.
Then through Jones pov we also get to see that Kara was actually working with Father and she's called a convert.
If Kara was a part of the kidnapping of Joan then why would the people wait until they went all the way out to Burning Man to kidnap Joan? Wouldn't it have been just easier to kidnap her from the room? I mean they make it seem so easy they were able to get to Gary and kidnap him so why go to the extent of drugging three other people and trying to kidnap a person at a festival that's an hour away from where they're normally at?
Omg Gary mentioning Joan being sexually assaulted again. And then Joan thinking the same thing. What's with the authors obsession of this thought? Also someone putting a pad inside her underwear when she was out is such a bizzare thing to do. It's kind of brushed aside as an afterthought by Joan but I have so many questions.
Getting Joan back from the cult was just too easy. I wasn't a fan at how this was presented. She happens to find some people growing mushrooms that can make people hallucinate they then work together to poison the people because she's now allowed to work in the kitchen. At the same time this is going down with Joan and those people Gary and his friends are also breaking in to the homestead, so they're both able to escape. It just feels like this huge buildup to get Joan back and it's over in like 2 seconds without any confrontation. Very disappointing.
My God this book is so long. We rescued Joan and we still have another hundred pages left.
I think the hardest thing for me to believe about this book is that Joan has been kidnapped and missing for I assume weeks at this point and Gary has already been kidnapped once barely escaping with his life, and they just return back to normal and return to school like nothing even happened. There is a crazy cult leader trying to find them. But these two continue to go to their classes. I'm sorry there's just no way that mentally they would be in the head space to concentrate on school. To me this was the most ludicrous part. These 20 year olds have got to be the most focused students in the world. The amount of stress they've went through and everything they've done and they just manage to keep school as number one focus.
Father is like 80/90 years old but he just has the energy to move around like he's like 30.
Gary, Stacy, Reyn learn about Brian being murdered but pretty much ignore it to go find Joan. They only learn about it for sure once they call the police to let them know where they're going.
Joan is rescued AGAIN, Stacy is dead, and Reyn is alive but weirdly acting all normal despite his girlfriend being killed.
Final Thoughts:
I'm going to be honest with you this is my second Bentley Little book and I enjoyed it way more than the first one I read, which was The Haunted. I feel like this book had more structure and more of a story that drew you in. I know that I had a lot of issues with the book but I would say that happened mostly in the middle of the book because for me the beginning of it was fantastic, but as with any book that's too long the middle started to drag and then we got to the end and you just kind of feel like why didn't it already end. It just keeps beating a dead horse.
The message here is to find yourself a boyfriend like Gary. Gary has only been dating Joan for 4 weeks and look at all the crap he's went through to get Joan back. If a man doesn't go through this for you he doesn't love you. Be a Gary.
The ending frustrated me. It felt so underwhelming to me.
This book is 25% worried that Joan is going to be sexually assaulted and less worried about her being murdered or even beat up.
We never even really talked about why Joan lied to Gary about her parents but was willing to take her roommate and her friend Terri to meet them. I didn't understand the point of that. Why would she keep telling Gary that she has a horrible relationship with her parents and doesn't talk to them if it wasn't that bad? But why would she trust her roommate and friend more? It's really never brought back up again so that's just like a weird plot hole floating in the universe.
I wanted to add that this book was not a horror book but I'd say thriller with some horror/scary elements in it.
IG | Blog
September 7, 2024
Gary, his new girlfriend Joan, and their friends Reyn, Brian and Stacy, are heading from the dorms at UCLA to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada when this book begins. They are heading to Burning Man for a fun time, and aside from Gary being upset that Brian had “party favors” in the car, everything was going great. They get there, find a spot to camp, unpack a bit, set out their snacks … then Gary begins to feel woozy.
He doesn’t do drugs, and he and Joan are the designated sober friends for the trip, as the others lose themselves in psychedelics and alcohol. His last thought before passing out was that Brian must have slipped him some of that ecstasy he sneaked into the car…but people take that then dance, so why can’t he move?
In the morning, they all start to wake, and before Gary can confront Brian, he realizes Joan isn’t next to him. Soon, the four have spread out but still can’t find her, and she isn’t answering her phone. Brian insists he did not drug anyone, but all of them woke up feeling a bit out of it, and it’s only their missing friend that gets them moving. After a full day of searching, they decide to go to the police, but at the station, the officers who hear about people wandering away from their friends during Burning Man assure them that she’s fine and will show up eventually. Besides that, they won’t make a police report until Joan has been missing for at least 48 hours. Not knowing what else to do, they head back to Los Angeles.
