Rating: 
Summary: Well done but derivative
Review: After reading Scott Nicholson's first mass-market novel, "The Red Church," I expressed a few minor complaints. I wrote in a review that I found several continuity errors that, while not detracting from the intriguing plot and impressive writing style, did mark Nicholson as a first time novelist. I am pleased to announce that such errors do not appear in "The Harvest," this author's 2003 sophomore effort. Dawn never breaks over the horizon at two divergent periods in time. People don't enter buildings more than once without leaving them in the first place. It's nice to see a technical problems cleared up. I know from my own writing experience, which is way less than anything this writer has had to deal with, that it's tough to work up a piece without errors slipping through the cracks. I've read and reread twenty or thirty page papers for school until my eyes are ready to melt and STILL see errors in them when the professor hands them back. I've even had other people proof my stuff and those little critters still sneak through. So let's give Scott Nicholson a round of applause for ferreting out the sort of incongruities found in "The Red Church."
"The Harvest," set in Windshake, North Carolina, is essentially a reworking of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" liberally soaked in moonshine. An alien creature crash lands up in the Appalachian Mountains, and begins to assimilate a whole cast of wacky, off beat characters. You've got college psychology professor Tamara Leon, a woman with a horrible talent for predicting the future. You've got her radio disc jockey husband Robert, whose flagging career places him at the microphone of Windshake's hick AM radio station. Then there's Chester Mull, an alcoholic hillbilly living up in the mountains with his mangy dog Boomer. His best friend is Herbert DeWalt, a wealthy real estate developer and ex-hippy who moved to the mountains in order to escape the hustle and bustle of big city life. Then there's the ultra religious Bill Lemly, a one time top athletic prospect and owner of a big lumberyard whose goal in life is to strike up a relationship with the pretty secretary at the local Baptist Church. I could go on and on with the characters, from the domineering mayor to a disgruntled black man named James to the seedy preacher at the Baptist Church, but the list would run on for pages. Let's just say there are characters aplenty to keep track of in this story.
This alien creature, whatever it is, doesn't think intelligent life exists on the planet earth. With nothing to bother its conscience, the being rapidly begins to spread its icky tendrils and spores over the countryside. Any living creature--plant, animal, or human--that comes in contact with the life form rapidly transmogrifies into shambling, green eyed monstrosities whose only purpose in life is to convert other living creatures into shambling, green eyed monstrosities before everything turns into a pile of steaming ooze. Apparently, this alien thrives on draining energy out of the environment, and in doing so it can manipulate humans under its influence. The only force standing in the way of the alien's domination and destruction of the globe is Tamara Leon and her mental powers, powers that she refers to as the Gloomies. Before too long, Leon hooks up with DeWalt and Chester Mull for the ultimate showdown with the glowing green abomination dwelling in a cave up in the mountains. The group better act fast if they wish to stop a catastrophe: Windshake is preparing to celebrate its annual festival, which means thousands of people from points beyond will be within easy reach of the creature.
After finishing "The Harvest," I was not as pleased as I thought I would be. The story is competently executed and at times engaging, but the book is derivative of so many other horror novels and films that I couldn't help but think of how many times I have seen this plot before. There is plenty that is good. Nicholson does deserve kudos for juggling so many major and minor characters. It's not an easy thing to successfully develop the number of actors found here in a book of less than 400 pages, but the author pulls it off and makes the whole process look simple. The book also delves quite frequently into humor through the Chester Mull character, a classic curmudgeon if there ever was one. His sarcastic thoughts and observations had me laughing myself sick. The best part of "The Harvest," however, is the writing style. I guess I forgot how effectively Nicholson puts pen to paper. The author's descriptive abilities and penchant for stream of consciousness prose is a breath of fresh air in the mass-market paperback field. If you appreciate good writing, you will probably enjoy this book.
Still, the derivative, unoriginal plot left me grousing as I closed the cover for the final time. I initially thought about giving the book three stars, but I think I'll bump the rating up to four. I think if Nicholson comes up with a unique idea, he will really hit all the right notes. Perhaps "The Manor," his most recent book set to coast onto my reading list in a few weeks, will fire on all cylinders. Until then, I need to remember the good things about "The Harvest": great writing, interesting and funny characters, and a horror story placed in a vivid southern atmosphere. These three elements should appeal to most horror fans. I hope Scott Nicholson keeps writing, as he's certain to hone his abilities to an irresistible edge in the near future.
