The Return
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3.5 • 20 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
“Bentley Little is a master of horror on par with Koontz and King....The Return is so powerful that readers will keep the lights on day and night.”—Midwest Book Review
Springerville is famous for the legend of the Mogollon Monster. Of course nobody really believes it. It’s just a good campfire story, something to attract gullible tourists—until an excavation team unearths the figurine of a screaming woman, the jawbone of a deformed animal, and a child’s toy. How odd that they were buried together. Odd, too, is the foul odor lingering in the air, the strange noises at night, and the man’s face found hanging from a tree. Now the locals are locking their doors. Because after sundown, campfire stories can seem very, very real.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Little's first full-length novel since last year's The Associationis clogged with faceless characters and smothered by a preposterous story line involving ancient Indian burial grounds and frizzy-haired mummies. While many of Little's novels focus on the darkness of the human psyche with only touches of the paranormal, this one is too supernatural for its own good. The plot, which is far-fetched even by Little's standards, hinges on a team of archeologists who unearth a series of bizarre finds in Springerville, Ariz. Soon humans and animals are inexplicably slaughtering one another, and others are vanishing into thin air. At the plot's core is the so-called Mogollon Monster, a hideous half-human, half-animal that seemingly dictates the chaos. The fact that all of the main characters happen to be immune to the creature, as if they are chosen ones, requires an even greater suspension of disbelief. Although Little may be trying to make some sweeping statement about human nature or modern society with this book, the effect is lost in a haze of dense plotting, undeveloped characters and sickening scenes that are present more to shock than to advance the story.
Customer Reviews
Liked this a lot.
Not as good as the Resort, Academy or House, but a solid read.