Thomas Gaffney reviewed The Store by Bentley Little
Review of 'The Store' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Basically, what if Walmart was evil.
Oops. Let me rephrase that. What if...Walmart was run by a demon.
The Store comes to bumblefuck, AZ and puts all the local businesses out of business by offering more goods at lower prices (just like Walmart!). It destroys the town by lowering everyone's income and then offering them cheap goods as the only things they can afford (just like Walmart!). Then it kills people who revolt and steals their souls (well, one can argue that Walmart DOES suck your soul dry).
Only in "The Store", The Store itself is evil. It's built with blood and staffed with supernatural beings called the Night Managers. People who try to fight the Store end up dead, missing, or unwillingly become soulless members of the Night Manager crew.
It's an okay book. Like a modern day "Needful Things" or "Something Wicked This Way Comes" using a stand-in …
Basically, what if Walmart was evil.
Oops. Let me rephrase that. What if...Walmart was run by a demon.
The Store comes to bumblefuck, AZ and puts all the local businesses out of business by offering more goods at lower prices (just like Walmart!). It destroys the town by lowering everyone's income and then offering them cheap goods as the only things they can afford (just like Walmart!). Then it kills people who revolt and steals their souls (well, one can argue that Walmart DOES suck your soul dry).
Only in "The Store", The Store itself is evil. It's built with blood and staffed with supernatural beings called the Night Managers. People who try to fight the Store end up dead, missing, or unwillingly become soulless members of the Night Manager crew.
It's an okay book. Like a modern day "Needful Things" or "Something Wicked This Way Comes" using a stand-in for Walmart as the purveyor of tainted/haunted goods that drive people to be evil. The problem I have with it, is 425 pages paint the hero into a corner against the unbeatable entity of The Store and its CEO Newman King. Then, in the last 5 pages, the hero finds a loophole to beat The Store and King. The only problem is this "loophole" is TOTALLY UNFATHOMABLE based on events that preceded the deus ex machina. If you're gonna create "rules" for your world, STICK TO THEM. Do not change them at the last minute to provide an out.
I got this from a list of 5 Recommended Books From Stephen King. I think he recommended it because he finally found someone who is worse at ending horror novels than he is.