When Lewis, Cassidy, Ricky, and Gabriel come upon a herd of elk outside their reservation territory toward the end of hunting season, they decide to go against the laws of nature and take advantage. Killing nine elk, including one young elk far along in a late season pregnancy, the men vow to use every bit of the animals to try to pay tribute to their indiscretion.

Shortly thereafter, Ricky gets off the reservation and finds himself in a bar with mostly white men. When he goes outside to take a leak, a herd of elk is suddenly surrounding him. They begin attacking, destroying any cars in their wake. But worse than the elk are the white men who hear the commotion and come out to see what the trouble is. When they see the state of their cars, no one at the reservation is surprised to learn of another Indian man murdered at the hands of white men.

Ten years later, Lewis is experiencing hallucinations of an Elk Head Woman. It’s haunting him, making him lose his grip on reality and distrust those around him
When he finds his dog dead, stomped to death by hooves, it’s the last straw and Lewis snaps.

Is the Elk Head Woman coming back for vengeance? Or has the guilt of breaking Indian customs and the laws of nature taken its toll on the men?

A unique premise and rich with culture, I found this book interesting but not one I would recommend. It was overly graphic at times with excessive and explicit violence against animals and humans (serious trigger warnings). I wasn’t overly connected with any of the characters but the ending did provide some redemption.

Thank you to Saga Press, BookishFirst and NetGalley for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Content and trigger warning for gore, animal violence, body horror, death of (several) dogs

I like audibly screaming when reading a horror novel. The Only Good Indians follows four childhood friends who got a little greedy on a hunting trip and are now paying the price as adults.

This book hits all the highs of horror with gruesome imagery, specific language, and a deeply personal story. It is so intimate, with several layers of lived experience that just add depth to a book that also excels at delivering thrills. What makes this story particularly terrifying is the way Jones deliberately and pointedly plays with POV. For the most part, we see the terrors unfold from either Lewis, Ricky, Cass, or Gabe’s POV, but there are some surprises, like the shift to second person told from the Elk Head Woman’s perspective. She’s scary both from a character design standpoint and the strength of her character arc.

There are so many characters in this book and none of them feel frivolous or extraneous. Jones plays with the “final girl” trope in a way that I can’t speak more about because spoilers, but it is such a great exploration.

Gross at times and makes playing basketball one-on-one an absolutely terrifying experience, definitely a favorite new release of 2020.

This book shocked me with how good it was.

Let me start over.

I've never read a Stephen Graham Jones book before, so when digging through his other works, I was hit with the, oh he wrote THAT one?! feeling. And I mean that in an excellent way! So many were ones that I'd meant to read, but kept pushing to the wayside because oh look shiny new books.

But I digress.

I'm glad this was my first of his books! Initially, when we start the story, we witness a murder that's already got these undertones of pure dread. And it's gnarly. Then we meet Lewis, and we stay with him the longest of the four friends. We want to root for him, we want him to have the happy life with his wife and dog.

Lewis is our link to what actually happened on a hunting trip ten years prior. And it's one of those spooky oh-you-really-screwed-up stories. And as he tells it, we get more dread and more creepy feelings. It's so good.

Then the script is flipped. We're dealing with a twisted revenge story, and we both love our four main guys, and we also dislike em a bit. It's like my emotions were completely screwed with and I still loved it.

I will say, the beginning of Lewis' story drug a bit for me. I felt like I was plodding along, but around the 25% mark I was like, wait, hold up, this was a big clue. And I LOVE when stories do that.

I also love that this is an ownvoices horror story that blends social commentary with horror. Like there's the horror of being stalked by a creature hellbent on revenge, but the horror of what Blackfeet and other tribes have to deal with on a regular basis.

Overall a wonderfully creepy story, I give The Only Good Indians 4 out of 5 basketballs. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for providing a copy in exchange for review.

I'm not even sure what to say about this exquisite novel by Stephen Graham Jones. From page one, this book grabbed me, shook me, and didn't let me go until the ending (which was perfect).

A mixture of Indian folklore and good, old-fashioned horror and tragedy, The Only Good Indians makes you reconsider so much of what you know to be true about humans and animals.

While browsing through NetGalley, I saw this book and was intrigued. I hadn't read anything by this author yet. A copy wasn't available, but I put it on my wishlist, and the wish was granted! It was just recently published. Its genre was defined as "horror", but it wasn't too much of that. A cross between mythical, and suspense perhaps. The premise is that some Native American men are out hunting and kill an elk, which reverberates throughout the years with different events impacting each man with rather ghostly incidents. There are often incidents which are educational and informative to Native American culture and why certain things are specific to them. It just didn't deliver the punch I was expecting.
Thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for giving me the gift of a book on my "wishlist" for an honest review.

Wow. I don't even know where to really begin with this one. It's one of the most unique stories I think I've ever read, and there were parts in it that genuinely scared the hell out of me. It's just plain eerie in places. It's also very, very gross in places. It's also so much more than all of that. I really enjoyed it, and I'm so glad I got a chance to read it! Also, I love, love, love the cover!

My one complaint is that the dogs don't do so well in this book. It's quite graphic in places. I enjoyed the story so much, though, that I just pushed through it.