After searching Joan’s dorm room, they find nothing - except a tiny scroll with a prayer about staying safe from the “Outsiders”. Her roommate Kara is missing as well, but they don’t see anything amiss in the room. After 48 hours, the police in LA are slightly more interested, but as they begin asking questions, Gary realizes that he knows hardly anything about his new girlfriend. He doesn’t know her parents’ names, or even where she’s from. When the police investigate, they can’t find any record of Joan, anywhere. She’s not registered as a UCLA student, the motor vehicle bureau has never heard of her, she has no credit history…but when her friends insist they aren’t playing a game and try to pull up her social media pages, everything is gone. It’s like Joan never existed in the first place…
This begins a quest to find their friend, and it definitely gets crazy. Who are the Outsiders? What is with that scroll? Why do they all feel like they were drugged when she disappeared? So many questions, and you’ll get all the answers in time. My favorite Bentley Little books are the ones that turn everyday things into darkly comedic horror, but this is more of a straight horror book - and it’s really good. Four stars!
He doesn’t do drugs, and he and Joan are the designated sober friends for the trip, as the others lose themselves in psychedelics and alcohol. His last thought before passing out was that Brian must have slipped him some of that ecstasy he sneaked into the car…but people take that then dance, so why can’t he move?
In the morning, they all start to wake, and before Gary can confront Brian, he realizes Joan isn’t next to him. Soon, the four have spread out but still can’t find her, and she isn’t answering her phone. Brian insists he did not drug anyone, but all of them woke up feeling a bit out of it, and it’s only their missing friend that gets them moving. After a full day of searching, they decide to go to the police, but at the station, the officers who hear about people wandering away from their friends during Burning Man assure them that she’s fine and will show up eventually. Besides that, they won’t make a police report until Joan has been missing for at least 48 hours. Not knowing what else to do, they head back to Los Angeles.
After searching Joan’s dorm room, they find nothing - except a tiny scroll with a prayer about staying safe from the “Outsiders”. Her roommate Kara is missing as well, but they don’t see anything amiss in the room. After 48 hours, the police in LA are slightly more interested, but as they begin asking questions, Gary realizes that he knows hardly anything about his new girlfriend. He doesn’t know her parents’ names, or even where she’s from. When the police investigate, they can’t find any record of Joan, anywhere. She’s not registered as a UCLA student, the motor vehicle bureau has never heard of her, she has no credit history…but when her friends insist they aren’t playing a game and try to pull up her social media pages, everything is gone. It’s like Joan never existed in the first place…
This begins a quest to find their friend, and it definitely gets crazy. Who are the Outsiders? What is with that scroll? Why do they all feel like they were drugged when she disappeared? So many questions, and you’ll get all the answers in time. My favorite Bentley Little books are the ones that turn everyday things into darkly comedic horror, but this is more of a straight horror book - and it’s really good. Four stars!
September 16, 2010
I really liked this book! Not the usual Bentley Little writing. What I mean is, no perverted sex, not a lot of blood and killing, you know, his usual! Well, this book is about Gary, his girlfriend Joan, and their friends Reyn, Stacy and Brian.
They all go to the festival of "The Burning Man." On this weekend trip, they are all drugged and wake up to find that Joan has disappeared. From then on, the book is a non-stop quest for these four college students to find out where she is and what happened to her. The police don't even believe she exists at first, because there is no record of her even being enlisted at UCLA. Her Facebook and myspace pages are gone, and her cell phone disconnected.
Her friends do everything possible to find her, and their discoveries find that she was once a member of a cult in Texas. One her parents fled from 5 yrs. prior, and the head of the cult, the one they call "Father" has his followers out there, watching Gary and his friends, doing everything they can to keep them from finding Joan, who Father insists will bear him sons.
This is a really good read. It keeps you interested from chapter to chapter and is hard to put down. I like this new, not so graphic writing that I didn't expect from Bentley Little. It worked and it was very entertaining. I can't wait to see what he'll write about next!
They all go to the festival of "The Burning Man." On this weekend trip, they are all drugged and wake up to find that Joan has disappeared. From then on, the book is a non-stop quest for these four college students to find out where she is and what happened to her. The police don't even believe she exists at first, because there is no record of her even being enlisted at UCLA. Her Facebook and myspace pages are gone, and her cell phone disconnected.
