Title: The Store
Author: Bentley Little
First published January 1, 1996
431 pages, Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 9780451192196 (ISBN10: 0451192192)
Rating: 3.85
Overview
In the quaint town of Millfield, Ohio, life is simple and fulfilling for the residents. That is until the arrival of “The Mart”, a massive retail chain that threatens to wipe out the local stores.
The residents’ concerns heighten when “The Mart” disregards all zoning laws during construction and strange occurrences begin to happen in and around the store. Shoppers are confronted by pushy salespeople and bizarre products that they can’t resist buying.
As the town’s small businesses start to shut down, the influence of “The Mart” spreads to the city officials and law enforcement. With the town in chaos, one man takes on the daunting task of uncovering the mysterious owner of “The Mart” and saving his community, his family, and himself!
About the Author
Bentley Little is an accomplished American horror author who has penned numerous novels that will chill you to the bone. Interestingly, Little’s mother attended the world premiere of Psycho just a month before he was born.
In 1990, Little’s first novel, The Revelation, was published by St. Martin’s Press. Stephen King, an avid reader of horror himself, became a vocal admirer of Little’s work after reading the book.
In fact, Little won the Bram Stoker Award for “Best First Novel” that same year. Although Little’s next two novels were published by New American Library, he walked away from the company after they asked him to write a police procedural for his next project.
Eventually, he returned to New American Library, where he continues to publish his novels.
Little has made it clear that he considers himself a horror novelist and not a writer of suspense or dark fantasy. He is a staunch supporter of the horror genre and has been referred to as a follower of Stephen King.
Editoral Review
Bentley Little dives deep into the horror genre with his novel “The Store,” which was first published on January 1, 1996. With a career spanning over three decades, Little has solidified his reputation as a master of horror and suspense.
“The Store” is a haunting tale about a chain of megastores that invades the small town of Juniper, Arizona. The store easily outcompetes local businesses and gradually inserts itself into the fabric of the community, gradually spreading its influence and control.
Gradually, things start to go wrong. The store is selling bizarre and dangerous products, and as mysterious accidents and deaths occur in the town, it becomes clear that the intentions of the store corporation are sinister.
Little’s powerful prose expertly crafts a feeling of dread and paranoia that pulses throughout the narrative’s twisting plot. He expertly balances horror and suspense with vivid, unforgettable characters that bring Juniper to life.
The setting serves as an ominous backdrop to the cunning and sinister actions of the store executives who attempt to take over the town. The horrors that befall the characters of “The Store” are the embodiment of the fears that modern society has about mass consumerism.
The novel’s critique on consumerism and capitalism is timeless and eerily prescient in today’s age of multinational corporations and global markets. The store’s invasion and domination of a small town provides a chilling reminder of the cruel nature of capitalist tactics and how they can easily steamroll over local businesses and communities.
However, the book’s pacing can be a bit jarring at times, as Little jumps between characters and locales throughout the story. The plot’s conclusion also feels a bit rushed, with some plot threads left ambiguous or unresolved.
Despite these flaws, “The Store” is an engrossing and frightening read that leaves a lasting impact on the reader. Horror fans will be thrilled with Little’s expertly-crafted tale of terror, and fans of speculative fiction will appreciate the allegorical nature of the book’s themes.
Overall, “The Store” is a must-read novel in genre fiction that will keep you up long into the night, and leaves you with a sense of unease and dread. Little’s masterful storytelling is sure to keep you engaged, and his message about the price of consumerism is one that we cannot afford to ignore.
The Washington Post gives “The Store” a solid rating of 3.5/5.
