The Influence

De: Bentley Little

Narrado por: Joe Barrett

Everything is about to change…

When Ross Lowry moves into his cousin's guest house in the small community of Magdalena, Arizona, he expects nothing more than breathing room and a brief respite from his economic woes. But something is not right in the desert. After a raucous party on New Year's Eve, the luck of the attendees undergoes an immediate U-turn. The rich and successful suddenly find themselves facing catastrophic failure while the less well-off are unexpectedly flush with good fortune.

This is only the beginning…

Soon the citizens of Magdalena are experiencing unnatural desires. Next their children begin to disappear and freakish creatures emerge from the surrounding wilderness. The community is unraveling at a frightening pace. But these are merely the early warning signs of a showdown with a powerful force of darkness that could obliterate the world forever, and only Ross Lowry sees the danger that lurks ahead.

©2013 Bentley Little (P)2013 AudioGO

Fun and scary!

A solid horror story, kept me entertained throughout the entire book.
If you enjoy horror stories, you'll like this one.

Big build up that lead to a lackluster ending. Oh

A little closure and a better ending would have made it possible for me to enjoy this book more than I did.

Classic Bentley - Crazy Stuffed with Weird!

Would you try another book from Bentley Little and/or Joe Barrett?

Yes. I'm a huge fan of Bentley Little. I've read all his novels. I wish (HINT HINT) there were more of his books on Audible. Joe Barrett did a good job narrating.

What other book might you compare The Influence to and why?

The only thing to compare this book to is another novel by Bentley Little (The Policy, The Association, The Ignored…). There aren't too many authors that can combine unemployment, a New Year's Eve party, scowling flowers, whistling cats, pissed off chickens and jumping eggs into a pretty good story. And that is just a little bit of the weirdness. If you are familiar with Bentley Little you know how his characters rationalize the most insane and creepy situations. Like being out of work for a year and then getting a six figure job offer from the president of the company...right after he excuses himself to poop in the corner of his office. But you take the job anyway because you need the money and well maybe the guy is having a bad day or something... And you could almost see yourself doing the same thing. Almost. My only problem with The Influence is the ending. I’ll just leave it at that. If you are a fan of Mr. Little, by all means get this one. It's not his best work but it's worth the listen. If you are not familiar, you’ve been warned. It is crazy, nasty, creepy.

Good story except lapses into graphic sex.

This was a really great monster story. It started with the Mistry about what happened on New Year's eve which you didn't find out until later in the story. It kept my interest and what happened on New Year's eve was unexpected and unusual. The story overall was pretty good. There were however, lapses into gratuitous explicit sex scenes which I did not appreciate. I did enjoy all the characters, I cared about them and felt they were quite three-dimensional. The Evolution of the story was quite good keeping your interest all the way through.

Good story but noticing a pattern.

This is only my second book I’ve listened to by Mr. Little, but I’m finding a similarity I’m finding hard to look past in his books. I believe in giving positive with negative feedback so here it goes. Again Mr. Little created a world with likable and relatable characters. His world is vivid and clear, an excellent world builder.

The negative however is after only two books I’m seeing a pattern. I will look for another book to give another go but I find the similarity too large to ignore. *spoiler ahead*.

The author seems to have a love of giving the main protagonist the role of the hero only for it to always be bittersweet. I’m not asking for a HEA but the first book I read involved the protagonist committing suicide to save the day. In this book his love interests partner decided to up and disappear because “reasons”. If I know every book of his is going to end this way it becomes overly predictable, akin to knowing 99% of Dean Koontz books will involve a blonde and a dog. I’m also noticing that the fantastical elements are rarely explained. Now in real life I know every question doesn’t always have an answer however, Between tragic hero endings and no payoff I’ve walked away from two books now not feeling quite satisfied.

This book overall was entertaining but I fear this author is ultimately seeming too predictable.

Mature Audience

Violence was expected. The graphic sex was kind of 50 Shades of Horror. Even supposedly tender moments were graphic, nothing left to the imagination. Almost more for shock value than to further the story. All in all a good story and a great performance, albeit not for the shy, squeamish, or faint of heart!

Ok

Enjoyed the listen but found the end lacking. Premise of book was good and didn’t follow a predictable path.

Good And Bad

Great setting, relatable characters. The stories overall engaging plot is marked by some of the most awkward sex scenes. The sex-ed vernacular during the adult content is reminiscent of the “The Tale of Scrotie McBooger Balls” by the boys of South Park.

Not a good read/listen

I’m a huge Bentley Little fan, but honestly, this was his worst work in my humble opinion. Kept waiting for something to happen, but...nothing. Not worth the credit not worthy of Bentley Little.

A new fan

I really enjoyed this listen. The plot moved along at a steady pace from start to finish. The narration was good. I like that this was a decent story without trying too hard. This is the third audiobook by this author I have given my interest and I am convinced that his books are right up my alley. Thank you Audible for putting me on to this author.