The Resort - Bentley Little Book Review

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"The Resort"
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Review Summary

Onyx, Sept 2004, 6.99, 400 pp.
ISBN 0451212800

Located in the heart of the Arizona desert, The Reata Hotel offers cheap rates to its customers in the summertime when it can't attract any rich vacationers. Lowell Thurman, who wants to avoid his school reunion, agrees to let his wife Rachel and their three sons (Owen, Curtis and their youngest Ryan) stay at the resort for five days of luxurious pampering. When they first glimpse the resort it looks like a rich man's paradise with luxeries very few could afford.

At the end of their first day at the hotel complex, all the Thurmans share the feeling that something evil permeates the place. The Thurman teens see a dead body at the bottom of the pool that turns into a dark spot once they leave the area. Rachel sees a face of evil in the sky; while Lowell swimming alone in pool feels hands clutching his body. There is a deserted ruin of another resort at the end of a trail and as the Reata starts to deteriorate, the ruins turn into a new version of The Resort. Guests are now trapped.

There are very few horror writers who can write as consistently well as Bentley Little. His writing is on a par with the greats such as Stephen King, Clive Barker and Peter Straub but he has a unique voice and a way of turning ordinary circumstances into a person's worst nightmare.

Harriet Klausner

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of The Resort

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%

Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy story on current Earth
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Horror story? Yes
Horror plotlets - the haunted house chased me!

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - champion of justice
Age: - 20's-30's
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - magical being

Setting
Earth setting: - current (early 21st century)
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue? - significantly more dialog than descript

Most similar books to The Resort
The Owl Service by Alan Garner
In the Night Room by Peter Straub
House of Echoes by Barbara Erskine
Julian's House by Judith Hawkes
Evilution by Shaun Jeffrey

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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