Stoker-winner Little possesses the uncanny ability to take everyday situations and turn them into nightmares, and this book, his most frightening since The Association
(2001), showcases this talent. As the novel opens, Lowell Thurman, his wife and their three sons are checking into the exclusive Reata, an isolated resort in the Arizona desert, for a five-night off-season stay. Soon, though, unnerving encounters with strange employees, wild parties in empty rooms and bizarre sex antics in the family restaurant prompt the Thurmans, as well as other key characters, to think about leaving early. Yet the Reata's magnetic pull essentially brainwashes all the guests into believing that their odd experiences are normal. By the time people begin dying brutal deaths, the youngest Thurman boy has made a discovery that could unlock the resort's secrets, but at a high personal cost. Little weaves an explicitly repulsive yet surrealistically sad tale of everyday horror. Unfortunately, as in much of his work, he fails to credibly explain a far-fetched, major plot development. Longtime fans should be used to that by now, though, and will be forgiving. Agent, Dominick Abel. (Sept. 7)
