Breathtaking in its brutality, Only Good Indians is a story about revenge. It is a story told through multiple points of view, which, if the reader doesn’t commit names or situations to memory, can be difficult to follow. There were moments of violence that took me by surprise because of the way the author weaves them into a moment. The reader doesn’t see it coming. I often had to re-read paragraphs to make sure I was following what was being said.

What I appreciated the most was the insight Stephen Graham Jones provided into Native American culture, specifically the Blackfeet Nation. I am wholly unfamiliar with tribal differences, cultural traditions, or the language. I found myself pausing to look something up, not because it was confusing, but because I wanted to know more. Jones created characters who led lives that may look unfamiliar to most but are relatable because of their struggles which are universal.

What I wrestled with most were the slower parts. The ending could have been shorter. I found myself skimming over the last few chapters because the climax was so drawn out. Overall, Jones has created a complex, supernatural story that doesn’t relent in its ferocity.

Stephen Graham Jones's latest novel is an own voices horror about four Blackfeet men whose past, and the traditions they left behind, come back to haunt them. I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this as the blurb doesn't give a whole lot away, but once I adjusted to Jones's writing style I found myself swept away, on the edge of my seat and dying to know what was going to happen next.

I don't think this book will be for everyone. The writing style is different than what I'm used to, shifting point of view at random times, and I found myself having to re-read the same paragraph a couple of times to be sure I really understood. Once I got the hang of it though...oh, man. Jones somehow manages to weave humor and a cutting commentary on racism and stereotypes into the horror. I found myself at times amused, smitten by the realistic portrayal of four friends and their dry humor, even as my breath hitched and I waited for the inevitable. At the same time Jones doesn't shy away from acknowledging the portrayal of Native Americans and the prejudice and stereotypes they face, choosing to shine a spotlight on it.

The horror aspects were really well done. It's definitely more of a creeping horror - a movement out of the corner of your eye, a presence that doesn't feel quite right. At night after reading I found myself triple checking the deadbolt on the door before bed, as if it could save me from whatever horror was lurking just out of sight. There was more gore than I expected, but it wasn't so much that I was bothered. There are scenes with animal abuse/deaths, so if that is triggering to you I would proceed with caution.

Perhaps my biggest complaint, aside from the writing style, was the ending. I guess I just expected...more? Maybe another chapter after? It wasn't a bad ending by any means, I just felt it was a bit lackluster.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and know I'm going to find myself thinking about it over the coming weeks (I already forced my husband who isn't a reader to listen to me regale him with what happens). Thank you to Gallery/Saga Press and NetGalley for my advanced review copy!

This is my first experience with Stephen Graham Jones. I have heard great things about Mongrels and even have a copy I have been meaning to read. Most of my reading life is filled with good intentions. It was not until I was listening to the podcast by Max Booth III called, Ghoulish where he and Stephen Graham Jones discuss the slasher horror genre, and some of the plot of The Only Good Indians, that I was thinking about him again. Then the publisher approved my copy on NetGalley. I was reading other things and this one kind of got pushed to the side. I finally started to read it last week. I was not prepared for what was to come.

The Only Good Indians starts with Lewis, a 30ish Blackfeet who is living with his white wife off of the reservation, rebuilding a motorcycle, delivering mail, and getting playfully harangued about this by his old running buddies. Lewis has a weird experience while trying to fix a light above the ceiling fan, seeing the haunt that he has pushed in the back of his mind for the past ten years, a moment that he much rather not talk about with anyone. Shortly after, a flirty coworker, Shaney, comes along, showing up here and there, not necessarily allowing him to keep his mind at ease, Lewis tries hard to ignore her. This of course does not work as well as he had hoped, and after a few meetings and clues, Lewis realizes that Shaney might be more than she appears to be. This is a nice spooky novel with a little mystery and a little some weird things going on….

And then shit goes sideways.

From the middle of the first part to the very end, Stephen Graham Jones had me hooked. I loved every aspect of this, and this is one of those novels where i did not sleep because I wanted to know what was going on next. I had a moment with my wife while reading this book because I was ignoring everything else around me, including her and the children. I could not explain that it was because this novel is one of the best horror novels I have ever read or that I was kicking myself for not reading Stephen Graham Jones sooner.