A super big thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an advanced copy! :)

Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives.’

When I started reading THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS, a book I couldn’t wait to get my hands on, I have to admit, I started feeling a little disappointed, that is until the thirty-four percent mark on my Kindle, that moment where ’Meh’ left my mind and turned into ’Holy Crap, I wasn’t expecting that! Let's just say I got very little sleep last night as I eagerly made my way to the end.

As you read this book, and you’ve also seen the film or have read the book THE RITUAL, it’s easy to wonder if the narrative in THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS will lean the same way, and I’m happy to say that it doesn’t.

Though THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS didn’t tick off all the boxes for me, it kept me engaged, eagerly wanting to read more, and most definitely broke my heart. Recommend!

Up Next from Stephen Graham Jones - MONGRELS

Thank you, NetGalley and Saga Press, for loaning me an advance eBook of THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS in exchange for an honest review.


Scheduled For Release On – July 14, 2020

This book has been getting a lot of buzz, and I was intrigued by the synopsis. A horror book written by a Native American author and following Native characters sounded like something I would love. Unfortunately, I knew after the first chapter that this book was going to be a struggle for me. The slow, literary writing style did not click with me at all. I honestly think it’s a case of the book not being for me, and not that the book was bad. I trudged through the first half not enjoying it at all. Then something happened, and we were following a new character. At this point I decided to skim read the last half (which is something I very rarely do) because I knew nothing could make me enjoy this book.

I do think that this is a well written book. I just don’t think it was written for me. If you like slow, diverse, literary horror, then this might be the book for you.

This was a hard book to read and won't be for everyone. There is a lot of violence in it and a lot of animal abuse! But, unlike in many books, it is necessary for the story. Still, definitely something to know going in. I would like to know how Native Americans feel about the representation and the feeling that this story was based on old legend. I did not feel like we got to know the characters very well. This could have been a function of the large number of them or just a symptom of the horror genre. I mean, how well do we get to know the teens who run into the scary basement in horror movies? But in the book, I felt like there was room to follow the characters between the hunt and the eventual retribution. So while I read it, cringed, and enjoyed the book, I wanted more.

This book was everything i didn't know i needed from a creepy story. I feel like this is the start of the genre American Gothic, were we get these dark tales from both North and South America added to our collective storytelling. This book read as both modern horror and classic fairy-tale (The kind where the mermaid kills her beau not marries him.) Four young men do something against all the rules and a decade later it comes back to haunt them and their tribe, literally. It felt like i got a peek behind the veil of something that should be tribal lore passed down and that made the reading experience all the more amazing for me. Im so thankful to both Librofm, and Netgally for the chances to read/listen to this amazing story early. Ive had my physical copy preordered for months now and i cant wait to hold it in my hand.

This book has been getting a lot of buzz this year as it’s been on list after list for books to read this summer. So, the expectations were quite high when I started reading it and man, I was not disappointed. This novel follows a group of friends, Lewis, Gabe, Cass, and Ricky, who venture onto a forbidden part of the reservation, desperate to get their elk for the year before winter sets in. They end up massacring 9 elk on that day including one that was pregnant with a calf. 10 years later, as they have drifted apart with two leaving the reservation, that day comes back to haunt them, something coming to take its revenge.

The book is told in 3 acts, told from the perspectives of the four friends, the entity, and the daughter of one of the friends. The first act could stand on its own as a terrific psychological horror novella. Jones keeps ratcheting up the psychological dread, reminiscent of Paul Tremblay, until he unleashes it in the most horrific way imaginable that leaves you absolutely stunned. Then in the last two acts you can really begin to see his deep appreciation of the slasher genre, incorporating familiar tropes that takes it to the next level. Also, it has one of the highest stakes games of basketball ever written.

Jones provides social commentary on Native American life on and off the reservation, dealing with complex themes of guilt, survival, bonds between friends and family, traditions, and cultural identity. While this is a tale of revenge, it’s also a tale that is heartbreaking and gut-wrenching but not without hope and humor. This is one that every library should have in their collection and I will be recommending it to everyone.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones is a literary horror novel to take all literary horror novels. It's an open, bleeding heart, beating with the force of broken families, old traditions, and bad decisions made by young men that have the unfortunate power to shape their futures. This book has been described as Peter Straub's Ghost Story set on the rez, and it absolutely has that vibe. A decade ago, four young men decide to hunt where they shouldn't and kill more than they need. Ten years later, a vengeful spirit rises up to settle the score. The men must face their pasts and their identities in a bloody reckoning. But the spirit won't stop with them, it must turn to their loved ones as well. I have never read a more inventive story. Jones has blended many literary influences, native cultures and beliefs, and applied unique formatting to The Only Good Indians. Once I began reading it, I could not put it down. Jones' messaging about tradition, respect, perseverance, resiliency, and family are powerful, as is his heartfelt desire in the acknowledgments that all Native women should live and flourish. The Only Good Indians is bone-chillingly frightening, shockingly thrilling, viciously bloody, and full of an enormous amount of heart. Jones really killed it with this one.