Her friends do everything possible to find her, and their discoveries find that she was once a member of a cult in Texas. One her parents fled from 5 yrs. prior, and the head of the cult, the one they call "Father" has his followers out there, watching Gary and his friends, doing everything they can to keep them from finding Joan, who Father insists will bear him sons.
This is a really good read. It keeps you interested from chapter to chapter and is hard to put down. I like this new, not so graphic writing that I didn't expect from Bentley Little. It worked and it was very entertaining. I can't wait to see what he'll write about next!
July 18, 2021
2.4 stars! "The Disappointment" The only thing that disappears is the horror.
Warning! This is not horror. The Disappearance lacks Little's patented strange buildup. What we have here is a rote mainstream thriller. Paint by numbers.
I'm a huge Bentley Little fan. This is by far the worst Little book I've read. Dead last. The book read like a boring video game, filled with non-player characters.
Warning! This is not horror. The Disappearance lacks Little's patented strange buildup. What we have here is a rote mainstream thriller. Paint by numbers.
I'm a huge Bentley Little fan. This is by far the worst Little book I've read. Dead last. The book read like a boring video game, filled with non-player characters.
January 28, 2012
The thing that really hurts this book is that you know very little about Joan (the kidnapped girl) and have no real sense of what her relationship with her boyfriend Gary is all about or her friendships. Joan and the rest of the gang are very shallow with no real development. They feel like they're simply going through the motions. I felt the dialogue was horrible at times, and the plotting was rather dull, too. I'm still not sure what the point of Gary's abduction was all about.
If Little had spent time developing his characters, especially Gary and Joan, in the beginning of the novel it would've been a lot better. When it comes to Kara the room mate's fate and Joan's neighbor I guess their fates are supposed to be impactful, but since I knew next to nothing about either one it was a shallow experience.
If Little had spent time developing his characters, especially Gary and Joan, in the beginning of the novel it would've been a lot better. When it comes to Kara the room mate's fate and Joan's neighbor I guess their fates are supposed to be impactful, but since I knew next to nothing about either one it was a shallow experience.
June 30, 2023
Omg. My brain is tired from trying to figure this one out. It literally keeps you on the edge of your seat until the last page. Once I got started I FLEW through this book. I will say the premise was very unique IMO. I haven’t read a book quite like this, which was extra points. I’ll definitely be looking for more books by this author. If you’re a fan of horror/thrillers, I highly recommend.
January 10, 2023
2 stars--meh. Disappointed in dumb characters, a nonsensical plot, and simple writing. My first Bentley Little; should I give him another chance?
October 7, 2010
A horror marvel, Little’s words inspire anxiety—a tension so thick you can’t help but be on edge—as he slowly, methodically builds on your fears with each penetrating page.
As Gary and his friends drive across the Arizona desert, they’re just typical college kids taking a break from their schedule and planning a fun-filled weekend at the Burning Man Festival. Unfortunately, what they expect and what they receive are in totally opposite realms. As they wake from what they immediately recognize as a drug-induced slumber, the once cheerful party is now minus one. Gary’s girlfriend Joan is gone.
In a state of utter panic, Gary is drawn back to the imagined safety of the UCLA campus with the desperate hope that Joan will be waiting. However, Joan has vanished along with all traces of her existence. Frustrated by the general air of skepticism and complete lack of assistance from the authorities, Gary and his small troupe of friends are determined to find out what really happened before they begin to disappear themselves. But, they have no idea what they’re up against and the horrors they find are much too real when the small, ill-equipped group faces off against a cult leader with a larger-than-life grasp.
Little never fails to frighten and “The Disappearance” is no exception.
www.suspensemagazine.com
As Gary and his friends drive across the Arizona desert, they’re just typical college kids taking a break from their schedule and planning a fun-filled weekend at the Burning Man Festival. Unfortunately, what they expect and what they receive are in totally opposite realms. As they wake from what they immediately recognize as a drug-induced slumber, the once cheerful party is now minus one. Gary’s girlfriend Joan is gone.
In a state of utter panic, Gary is drawn back to the imagined safety of the UCLA campus with the desperate hope that Joan will be waiting. However, Joan has vanished along with all traces of her existence. Frustrated by the general air of skepticism and complete lack of assistance from the authorities, Gary and his small troupe of friends are determined to find out what really happened before they begin to disappear themselves. But, they have no idea what they’re up against and the horrors they find are much too real when the small, ill-equipped group faces off against a cult leader with a larger-than-life grasp.