According to the author on the Ghoulish podcast, his definition of a slasher novel is one that is built on revenge. This is definitely a slasher novel by this definition, and it is cut into three parts. All three parts are equally interesting and all of the characters are memorable. Even though this will not get the attention that it deserves, I bet that most everyone who reads it will think that it is incredible as well. This is solidly on my best of the year list.

I received this as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I will be buying a physical copy as soon as it comes out because it must be in my collection.

First let me thank Net Galley and Gallery/Saga Press for the ARC of this book. The opinion is my own.

This may be a case of good book, wrong time. While clearly well written, somehow it didn't connect with me. I couldn't get involved with any of the characters and the initial set up following the character of Lewis was difficult for me to follow. I pushed through the middle of the book mostly because I felt obligated to finish, and then actually picked up interest in the last quarter of the book during the sweat lodge and meeting and following Denorah.

I appreciated the connection to Native American life, traditions, and story telling. I liked the opening with the four friends going on the elk hunt and how it went wrong - that's a good setup. However, I think I had trouble with the horror part and I can't quite put my finger on why. I'm by no means a horror aficionado so I'm not the most qualified to speak to that aspect of the story. If you do enjoy a good horror story, you should read it for yourself. Or, if you enjoy a perspective on Native life, this may suit you.

This is excellently written, and I love how unique the source of horror is. I'm knocking off one start, though, because I did find it to be slow in the middle.

Very well written and one of those books you can not put down! Not expected was the humor. Not usually my genre but overall a very satisfying read.

QUICK TAKE: this one unfortunately wasn't for me. I appreciated the specificity of it and thought the author did a nice job in crafting a horror tale with a Native American twist, but I had trouble connecting to the characters and the writing style. As it is now, it reads more like short stories, and I would have preferred a little more character interaction and interweaving. Fans of horror might enjoy this as the author definitely plays with tropes of the genre.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy!

Did not finish - I could not connect with the plot or writing so I decided to put it down.

Interesting concept which I liked a lot. I also appreciated the moments in the story where there were sharp turns, and I had no idea where the story was going. It was almost episodic. I will say though that some of the pacing felt off, and a couple scenes seemed to drag - specifically the one on one baseball scene and the chase scene towards the end.

I am generally not a blurb reader. The blurb for THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS states "The creeping horror of Paul Tremblay meets Tommy Orange’s There There." Although I haven't read Paul Tremblay (yet), I have heard nothing but good things about his writing. When I saw Tremblay's name, I thought I might just want to read this one.

I am finding the story to be pretty disjointed. I would compare it to having a couple of martini's at a party then joining a group deep in discussion and trying to make sense of it through the fog of alcohol. So, either the book is flawed, or I am. I will say, I don't generally make a habit of having martini's before reading.

I understand that ARCs (particularly ebook ARCs) may be lacking in good formatting. Sometimes, the way a book is formatted makes all the difference in how that book is read. Punctuation is also important. Need I even mention that 'sighed' and 'side' may sound the same but are otherwise totally unrelated? And where exactly is "the creeping horror."

Maybe a couple of martinis would have made this easier to read.

The Only Good Indians is inventive and definitely delivers on the horror atmosphere. The story rises and falls with its suspense, quietly building up to these moments of explosive action. Beginning with a subtle tension, I was impressed with the way Jones is able to manipulate our feelings of anxiety and that gut feeling knowing something is wrong. The Only Good Indians is a story about characters. How have their lives been changed by what that incident, their ways of seeing themselves, and their feelings of guilt. It's a story where I wasn't sure what was happening even till the end because it feels almost unexplainable.

I was pleased to get a copy of this from Netgalley in return for a review, which in no way influenced my review. I have often wanted half stars with Goodreads but no luck. This is a 3.5 read for me but I rounded up mostly because it was a me, not the book thing. The second half has a heavy reliance on basketball. I didn’t even like it when I played and I liked reading about it even less.