Stephen Graham Jones has delivered a great modern horror novel that embraces both the tropes of that genre as well as his indigenous background. The monster at the heart of the story is something from native tradition and there's no way this story could be recast with characters from outside of that culture. Jones has a profoundly strong voice and is able to shift perspectives so effortlessly. We even get segments of the story from the monster's point of view.

Well, this was honestly a bit of a disappointment for me, but perhaps I'm just not quite the right audience. In the first chapter, I could immediately tell that the writing style wouldn't mesh well with what I enjoy (I think I just didn't love the tone). The pacing was a bit off for me as well. It took a bit for me to get into the book, but I did start to enjoy it. However, there's a somewhat abrupt switch with the plot, and I didn't particularly love this middle section. I did enjoy the ending though! In general, I felt that this dragged in places, and I didn't feel on edge because of the horror aspects.

There were some aspects to this story that I enjoyed though! I really liked seeing the culture and traditions of these characters. I also appreciated the commentary on being Native American and how others perceive our characters. I think my favorite character was Denorah - I liked her drive, and I do wish we could have spent a bit more time with her.

I did feel that this was a bit bizarre. There are definitely content warnings here for animal death (it gets pretty gruesome and explicit, so I was certainly uncomfortable with it).

While this wasn't a hit for me, I think that this may work well for others! I'd suggest trying to read a sample to see whether or not the writing style would work for you first.

I obtained an advance copy of this for review from the publisher via NetGalley - thank you! All opinions are my own.

My video review can be seen on my channel (around minutes 2:50-5:19 of this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdJnJSA7hyQ

I was really looking forward to this book. I loved the cover art as well as the title. And it sounded great. But I just could not get into the author's writing style. I was having to work too hard to understand what the author was talking about, and that took me out of the story. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

I don’t know if I can even begin to describe how much I enjoyed this! Suffice it to say, The Only Good Indians is everything I love about horror and then some! This book has truly won me over to Stephan Graham Jones and I will be reading everything he writes from now on!
This was such an intelligently written horror story, dealing with so many social topics, while also being chillingly terrifying throughout. I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as whether the horror would be real or perceived, until I got about 30% into the story and from then on it picked up so much speed that it was impossible for me to put down, or stop thinking about it when I did put it down.

Jones’ writing of horrific scenes is done so well that they bring a feel of chilling, and at times disgusting, horror while achieving that “not being able to look away” feel you get from a good horror movie. And some of these scenes are definitely disturbing to be sure. If gory scenes bother you, then this will be a very difficult read. Sometimes the descriptions of what was happening to characters were so bizarre and horrifying that I found myself rereading to prove to myself I had really just read that scene correctly!

One of the most interesting aspects of this story is the way Jones achieves such a terrifyingly realistic story, while simultaneously having some of the most bizarre and unrealistic things happen. All of the characters in the story are written well and fully fleshed out, whether we spend a long time with them, or only a short while. He truly has the ability to make you feel for a character, whether that feeling is good or bad, and then jerk the rug out from under your feet!

Bottom line, I absolutely loved my reading of this, and it remains one of those stories that I will always remember details from because it was that wild of a ride for me. If you love horror and don’t mind a good amount of gory description, but also love for your horror to have meaning, definitely check out The Only Good Indians.

This writing style was just not for me at all. It’s a very slow burn with lots of exposition, and I found it hard to follow what was actually happening because it was drowned in so much extra detail. I was looking forward to this one but it unfortunately wasn’t for me.

This book was an absolute blast. There few things to keep in mind, because it did take a little while to get going for me, despite starting off almost immediately with ghost action. The story might be a little confusing at first, but it falls into place pretty quickly. You might also want to look up the story of the “deer woman” to help understand what’s going on. The book is separated into a prologue and three books with different points of view in each. The point of view change is one of the main reasons why I’m giving this 4 stars instead of 5, because the point of view in the second book in particular is super weird, and a little jarring. Not to say that it’s bad in that part, because the story is still really neat. It’s just that it switches several times in each chapter, and is not my favorite aspect of the book. Oh, another thing! I saw another review that said they got tired of the basketball references, so I guess that’s another thing to keep in mind before diving in. I love basketball, so I got a kick out of this part of the book, but straight up every character talks about basketball several times each throughout the book. It’s mentioned in almost every chapter, so I guess some people may not enjoy that. Again, I thought that was super fun. I guess one more thing to know going in is that there are quite a few very graphic descriptions of animal deaths. People too, but I mean, it’s a horror novel, that’s to be expected. Dog death is always a drag, though. All in all, I loved it. I’ve been wanting to read something by Stephen Graham Jones pretty badly, and I’ve gotta say that he really lived up to the hype. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of his work. Big thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Great book.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This wasn’t really for me, but I still enjoyed myself. Definitely more slow-paced than I’m used to in a thriller, and WAY more animal gore than seemed necessary. That being said, it was well-written and pretty bone-chilling at times. I enjoyed the magical realism element, and I loved reading about a different way of life than my own. 3.5 stars!

The writing and characterization are extremely well done. The images are vividly rendered. Unfortunately, the descriptions were a bit too much for me, as I had to stop reading after the death of the dog.