Little never fails to frighten and “The Disappearance” is no exception.
www.suspensemagazine.com
December 20, 2022
Bloody awful. This should have been left in the trunk. Ludicrously cartoonishly bad. Mwahaha bad. Young people don't act like this. They don't talk like this. They can't interact with the world like this. Casually get into a major university at the last minute? No. Rent a car? No. Scrape up that extra scholarship money? No. Get referred to as hippies? What generation is this supposed to be anyway??? This book was so out of touch as to be laughable. And the bad guy? Paper dolls have more depth. That description could apply to all the characters in this pointless novel.
This was a trunk novel at best and it never should have seen the light of day on those dusty neglected bookshelves at Walmart.
This was a trunk novel at best and it never should have seen the light of day on those dusty neglected bookshelves at Walmart.
April 4, 2018
This was not Little's best work, but it still kept me reading. It was not his normal writing which is evident right away. Almost as if he tried to stray from his normal into a formula book. This story is less frightening with the big bangs of his other books and more of a slow build with mild chills and anxious tension.
August 3, 2022
Bentley Little of course it is a five.
July 30, 2021
Двадцать первый роман Литтла. Вышел в сентябре 2010 года.
Компания студентов приехала на фестиваль в Неваде. Там их опоили наркоти��ами и одна из них, Джоан, бесследно исчезла. Ее парень, Гэри, с тремя друзьями пытается разыскать ее. Но вскоре все занимающиеся поисками люди попадают под удар таинственной секты.
Ладно, это Литтл. Тот Литтл, который хорошо умеет в мистику, ужасы, кровь, кишки, расчлененку. В предшествующих «Чужаках» двух десятков романов, Литтл только раз остался в районе реализма. Потому и от этого романа ждешь чего-нибудь такого, фантастического и кровавого. Особенно в первой половине романа, когда персонажи, а с ними и читатели, не понимают, что происходит. Затем выясняется, что все происходящие события дело рук религиозной секты. И интерес к роману сразу угасает.
Четверо подростков против Древнего Зла — это нормально и обыденно. Четверо подростков с двумя ножами против сектантов, с которыми полиция ничего не может сделать десятилетиями — это ерунда и сказка.
В Штатах секты — тема, не выходящая из моды десятилетиями. Потому к ней уже обращалось столько писателей, что успело надоесть. Сектанты у Литтла мало чем отличаются от «канона». Община на закрытой территории, близ небольшого городка. Харизматичный лидер, который пытается обрюхатить всю женскую часть сектантов. Электричество и туалеты зло. Единственное придуманное Литтлом отличие — эти сектанты очень неплохо шарят в компьютерах и расправу со всеми своими врагами начинают по одной схеме — стирают данные противника из интернета. Фейсбук, кредитные истории, работа, учеба. А уже потом тюкнуть по голове и вывезти в пустыню.
Даже если представить, что вариации на осаду «Маунт Кармела» и Дэвида Кореша не написали уже сотня авторов, то всё одно остаются просчеты Литтла в структуре романа. Разгром секты и вызволение из лап сектантов Джоан происходит в конце второй трети романа. Дальше все возвращаются в университет. Но остатки секты снова наезжают на студентов. Снова похищают Джоан. Снова друзья прутся ее вызволять.
Литтл просто растягивает несложную, в принципе, историю до «полного метра» — размеров романа. К таким же растягиваниям относятся и похищение Гэри сектантами (никак им не нужное, но в книге страниц 40 на это потрачено), долгое общение с полицейскими (тоже не нужное для сюжета) и многое другое. В общем, у Литтла не было истории на большой роман и он тянул время и страницы. И получились «Чужаки» — тот случай, когда повестушку страниц на 40 искусственно растягивают на 350.
В 2007 году у Литтла вышел роман «The Vanishing». В 2010 году — «The Disappearance». Оба названия на русский можно перевести примерно одинаково — «Исчезновение». Понятно, что при издании на русском оба романа «в лоб» переводить было нельзя — народ запутается. К тому же оба романа впервые вышли на русском в 2017 году. Первым издали «The Vanishing» — придумав ему название «Сгинувшие». Так что для «The Disappearance» уже можно было использовать очень подходящее к сюжету «Исчезновение». Но нет, «Эксмо» по каким-то своим причинам решило обозвать перевод этого романа нелепым «Чужаки».
