John Darnielle

Jeremy works at a video store in small town Iowa when customers begin returning videos complaining that strange footage has been spliced into the standard Hollywood movie they had rented. The inserted footage is different in each video, and is bizarre, dark and vaguely sinister. The scenes appear to be local, and Jeremy decides to investigate--who could have done this, and why?

And then, the narrative goes off in a few different unexpected directions. I remember vaguely liking this book, but also, vaguely, having problems with it. It seems to be a sort of literary thriller, and then it seems it's not. It was strange, but very readable. Some reviewers, including Oprah magazine, found it similar to David Lynch ("Twin Peaks"). I was in the end vaguely dissatisfied, because there doesn't seem to be much of a resolution of any of the issues raised, and I usually like my books neatly tied up by the end. But if this seems like something you would enjoy, it's well-written, and by all means go for it.

3 stars

ETA I see I've used iterations of the word "vague" a fair number of times in this review. Not sure if that means anything.… (mere)

This book was wild. I greatly enjoyed it but I would have a hard time recommending it to anyone, it felt like 3 different books in one, there was no point, it was all point, all of these statements feel. I was expecting a more straightforward horror novel, and it definitely had that vibe in the beginning, for about the first 1/4 of the book. After that the plot goes in another direction entirely, and the book does this acrobatic routine a few times before the end. The tangents are all related to the main thrust of the story but almost feel like they're from different books. Ultimately the story I was being told was so well done I didn't mind the odd, meandering pace at all.… (mere)