

but he ultimately pursues a softer and more nuanced exploration of family and loss. All the while, grasp of the Iowan composure-above-all mindset instills the book with agonizing heartbreak." -Daniel Kraus, Booklist (starred review) "Darnielle's second novel opens like a dark suspense story. With a nod to urban legends and friend-of-a-friend tales, the author prepares readers for the surreal truth, the improbable events that 'have form, and shape, and weight, and meaning" - Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Darnielle's masterfully disturbing follow-up to the National Book Award-nominated Wolf in White Van reads like several Twilight Zone scripts cut together by a poet.

Darnielle adeptly juggles multiple stories that collide with chaotic consequences somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

beyond worthwhile it's a major work by an author who is quickly becoming one of the brightest stars in American fiction." -Michael Schaub, Los Angeles Times "Eerie. He's also incredibly gifted at depicting the dark side of the rural Midwest. Darnielle is a master at building suspense, and his writing is propulsive and urgent it's nearly impossible to stop reading. What appears to be a chilling horror tale is also a perfectly rendered story about family and loss. Darnielle hides so much beautiful commentary in the book's quieter moments that you would be remiss not to slow down." -Abram Scharf, MTV News " brilliant second novel. so wonderfully strange, almost Lynchian in its juxtaposition of the banal and the creepy, that my urge to know what the hell was going on caused me to go full throttle. Its characters are constantly on the move, speeding toward destinations they fear will hold 'scenes of unspeakable devastation and loss,' and Darnielle seamlessly transfers their dread straight into readers' hearts.

Beneath the eerie gauze of this book, I felt an undercurrent of humanity and hope." -Manuel Roig-Franzia, The Washington Post " Universal Harvester is a quiet story of grief with the trappings of a Stephen King suspense-thriller. serves as a stellar encore after the success of debut novel, Wolf in White Van. "A captivating exploration of the vagaries of memory and inertia in middle America.