5/10
Оригинал отзыва - https://cahier.ru/little-disappearanc...
Компания студентов приехала на фестиваль в Неваде. Там их опоили наркоти��ами и одна из них, Джоан, бесследно исчезла. Ее парень, Гэри, с тремя друзьями пытается разыскать ее. Но вскоре все занимающиеся поисками люди попадают под удар таинственной секты.
Ладно, это Литтл. Тот Литтл, который хорошо умеет в мистику, ужасы, кровь, кишки, расчлененку. В предшествующих «Чужаках» двух десятков романов, Литтл только раз остался в районе реализма. Потому и от этого романа ждешь чего-нибудь такого, фантастического и кровавого. Особенно в первой половине романа, когда персонажи, а с ними и читатели, не понимают, что происходит. Затем выясняется, что все происходящие события дело рук религиозной секты. И интерес к роману сразу угасает.
Четверо подростков против Древнего Зла — это нормально и обыденно. Четверо подростков с двумя ножами против сектантов, с которыми полиция ничего не может сделать десятилетиями — это ерунда и сказка.
В Штатах секты — тема, не выходящая из моды десятилетиями. Потому к ней уже обращалось столько писателей, что успело надоесть. Сектанты у Литтла мало чем отличаются от «канона». Община на закрытой территории, близ небольшого городка. Харизматичный лидер, который пытается обрюхатить всю женскую часть сектантов. Электричество и туалеты зло. Единственное придуманное Литтлом отличие — эти сектанты очень неплохо шарят в компьютерах и расправу со всеми своими врагами начинают по одной схеме — стирают данные противника из интернета. Фейсбук, кредитные истории, работа, учеба. А уже потом тюкнуть по голове и вывезти в пустыню.
Даже если представить, что вариации на осаду «Маунт Кармела» и Дэвида Кореша не написали уже сотня авторов, то всё одно остаются просчеты Литтла в структуре романа. Разгром секты и вызволение из лап сектантов Джоан происходит в конце второй трети романа. Дальше все возвращаются в университет. Но остатки секты снова наезжают на студентов. Снова похищают Джоан. Снова друзья прутся ее вызволять.
Литтл просто растягивает несложную, в принципе, историю до «полного метра» — размеров романа. К таким же растягиваниям относятся и похищение Гэри сектантами (никак им не нужное, но в книге страниц 40 на это потрачено), долгое общение с полицейскими (тоже не нужное для сюжета) и многое другое. В общем, у Литтла не было истории на большой роман и он тянул время и страницы. И получились «Чужаки» — тот случай, когда повестушку страниц на 40 искусственно растягивают на 350.
В 2007 году у Литтла вышел роман «The Vanishing». В 2010 году — «The Disappearance». Оба названия на русский можно перевести примерно одинаково — «Исчезновение». Понятно, что при издании на русском оба романа «в лоб» переводить было нельзя — народ запутается. К тому же оба романа впервые вышли на русском в 2017 году. Первым издали «The Vanishing» — придумав ему название «Сгинувшие». Так что для «The Disappearance» уже можно было использовать очень подходящее к сюжету «Исчезновение». Но нет, «Эксмо» по каким-то своим причинам решило обозвать перевод этого романа нелепым «Чужаки».
5/10
Оригинал отзыва - https://cahier.ru/little-disappearanc...
March 14, 2018
Anytime when I review a book, I look at five different areas: Characters, plot, scenes, dialogue and transition. These are the main ingredients in what makes a book a winner. Fail on any part of them, or even all of them, and you’re not going anywhere.
When a book is classified by its genre, which is supposed to give the reader the chance to say, “That’s my style of writing,” or “I don’t care for that genre,” or “that’s something new; I’ll give it a try.”
When I decided to read Bentley Little’s “The Disappearance,” I was hoping for a home run. Instead, I got a foul ball. I found the story to be too winded; too long.
As Gary and his friends drive across the Arizona desert, they're just typical college kids taking a break from their schedule and planning a fun-filled weekend at the Burning Man Festival. Unfortunately, what they expect and what they receive are in totally opposite realms. As they wake from what they immediately recognize as a drug-induced slumber, the once cheerful party is now minus one. Gary's girlfriend Joan is gone.
