The Store Chapters 28-33 and Epilogue

[Debra]

Put your comments regarding Chapters 28-33 and the Epilogue here.

[Ava Catherine]

The episode with Ben and The Night Managers is really spooky, and then the message on Street's computer is beyond freaky. I would have fled, too. The fact that people in the town have no privacy is too scary.

When Bill goes to Dallas and goes through training, we know that something really devastating is going to happen. I mean more than the branding. There is just too much foreshadowing.

When Bill becomes the manager of The Store, he does use his power in an effective way. However, in the epilogue the reader finds that The Store still exists only under a new name, The Market. Satan is still running his store.

[Debra]

Yeah, I thought all was lost when Bill accepted the job as Manager of The Store. He seemed completely brainwashed. I was so glad to see him start to fight the system.

Sux about his daughter, Samantha. They will probably never see her. And how demoralizing to realize you've had sex with your daughter! Yikes!

I love those little epilogues that leave you knowing the evil wasn't completely beaten. Leaves a creepy feeling of foreboding. Matches the prologue, too. Nice symetry.

[Ava Catherine]

I agree. I think the symetry of the epilogue is a perfect touch, too.

[Tom]

Connie wrote: "The fact that people in the town have no privacy is too scary. ..."

Keep in mind that Sci-Fi of today is tomorrow's Science, and couple that with Orwellian brain food. Now throw in the pervasiveness and success of data mining and combine that with the global reach, unlimited funds (hence political and socio-economic power) and unsurpassed Greed of "The Store" and we have a pretty good picture of what will soon come to pass.

[Tom]

Debra wrote: "Sux about his daughter, Samantha. They will probably never see her. And how demoralizing to realize you've had sex with your daughter! Yikes!..."

Even with the foreshadowing you spoke of in a post, this one rocked me. More so because I first read The Store at about the same time my Daughter was coming of age. ughhhhhhh!

[Debra]

Yes, it's not hard to see a not-so-pleasant marketing approach like The Store in our not-to-distant future, Tom.

Ugggghhhh is right. Icky stuff to have floating around in our minds.

[Ava Catherine]

Also when you think about all of our medical records being on the computer. In my town all the doctors have access to my medical files because we are linked medically in the town.

I mean really...the government or media can track the books we check out of the library!

But in The Store I guess I just meant it was so in your face...and to the
extreme. Difficult to think about as part of our future! Scary stuff!

[Debra]

Very scary! Big brother is watching!

[Janice]

I'm bummed. It hits too close to home. There are store clubs (Costco) that have the ability to track what you are purchasing. Our computers are filled with cookies that track our comings and goings on the net. Satellites are so sophisticated that you can read a vehicle's license plate. I have to ask if the book is horror, or a commentary on the direction we are headed.

But getting back to the story, Samantha is too far gone to rejoin her family. I think it's possible that she is the mastermind behind "The Market".

While Bill did not know that she was the woman in the training, she had to have known it was him. That whole situation really creeped me out. I think if I was Ginny, I would have watched that tape mainly because the trust would be gone and I'd want to know the truth of the matter.

I have to think about this book some more... and I'm not sure I want to.

[Debra]

The book had quite an effect on me too... a nasty little taste left in your mouth. How insidious the whole process was. But Sam sleeping with her dad... that was just wrong! But I guessed it before the author revealed the truth.

[Janice]

Yes - nasty little taste left in your mouth is a good way to describe it.

[Almeta, co-moderator]

Janice wrote: "But getting back to the story, Samantha is too far gone to rejoin her family. I think it's possible that she is the mastermind behind "The Market".

While Bill did not know that she was the woman in the training, she had to have known it was him. That whole situation really creeped me out. I think if I was Ginny, I would have watched that tape mainly because the trust would be gone and I'd want to know the truth of the matter...."

I agree with you about Sam. Too much has happened to her that prevents her from going back. She’ll' never recapture teen innocence, college dreams, once future plans, etc. Plus, I don’t think she and her dad could possibly live in the same house together.

At the beginning of this book I was sure that Bill’s family would all turn on him. It was refreshing that Little didn’t make that plot step. Ginny and Bill seemed to actually have a good marriage and it was right of him to confess to her about the sexual episode. However, confessing about he and Sam, I believe, would have really destroyed them. (And probably will haunt him forever.) Things will be strained for a while, but I think their marriage will survive. I like that.

I also agree that the Epilogue was a perfect mirrored note.

[Debra]

Yeah, don't think their marriage could survive incest. Bill will definitely never be the same because of that - many bad dreams for him, I think.

Too bad Sam is a lost cause, but you are right. She was lost the moment she followed through on the lie detector and urine test. Sad, but true.