So being horror, you can imagine horrific things happen. Ten years ago, four friends, members of the Blackfeet tribe, did something they shouldn’t, hunted on land meant for the elders. They didn’t quite get away with it but no one got hurt, so they thought other than maybe some emotional scars. They were wrong. Ten years later, the men have gone their own way, Ricky is off on his own. Lewis has married a White woman and is off the reservation working as a postal carrier and feels pretty good about his life. Cassidy and Gabriel are still on the reservation, the latter falling victim to himself and alcohol. His pride is his daughter, Denorah (living with her mother and step dad) who is a fantastic basketball player.

We spend very little time with Rick but it gives us our first hints as to what the ‘entity’ is in the blurb and I don’t plan to say more than entity because the first half of the book is all about peeling back the layers, letting us see what these friends did and what is back for revenge.

I really enjoyed Lewis and his arc. Out of all of them, him I felt sorry for. His life with his wife and the new Crow lady co-worker who’s come into his life was interesting. I liked this comic book reading, rather sensitive guy. You can almost believe he doesn’t quite deserve what’s coming for him. His fear as he works it out is palpable.

The second half of the book worked less for me. Maybe it was all the basketball which just went on way too long for me. Maybe it was that I liked Cass and Gabe less. Both of them, however, do shine a light on the poverty and hopelessness that can be found on the reservations. I say this as an outsider with an outsider’s point of view. I was a reservation doctor for a year so I’ve seen it but again only as an outsider. That said, this felt true to what I had seen for myself.

Without spoiling anything, things have been hitting them hard. They are sad but they are also reaching out to Victor (reservation cop) and his son, Nathan who is going down the wrong path. They’re going to try to have a sweat lodge/sing for Nathan to help him spirituality and get him back on track.

Again, being horror, you can imagine this might not go well.

The entity is creepy, steeped in Blackfeet lore and her reasons for her actions are understandable, except maybe the final action against someone who hadn’t anything to do with it. All of the men are well drawn as is Denorah.

My biggest gripe is the ending went on way too long. It dragged for me (again with the basketball). But other than that it was a creepy horror and worth the read.

I really did not know what to expect when I started The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. I was intrigued by the description of the novel as well as the Paul Tremblay comparison so was happy to give it read.

Many years ago, four friends went elk hunting trip where they should not have been hunting. When they opened fire on a herd of elk, a pregnant elk was struck causing her and the unborn deer to die. This also brought something much darker into play. Something evil and hellbent on revenge.

Even though years have passed, the spirits of the murdered elk do not forget and will have their revenge. Now the four friends find themselves confronted with the angry spirits in different ways. Ricky had already reached his end in the parking lot of a bar, but the terror is just beginning for Lewis and his wife Peta, Cassidy, and Gabriel Cross Guns. A decade may have passed since the hunting incident, but the spirit of the elk and of the people will never forget and will never forgive.

The summary for this book is short because this is a very difficult book to sum up. The Only Good Indians is an interesting mash up on genres and there is a lot to like in this novel. There is a substantial back story on culture that runs throughout the story as the different characters have to come to terms with their culture and their relative standing in relation to the culture. How does Lewis, a Native American married to a white woman, fit into his culture? What is the mental price he must pay for not living on the reservation? Those are just a sampling of what is found within and this is very good stuff. There is also, as advertised, a lot of horror in the novel and some of it is very visceral and very well done. Jones is an accomplished writer and his skill is on display in this book.

Where the novel went off track for me was in the flow of the narrative which I found to be too disjointed to keep me on track. It seemed at times as if Jones was not sure where he wanted to go with the story. While I am sure that is not the case, I thought that the story would get heading in the wrong direction and lose the momentum it was building. There were some very strong chapters in the book but it never seemed to come together to form a complete tale for me. The writing was strong. The idea behind the book was well thought out. I just could not get into the execution of the story and never got my interest completely peaked. I have seen a lot of good reviews for this novel so it definitely has an audience. It just never got on track for me and I ended the story feeling a little unsatisfied.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Saga Press for this review copy. The Only Good Indians is scheduled to be published on July 14, 2020.

A phenomenal book. THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS delivers everything we expect from a Stephen Graham Jones novel: surprising and bone-chilling horror, wicked humor, and a wholly original narrative voice.

What makes INDIANS top-tier Jones is the emotional honesty that haunts every page. This book feels mythic. It also feels immediate and of the now. It’s painful and powerful. And it rocks along like a freight train headed into the darkest part of the night.