In a state of utter panic, Gary is drawn back to the imagined safety of the UCLA campus with the desperate hope that Joan will be waiting. However, Joan has vanished along with all traces of her existence. Frustrated by the general air of skepticism and complete lack of assistance from the authorities, Gary and his small troupe of friends are determined to find out what really happened before they begin to disappear themselves. But, they have no idea what they're up against and the horrors they find are much too real when the small, ill-equipped group faces off against a cult leader with a larger-than-life grasp.
The plot seemed like it was a bad made-for-television movie. I found it to be unbelievable and ill-conceived. Not only was the plot drawn out, so was the book. I couldn’t wait to get done with it.
The characters are very bland with no real characterization between them. The core protagonists lump together into a kind of character loaf. Most of the text is just internal deliberation or characters arguing about going to the police or not. Generally, a lot of his books are the same, but this time he didn't have the horror element as a tool to give the story some life. It feels empty, like he wanted to put in a typical scenario, but felt restricted.
The story loses some realism when the national television show, Dateline, covers the story of Joan's abduction. Little doesn't seem to understand that the college campus would be inundated with press and security and the events that happen in the final act of the book would never be possible with such a national story. It felt as if Little pinned himself into a corner and was not sure how to get himself out.
Bentley Little spent too much time on the college scenes; he didn’t give enough attention to the other scenes in the book. There were times that I felt that I was running through the desert with the characters, just to catch up on the scenes. Everything went too fast, except for when the kids were on the college campus.
I didn't find it very suspenseful. The writing is flat, drawn out, and utilitarian and never drew me in. At one point someone explains the strange events that he's been a part of to his film class and they seem to accept that it’s the truth immediately. You'd think that'd be a dramatic moment, but not the way Little tells it. No one chuckles. No one thinks it’s a joke or doubts his sanity because he's just told them this bizarre story. It might have been more dramatic and believable if they needed some convincing that these outsiders are real. I pretty much quite reading at that point.
The thing that I disliked most about the book was that it just kept going and going, even when I felt that it should be over. And it was the same thing three times. Girl is kidnapped, boy is kidnapped. Boy escapes. Rescues girl. Girl is kidnapped, boy..... You get the picture.
With the Disappearance, I couldn't even muster enough concern to finish the book. It wasn't that the characters were uninteresting-they weren't. Perhaps it was just because the whole Evil Amish, Children of the Corn plot has been done to death, and there's nothing new to write about it.
There are some suspenseful and effective moments in the book, however, when my suspicions as to where the story was taking me were revealed, it was pretty much what I expected. The characters and writing aren’t solid. I never really feared for the characters once it was finally revealed what they were up against. It's like having a James Bond movie with a lame villain. Exciting at times, but you are never worried your hero might not make it.
Throughout the whole book, the transitions were terrible. Even when Little tried to change scenes within a chapter, I actually had to go back a re-read a couple pages. You get lost in the dialogue between the characters, as well as the shifting of the scenes.
Now whether or not “The Disappearance” was a thriller, suspense, or horror novel, the writing didn’t live up to any expectations of either genre. I felt that it missed the mark on all three, just leaving words on a page that continued on, and on, and on.
I’ve never read Bentley Little before. This was the first book that I read of his. When I was done reading “The Disappearance,” I had asked some of my reader friends if they have ever read Little before. The answer was no. I decided to read some of the review for this book and to my surprise; a lot of reviews compared Bentley Little to Stephen King! I didn’t see that coming. Now I have read Stephen King and, in my opinion, Bentley Little doesn’t even come close to King.
Bentley Little fails on all areas of the novel, and he also failed to keep me as a permanent reader. I cannot, in my good judgement, recommend this book. And if it does come out as a made-for-television movie, I won’t watch it.
When a book is classified by its genre, which is supposed to give the reader the chance to say, “That’s my style of writing,” or “I don’t care for that genre,” or “that’s something new; I’ll give it a try.”
When I decided to read Bentley Little’s “The Disappearance,” I was hoping for a home run. Instead, I got a foul ball. I found the story to be too winded; too long.
As Gary and his friends drive across the Arizona desert, they're just typical college kids taking a break from their schedule and planning a fun-filled weekend at the Burning Man Festival. Unfortunately, what they expect and what they receive are in totally opposite realms. As they wake from what they immediately recognize as a drug-induced slumber, the once cheerful party is now minus one. Gary's girlfriend Joan is gone.
In a state of utter panic, Gary is drawn back to the imagined safety of the UCLA campus with the desperate hope that Joan will be waiting. However, Joan has vanished along with all traces of her existence. Frustrated by the general air of skepticism and complete lack of assistance from the authorities, Gary and his small troupe of friends are determined to find out what really happened before they begin to disappear themselves. But, they have no idea what they're up against and the horrors they find are much too real when the small, ill-equipped group faces off against a cult leader with a larger-than-life grasp.
