A review by scottjp
Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

5.0

Universal Harvester is a fascinating psychological drama with a baffling mystery attached. Jeremy Heldt is a clerk at a dying video store when customers begin returning tapes and telling him that there is something strange recorded on them. In another time, a mother is seduced away from her family by a religious cult. Above it all, a narrator who seems at times to be more than omniscient. It is a novel that may seem disjointed, but which does all come together in the end, though it does ask for some effort on the readers' part to interpret what they have been given. This is one of the best things I've read in a while; I stayed up late to read it and will likely be thinking about it for some time.