Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

Book Review by Ross McIndoe | 25 Apr 2017
Book title: Universal Harvester
Author: John Darnielle

Jeremy works in a video rental store in the small Iowan town he’s lived in all his life when one day his routine is interrupted by the discovery of something spliced into several of the tapes – something which disturbs him so much that he's compelled against his cautious nature to follow the trail of grainy clips back to their source.

This mystery makes up one half of the novel – the half which propels it forward and forms its central plot – but it’s the other, quieter half where John Darnielle’s rapidly growing powers as a novelist really take effect. Mostly, Universal Harvester is a picture of life in the kind of small town where nothing happens fast. There’s rarely real news, locals talk less to exchange information than just to meet eyes and spend a moment recognising each other. It’s not a story about the need to get out of a boring, workaday town before it grinds you down or a romantic tale of the simple life found outside the big cities. It’s just a picture of a certain way of living.

Progress between Darnielle’s first and second novel forms a narrative of its own which stretches tantalisingly into the years to come – the sense of someone rapidly feeling their way towards something masterful.

Out now, published by Scribe, RRP £8.99 http://johndarnielle.tumblr.com/