The plot seemed like it was a bad made-for-television movie. I found it to be unbelievable and ill-conceived. Not only was the plot drawn out, so was the book. I couldn’t wait to get done with it.
The characters are very bland with no real characterization between them. The core protagonists lump together into a kind of character loaf. Most of the text is just internal deliberation or characters arguing about going to the police or not. Generally, a lot of his books are the same, but this time he didn't have the horror element as a tool to give the story some life. It feels empty, like he wanted to put in a typical scenario, but felt restricted.
The story loses some realism when the national television show, Dateline, covers the story of Joan's abduction. Little doesn't seem to understand that the college campus would be inundated with press and security and the events that happen in the final act of the book would never be possible with such a national story. It felt as if Little pinned himself into a corner and was not sure how to get himself out.
Bentley Little spent too much time on the college scenes; he didn’t give enough attention to the other scenes in the book. There were times that I felt that I was running through the desert with the characters, just to catch up on the scenes. Everything went too fast, except for when the kids were on the college campus.
I didn't find it very suspenseful. The writing is flat, drawn out, and utilitarian and never drew me in. At one point someone explains the strange events that he's been a part of to his film class and they seem to accept that it’s the truth immediately. You'd think that'd be a dramatic moment, but not the way Little tells it. No one chuckles. No one thinks it’s a joke or doubts his sanity because he's just told them this bizarre story. It might have been more dramatic and believable if they needed some convincing that these outsiders are real. I pretty much quite reading at that point.
The thing that I disliked most about the book was that it just kept going and going, even when I felt that it should be over. And it was the same thing three times. Girl is kidnapped, boy is kidnapped. Boy escapes. Rescues girl. Girl is kidnapped, boy..... You get the picture.
With the Disappearance, I couldn't even muster enough concern to finish the book. It wasn't that the characters were uninteresting-they weren't. Perhaps it was just because the whole Evil Amish, Children of the Corn plot has been done to death, and there's nothing new to write about it.
There are some suspenseful and effective moments in the book, however, when my suspicions as to where the story was taking me were revealed, it was pretty much what I expected. The characters and writing aren’t solid. I never really feared for the characters once it was finally revealed what they were up against. It's like having a James Bond movie with a lame villain. Exciting at times, but you are never worried your hero might not make it.
Throughout the whole book, the transitions were terrible. Even when Little tried to change scenes within a chapter, I actually had to go back a re-read a couple pages. You get lost in the dialogue between the characters, as well as the shifting of the scenes.
Now whether or not “The Disappearance” was a thriller, suspense, or horror novel, the writing didn’t live up to any expectations of either genre. I felt that it missed the mark on all three, just leaving words on a page that continued on, and on, and on.
I’ve never read Bentley Little before. This was the first book that I read of his. When I was done reading “The Disappearance,” I had asked some of my reader friends if they have ever read Little before. The answer was no. I decided to read some of the review for this book and to my surprise; a lot of reviews compared Bentley Little to Stephen King! I didn’t see that coming. Now I have read Stephen King and, in my opinion, Bentley Little doesn’t even come close to King.
Bentley Little fails on all areas of the novel, and he also failed to keep me as a permanent reader. I cannot, in my good judgement, recommend this book. And if it does come out as a made-for-television movie, I won’t watch it.
June 14, 2020
Normally, I love Bentley Little’s books. They aren’t for the squeamish, that’s for sure. Didn’t care much for this one. Just not up to par.
June 10, 2012
What typically attracts me to the writing of Bentley Little is his flair for the supernatural. For those who are unfamiliar with Little's previous works, The Disappearance may possibly be enjoyable. This was my least favorite of all his work. It is a quick read, not because it is a page turner but because the plot feels rushed. Little's focus seemed to be pop culture with several references to Facebook, MySpace, and even a mention of The Office character Jim Halpert. Although I can appreciate pop culture references as much as the next person, Little's attempts at modernity felt forced, interjected merely to give rise to the plot's unfolding during modern day. (I believe that this book was published in 2010, and anyone who is familiar with MySpace knows that by 2010, MySpace made its way to obscurity). There are many instances, in this book, where his writing is inconsistent, almost contradictory to previously written descriptions or statements. Unless you are a die hard Bentley Little fan and want to read all of his works, I would not waste time on this one.