Rating: 
Summary: Peyton Place meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Review: First, a brief synopsis of the book. In the one page prologue, we learn that an alien organism, hungry and ready to feed, plunges through the atmosphere and lands in Appalachia. In the next 300 pages, we're introduced to a huge cast of uninteresting characters, along with their backstories and current lives, which form the basis of the numerous soap opera subplots that take up the bulk of the story. The only purpose the vast majority of the characters serve is to be converted into slow moving zombie plant people by other slow moving zombie plant people. Eventually in the remaining 80 pages, a few characters notice something strange is happening, and go find the lair of the alien. As they gather weapons to attack it, more characters don't realize they shouldn't let the slow moving, rotting, oozing, green eye glowing, zombie plant people get close enough to french kiss them, and are converted to zombie plant people. Finally, the story ends with a completely uninspired confrontation with the alien.This book has numerous problems, but the primary one is the huge cast of characters. The back cover would lead you to believe that Tamara Leon is the protagonist of the story, and she does play a part in the final confrontation with the alien, but she isn't given much more attention that most of the other characters in the book. In fact, it's not clear until the last 80 pages of the book which characters will play the role of the protagonist. Perhaps a more talented author could have pulled it off, but devoting so many pages to the backstories and subplots of characters who are going to die was a big mistake. Cutting the number of characters and subplots in half and spending more time on the main characters would have made a vast improvement. Then there's the plot. While we're slogging through all the subplots, we learn practically nothing of interest about the alien. Just the same tired theme, repeated again and again: the alien is hungry and the zombie plant people are one with it. Also, it's pretty clear early on in the story that the alien isn't really evil as the back cover trumpets. It's just misguided (and hungry, but I already mentioned that). And the gloomies (dark dreams and visions) that Tamara has are just lame. The main purpose they serve is to allow her to give some exposition about what's happening, but like every character in this book, she could have easily been written out of the story without much effort. This is the first and last book I will read by this author.
Rating: 
Summary: Harvesting terror...aliens land in freakin' Appalachia
Review: For a few characters in Scott Nicholson's newly released book 'The Harvest,' a quart of moonshine may be necessary to make the alien orifice probes go down a lot smoother, but readers won't need any corn lick'er to make 'em keep reading this horrific tale. Set in a remote area of the mountains of North Carolina, an alien
being lands on top of a ridge and has the local Appalachio-American population runnin' amuck with fear. Nicholson brandishes a green crayon to vividly color the characters and makes sure to throw in some good old fashioned trailer trash sex for good measure. Nicholson continues his tradition of excellent storytelling. No disappointments here!
Rating:
Summary: I almost made the first review! (5 STAR RATING!!!) *****
Review: Hey, I tried to get mine on here the other night and the web page kept freezing up! All right, I'm done crying about coming in second, on to the book at hand: The Red Church was great, Nicholson's short stories (read my review), Thank You For The Flowers, were even more solidly written, and The Harvest here lets the light shine down on us from a master storyteller, in every sense of the term. People, say Gaiman, Clive Barker, Stephen King, Bradbury-all of these giants mixed into what Nicholson writes, but I think he's an original writer who can't really be slammed into the 'only horror' genre. He writes scary stuff, but also fiction which makes you think and savor the storytelling, long after the book is closed. I became excited after Bentley little came on strong, when I discovered Graham Masterton, and Clive Barker has always been my favorite writer of anything ... somehow I can't help but think that Scott Nicholson will be running him a close second in years to come. Stephen King also, if he hasn't retired? A perfect fall read, and one which should be a keeper on your bookshelf to be experienced again. *One additional footnote here, to any fellow writers out there: be sure to check out Scott Nicholson's website at www.hauntedcomputer.com I wrote in to him with a complement and a question on something I was writing, and he was nice enough to respond by email the very next day. Click on his 'articles' link, and you'll read some need-to-know pieces he's written on writing, agents, magazines, and anything else you should know when entering the world of writing. 5 STAR ESSENTIAL RATING!!! *****.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't Do It For Me
Review: I absolutely loved Nicholson's first novel, "The Red Church", in which the characters were interesting, the story was paced just right, and the ending was perfect. In this, his sophomore effort, however, I found many of the characters to be annoying (like the "damn california yankee" Dewalt, who keeps having these annoying mental conversations with himself). Although I like the idea of introducing the whole town to us a la Salem's Lot, I just did not find it necessary in this one. Since this is a theme that has been done a million times (The Blob, INvasion of the body snatchers, Tommyknockes, Dreamcatcher, etc.) I was really hoping for a unique angle, but instead was left with a feeling of, oh.
Yes, the setting is charming, and some of the charcters are interesting (like James, the young, well educated black man who experiences the racist treatment from the rednecks, and Chester the old hillbilly who is constantly looking for free time to enjoy his moonshine), and it was written well enough so that I couldn't put it down.
