The Bank

During the time I was reading this book I kept thinking about how familiar it was. Then I realized, it was just a retelling of Mr. Little\’s book, \”The Store\” that he wrote in 1998. All he did was swap out a store for a bank. Even then it was only a pale imitation of Stephen King\’s, \”Needful Things\”. Don\’t waste your time.

Not much to say about this one…it\’s the same basic plot as The Store, except with a bank. A eeeevil, supernatural bank suddenly appears in a small, sleepy town one day and swiftly takes over, killing various unfortunate townspeople in strange ways, brainwashing others, fomenting violence, and so on, until our protagonist and a plucky band of his friends find its hidden weakness and send it packing. I love Little, but I can only give this three stars because it\’s just *so* derivative of his other work, the only real difference is that the supernatural power behind the evil bank is actually more explicitly described than it was in The Store. There just doesn\’t seem to be that much substance there this time. Ah, well…

I grew up on Stephen King. I adore him and get my hands on everything he rights the very moment I can. I never expected anyone to ever come close to the love I have for him and his talent, let alone take presidence. Bentley Little did. Taking ordinary aspects of every day life and morphing it into nightmares thrills me to no end. \’The Bank\’ was no different. Most everyone uses a bank of some variety. I do. It\’s not something we ever really think about until we need a new loan, need to refinance, or get a dress overdraft fee. But, imagine, how much control, how much influence could your bank have over you, your life, your safety? A staple bank of a small, mid-West town suddenly closes. It\’s not a huge surprise to any of the residents, after all, lots of local businesses have been closing in preference to big box companies and online retailers. What is surprising about it is when the sheriff\’s department finds the employees of that bank dead, sprawled out in a backwoods clearing. Executed. Every single one of them. Meanwhile, next door to resident-owned used book store, The First People\’s Bank is announcing their arrival. The story circulates around several perspectives–the used book store owner next door, his wife and teen son, a couple trying to purchase their first home, an employee of the only remaining bank in the area, the local sheriff, a crazy killer in town, an old woman residing in the local retirement home, a city councilman–and the downward spiral is seen from all angles. A great, chilling read.

Good little story. Reminds me of the stuff Bentley used to put out (ie: The Store, The University…) although this time he made the message much less subtle than he used to. This was more of a ‘in-your-face’ narrative of the evils of the banking industry, with some addendums about systematic unfairness for people of colour. Although I continuously read Bentley Little stories, and have enjoyed many of his books, this one was not exactly at the same level. I’m not sure if it was because the message was ‘dummied-down’ or because he did not flesh out all the characters and the horror they endure at the hands of institutions. Perhaps a lack of depth…? Regardless, it is the reason I rated it a 4, rather than a 5. Understand that this rating is not in comparison to other horror writers, as Bentley has a style all his own, but rather in comparison to other Bentley stories. There was one great quote: ““Don’t worry.” The banker grinned. “People will send their thoughts and prayers. That always solves the problem.”

Bentley Little is a mysterious author, born in Arizona in 1960, that would make him 60 years old. There are no pictures of him on the internet and very little information about his personal life, I read all of his early books when they were published under the Signet publishing company, which ceased printing around 2010, several years after Leisure publishing had also ceased, another prolific publisher of horror novels, with authors like Ray Garton and Richard Laymon . So CD publications is the only place now where we can find his work. Last year, I read his collection of short stories ‘Walking Alone’ and found that to be quite enjoyable. However I found ‘The Bank’ not up to par with his earlier works. There were just too many characters to follow and some of the scenes were overly graphic in violence and deviancy, and the conclusion wasn’t sensible or satisfactory.

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