The Ignored is Bentley Little's most unusual book that I've read so far. It's a bit like Fight Club, but written to include everyone in the social horror of it all.

All of his books are a commentary on modern life and our disturbing lack of a cohesive communities. In his other books, it's only when the family and community put modern life aside can it defeat the horror. This book turns that concept sideway. The cohesive community, based on modern life, is the horror show. It's the dark side of finding others, just like you, that live in the modern world as an average American to the degree that you become unseen and unheard except as a point on a graph or a percentage point.

The book is set in the 1990s, so it's a bit easier to glide into the set-up and pay-off with a nascent personal computer industry and online world. If written today, it would be far more complex.

Little's writing is good. Really good. He writes provocatively and smashes you over the head. I love him because he does it so competently. Most writers can't do that without treating the readers like idiots. Bentley works it into the story naturally. It's on full display here. The line "On the day of the murder I went to work in a clown suit." is perfect. Exiting one part of the book and entering another while examining all that came before in one small sentence.

So yeah, loved this book to pieces. I couldn't put it down.

To prevent this book, put the stapler in some jello. ( )

This story follows Bob Jones as he moves from his college life into the professional life and then quickly discovers that he is special because he is ignored. It's sort of a step above being invisible. He is there and can be seen by people but he is basically so ordinary and bland that he is forgotten soon after the event. Bob starts out using this to his advantage at work by being absent and no one notices, but then he escalates the process with robbery and destruction and eventually murder.

I enjoyed the book and would recommend it but there are a few things about this novel that I want to mention. The first fifty pages or so are pretty slow moving and I was kind of wondering why but then as Bob starts to make his discovery of being ignored, I realized that it was necessary to first see how bland his life. The story then progressed fine but there was a missed opportunity in my mind. When the group of Ignored were at Familyland, there was another group of people hunting them. I was real interested in this other group and thought the story would follow the Ignored and their adversaries, but instead they were written off with a quick explanation near the end of the book. And speaking of the end of the book, the ending was just OK. It became a little weird with the whole other world that was introduced and I wish that it hadn't been part of it but it didn't ruin the story or anything. The big thing that I really liked though was how the story plays on the desire to leave a mark on the world, how no one wants to be forgotten or ignored after they are gone, let alone while they are still there. And how there are people out there that just blend into the background that you never really notice them. The whole story focuses on that and does so quite nicely. ( )

If you've ever felt invisible to your coworkers, ignored, maybe it's something more insidious. Have you ever considered that being truly ignored could be a curse and a blessing? ( )

Bob Jones is ordinary, from his appearance right down to his very name. No one seems to take notice of him, not his co-workers, his girlfriend, or even his own parents. But Bob learns he's not alone when he's taken in by a band of people that suffer similarly. Calling themselves "The Ignored", the deadly vengeance they intend to wreak is sure to make them more than just memorable. ( )

Amazon.com
Many horror stories are about loners or misfits, but The Ignored is about a man who is so average, who fits into society so well, he disappears from view. In a harrowing progression reminiscent of an episode from Twilight Zone, Bob Jones drifts into a state where his co-workers can't see him, his friends don't recognize him, his parents die and he's not even invited to the funeral. Then he joins up with others of "the Ignored," a tiny minority in their own pocket of reality who validate each other in their mediocrity. The strength of this tale is in Bentley Little's willingness to explore all the possible fates open to Bob Jones, as if trying out alternative endings for the novel. This is horror of ideas--a chilling commentary on the blandness of a society that has a McDonald's on every corner and entertainment that is safe, boring, and middle-of-the-road. ( )