Judging from how good his 1st novel was, (and apparently his book of short stories is great as well) and the fact that this one does have something to it, I would say that this is merely a so-so work from a potentially great horror writer. I do sense some early King, Barker, Laymon and even some Lovecraft (especially in Red Church)in him, and I still am eager to read his next release, The Manor which is scheduled to be released in Sept '04. So there you have it.
Rating:
Summary: All the books I could have read besides this one.
Review: I decided to read this book because of the good reviews. But it was too darn predictable. I did finish it hoping that the ending would surprise me, it didn't. This is the only book I have read by Mr. Nicholson and most probably will be the last.
Rating:
Summary: One more opinion...
Review: I have read the fourteen previous reviews of this novel, both the good and the bad, and I wanted to add my own input. For the readers who felt that the background of the characters were lengthy and uninteresting, I tend to believe the exact opposite. I feel that Scott's descriptiveness help you to truly visualize the characters, as well as the local scenery. And why not breathe life into characters who will ultimately die? If everyone lived, would it be a horror story? And if he only describes those who live, wouldn't you know what was coming? And for those who say that some of the characters were close to religious fanatics, did you stop to think that maybe that was what Scott was attempting to portray? I mean - there are a lot of religious fanatics out there - and some of them are clueless to boot! Overall, I found The Harvest entertaining, a fast read and the characters interesting. I would recommend reading this novel, along with his first, The Red Church.
Rating:
Summary: Great Fun!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I am a big fan of "icky bug" (monster) stories and this one is right up there with the best. To sum it up, icky bug from space lands on earth in North Carolina, a bunch of hillbillies get et' by it, then the icky bug gets it's just deserts. My requirement for a good horror story is that the icky bug eats half the characters, there is lots of sex, and there is a liberal use of "colorful metaphors." This book has it all. I'm being a little facetious but you get the point. I will not go into the actual story line here but after a few chapters you can just see these people and their lives unfolding as the monster grows in strength. After living in West Virginia, I can well relate to the images of an old hillbilly living out in the woods, sittin' on the porch, swiggin' moonsine, with the old dawg too lazy to even wag his tail. The image may be exaggerated a little but this type of life still exists in the backwoods of the Appalachian states. Well drawn characters, good icky bug, moved along real well. For those of you interested in good ole' fun reading, this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Average B-Movie in Book Form
Review: I really wanted to like Scott Nicholson's "The Harvest" more than I did. The premise is sounds like something that would row my boat: ancient alien seed crash lands on Earth, alien seed attempts to devour/assimilate Earth's creatures (resulting in humans becoming zombie-like creatures), a small band of heroes collect to save the day. This is a full-on B-horror idea which, if you're even considering reading this book, is probably fine with you. Unfortunately, Nicholson got stuck somewhere between a fun B-horror novel and a character driven novel. Nicholson spends the first several hundred pages introducing character after character. I'm sure the purpose was to make us feel like we knew the characters but, for the most part, they were un-engaging and, in the end, unimportant to the story. The "goodies", brutal action and horrific twists, don't really kick in until the last 75-100 pages which I will admit I enjoyed. I feel this story probably would have been better served in novella form.
If you can handle slogging through a few hundred pages of slow introduction for a kick at the end then this is the book for you. Otherwise, pick up something else.
Rating: 
Summary: Standard Fare
Review: I took me a long time to read this novel. I'm not sure if it's because I've been busy lately or there wasn't enough to hold my interest. I tend to lean to the latter. Scott Nicholson has tried his best to throw as much as he could into The Harvest, and in fact he possibly threw in too much. There were too many characters and sub-plots, and honestly I felt that about 35% of this story could have been trimmed out. You may be thinking that would leave a pretty slim volume behind, and you'd be right. I found the characters for the most part mundane and aimless. Mr. Nicholson seems keenly interested in his cast. He describes them to excruciating detail which has little to do with advancing the plot, and reads more like filler than anything else. Another problem I had with the story were the endless writer's tricks. This novel is bristling with run-on sentences; so much so that it becomes irritating and distracting. One character carries on this awful, heavy-handed inner dialogue with himself that actually caused me to groan aloud. Some of the prose is so thick and unweildy I had to re-read many sentences just to make sure I was getting it. I read The Red Church, and although I found that novel promising, it would seem that the author is merely going to follow in the footsteps of such writers as Bently Little, Tom Piccirilli, Tamara Thorne and others who are practically interchangeable. In fact, if you were to tear the cover off many novels by authors such as these, I'd never be able to tell the difference.
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