Stephen Graham Jones is a favorite of mine, and I was really looking forward to this one. I can tell you it was worth the wait. It's about a group of childhood friends pursued by a vengeful entity that wants to exact revenge for an incident during an elk hunt that happened in their teens.

There's a lot of horror and violence here (warning: people and animals) but there's also sobering social commentary on the lives of Native Americans. It could have been a 5-star read, but I have to admit I kept putting it down for something else at times when the narrative slowed. When it gets rolling, however, it's some of the best horror fiction I've read in long time.

This book was riveting and suspenseful. Once I started, I was hard-pressed to put it down. It’s creepy and horrific at times. Fair warning, there is a lot of (pretty detailed) animal and human death/violence in this book.

The story was really really good, but there was a lot of basketball play in it. I don’t really know basketball; so I found it kind of difficult to picture some of the descriptions from the different basketball games. The POV flip flopped a lot throughout the later sections of the book and could be a little confusing at times. Overall though, this was really good horror.

Always excited to add Native American novels to the collection; personally this felt a little TOO slow-burning for me and I found myself losing interest.

Overall I enjoyed reading this story. It starts off kind of slow but the creepiness starts to show up as each page is turned. The writing is good and it keeps the reader engaged even in the quiet parts of the book. I loved the characters and Stephen Graham Jones does an excellent job making characters the reader can connect with and like. The real horror doesn't kick in until about 20% of the way in and I was definitely disturbed. It went from slow creepy build to outright horror. And you see it coming and start thinking, "Oh the horror! Don't do it!" Exactly what one looks for in a horror book. The book is basically made up into three sections that all tie together. Each one has that same concept; slow build and then horror. The third section of the book was probably my favorite although the level of detail of a basketball game did get a little long for me. Overall I enjoyed this book. It's a pretty short read and would recommend for the good writing and good story telling.

Four American Indian men took part in a traumatic and disturbing event during their youth, that to this day seems to linger in their minds. Each man has found their own way to deal with the feelings associated with this event over the years. It seems that they are being tracked by an entity bent on revenge. In an effort to fend off this entity the men have shed their traditions and culture, but could this have actually made matters worse? Things will take a violent turn if these men aren’t careful.

This book has been one of my most anticipated horror releases for 2020, so when I found out I won a copy I was over the moon. When I started reading I immediately found myself feeling confused about the direction of the story. I think I was expecting something more straightforward and what I found was much more convoluted and at times above my head.

THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS is steeped in tradition and culture from the American Indian roots of the main characters. I don’t personally know much about these traditions, but I was easily able to pick up the direction that Jones was pointing the reader. You can truly feel the prejudice and the struggle that these main characters felt not only as adults, but throughout their lives. I loved how Jones kept each of the men as their own unique person when revealing how they learned to cope with these items, as well as the main traumatic event that took place in their youth.

One of my struggles came through in the writing style of Jones. The writing is absolutely captivating, but at times it felt disjointed to me. The story would flip perspective or topic and I didn’t understand what had happened because it wasn’t clear that a shift was occurring. I think Jones’ writing is very cinematic, to the point where these transitions would work beautifully on screen, but as a reader they were confusing.

I think some readers will struggle with the fact that this book is more of a quiet horror story than they may be expecting from the synopsis. There are no jump scares or gore for the sake of gore. Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly some graphic moments, but it’s more uncomfortable than scary in my opinion.

Overall, I think this book has a lot of really great social commentary mixed with a creepy vibe that will certainly work for readers who go in with the right mindset!

A huge thank you to Saga Press for my free copy!

Thanks to Saga Press, Stephen Graham Jones and NetGalley for this advanced reading copy.

Needless to say this is my first introduction to Stephen Graham Jones and what an auspicious introduction to his writing.
I judge the quality of any writing by how quickly I lose myself in the story and suddenly I’ve read many pages and where has the time gone. Such an event happened to me while reading The Only Good Indians. This story is so full of unique perspectives that the everyday reader rarely encounters. Maybe it’s my advanced age but I want to read stories from other voices besides the comforting familiar ones.
I had similar experiences reading The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen and There, There by Tommy Orange.
The cast of characters presented are varied while being tragically flawed in their own specific ways. Denorah....wow.
This unique novel is highly recommended.