June 21, 2020
With Bentley Little you generally know what you’re going to get, pervy sex, excessive violence, it’s great trashy horror to relax to that’s so daft yet comforting you overlook plot holes etc. This however is a break away from that which means all you have are dull characters to fixate on an plot holes that have you yelling at the pages! Bloody Gary and Joan can do one! Also did anyone else wonder if Little had invested in blackberry?! (If you read it you’ll get that last comment!) just boring n awful read something else and don’t attempt this one is my advice
March 27, 2012
This was a great book ! Very creepy since it could def happen in real life.
November 27, 2024
Not very captivating and everyone in this book was unlikable
December 30, 2024
Definitely some good creepy vibes.
August 20, 2021
Entertaining enough. Didn't blow my mind.
April 18, 2025
I didn't like it as much as his others but still enjoyable.
April 15, 2021
Tras la primera lectura :
Juraría que ya había reseñado este libro (y lo terminé hace un par de días). Puto internet.
La novela bien, gracias. Bentley Little es por ahora un autor fiable.
Tras la segunda lectura (que probablemente sea la cuarta o quinta porque releer es mi vicio y mi pasión y el padre de todos mis hijos) puedo decir:
- Esta es la novela más accesible de Bentley Little. Cualquier fan del suspense (no llega a ser terror) podría disfrutarlo sin verse con muchas truculencias. Hay algunos asesinatos y gente con deformidades físicas debidas al incesto, y alusiones no apologéticas de pederastia de grado "leve" (unos catorce, quince años).
- Los personajes, por una vez, son realistas y toman decisiones inteligentes, y cuando las cosas salen mal es a pesar de que se haya hecho todo lo posible por evitar el problema, no por despiste o acciones temerarias.
- Confirmo que Bentley Little escribe personajes femeninos creíbles y realistas.
- Lo único que puede parecer absurdo es lo en serio que el protagonista se toma su noviazgo, pero yo me lo creo. A veces pasa. Habrá quien piense que es un pardillo, pero nadie ha hecho nada malo o puesto en peligro a sus amigos "de gratis". Ellos están de acuerdo, desde el principio se ve una relación de amistad dentro del grupo que es envidiable, y si se prestan a ayudar al protagonista es en parte porque quieren a su amigo y novia y en parte porque los malos los han fichado y ahí no había ya nada que hacer.
Leyendo este libro he reído, he llorado y me he entusiasmado. Lo recomiendo encarecidamente. Para el resto de la obra de Little, podéis preguntarme. Yo empecé con esta novela y flipé con la siguiente (que tiene un estilo mucho más marcado, duro y retorcido).
Juraría que ya había reseñado este libro (y lo terminé hace un par de días). Puto internet.
La novela bien, gracias. Bentley Little es por ahora un autor fiable.
Tras la segunda lectura (que probablemente sea la cuarta o quinta porque releer es mi vicio y mi pasión y el padre de todos mis hijos) puedo decir:
- Esta es la novela más accesible de Bentley Little. Cualquier fan del suspense (no llega a ser terror) podría disfrutarlo sin verse con muchas truculencias. Hay algunos asesinatos y gente con deformidades físicas debidas al incesto, y alusiones no apologéticas de pederastia de grado "leve" (unos catorce, quince años).
- Los personajes, por una vez, son realistas y toman decisiones inteligentes, y cuando las cosas salen mal es a pesar de que se haya hecho todo lo posible por evitar el problema, no por despiste o acciones temerarias.
- Confirmo que Bentley Little escribe personajes femeninos creíbles y realistas.
- Lo único que puede parecer absurdo es lo en serio que el protagonista se toma su noviazgo, pero yo me lo creo. A veces pasa. Habrá quien piense que es un pardillo, pero nadie ha hecho nada malo o puesto en peligro a sus amigos "de gratis". Ellos están de acuerdo, desde el principio se ve una relación de amistad dentro del grupo que es envidiable, y si se prestan a ayudar al protagonista es en parte porque quieren a su amigo y novia y en parte porque los malos los han fichado y ahí no había ya nada que hacer.
Leyendo este libro he reído, he llorado y me he entusiasmado. Lo recomiendo encarecidamente. Para el resto de la obra de Little, podéis preguntarme. Yo empecé con esta novela y flipé con la siguiente (que tiene un estilo mucho más marcado, duro y retorcido).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 243 reviews