this book was full of twists and turns. I loved every chapter. I loved the tribute to native americans and I just felt sucked in on page one.

This is like the product of your creepiest nightmare! Ten years ago, four Native American men sneak onto the hunting land of the tribal elders and slaughter an entire herd of elk. One young elk desperately clings to life, and they discover that she was pregnant. Now on the anniversary of that fateful hunt, the spirit of the elk returns to exact revenge on the four men, their families, friends, and everything they love.
I had a hard time at first with the writing style of this book, but found myself getting sucked into the story. I thought it lagged a little in between the different characters' stories, but the ending was well worth finishing.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Stephen Graham Jones never fails to surprise me. I knew I would most likely enjoy this story, but I didn't truly expect to love it... but I did. I've seen complaints about the slowness of the start of the book but that's what makes a good horror story to me- the anticipation.

I know a lot of people are enjoying this book, and I highly encourage readers to give it a chance because frankly there are not enough Own Voices out there, especially for Native American's. I truly believe this book could be excellent horror for another reader but it just wasn't for me. I struggled with the writing style, found it too slow through too many parts (but that prologue was fantastic), and I simply lost interest. Again, I think this was just a "it's me, not you" thing. I will give this author another chance in the future though!

I had a very hard time with this book. The beginning was cumbersome and confusing and it took until a third of the way through for it to start sinking in and making sense. The narrative and interactions left a very disjointed and foggy feeling of where the story was going and where it had come from. I felt that the cultural nuances could have been a bit more streamlined and referenced with more clarity instead of inference.

Remember when you first reading The Shining, or It, and the SURPRISES could truly shock you, and the horror was as much psychological as it was real, and that was why the books stayed with you for so long? Now add those emotions and add a Native American supernatural element, and you've got the bones of this story. Both dark and relatable, it's the story of making a bad decision and how it stays with you- karma, in this case CAN be a real killer. But how real is it? With innocents in the crossfire, their is a race for completion. Stay with this book until the end, for a book not to be read at night!

I wanted to read this book because it’s an own voices story and I can’t recall ever reading a book written by a Native American. So when I started reading the book it started out slow but I decided to stick with it and things picked up as the story progressed. Then the book slows down again and all hope is pretty much lost. There is a huge emphasis on basketball and the story goes into great detail about the game. I’m a sports fan but it was overkill. At times while I was reading I felt like the writing was a little disjointed. Some parts left me confused and the chapters would end abruptly. I also wouldn’t consider this book to be a horror story in my opinion. I was expecting to be scared as I read and that didn’t happen. I felt like I was reading a supernatural book. As much as I wanted to love this book sadly it didn’t work out for me which is a bummer.

Ten years after a ruthless hunting trip, four American Indian men face the consequences in The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones.

This novel was beautiful and frightening. It was easy to empathize with the characters; they became real people to me. They were funny, flawed, and broke my heart. The horror in these pages was palpable - I gasped, held my breath, and jumped out of my skin.

The imagery in this novel was superb and would make a fantastic film! Experiencing horror through a different culture's viewpoint is powerful. I'd love to see this story reach a wider audience, too.

This is the first novel I've read by this author, and I cannot wait to get my hands on more of his work.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

CWs: blood, gore, death, graphic animal/pet death, graphic violence

This is one of the darkest, most unsettling stories I've read in quite some time. The Only Good Indians is an effectively horrific look at the destructive consequences of cyclical violence. It's about how a past that is not honored comes back to haunt those who have forsaken it. And it is a horrifying prospect, truly.

I think this story has a lot to say about how the past inevitably colors, permeates, and shapes future generation. It's about how intergenerational trauma, particularly for Indigenous peoples, is a literal entity that ensures the colonized will destroy each other and themselves to continue the work of the colonizers. It's about how ignoring our pain will only give it more power.

And yet, despite the gore and violence, despite the cutting social commentary, it is a story about hope and survival. For a horror story such as this to not end on an image of death is a truly Herculean feat, and not something many authors can pull off.

This story only solidified the respect I have for Stephen Graham Jones' talent, and makes me want to read even more from him.

Stephen Graham Jones has penned yet another winner with The Only Good Indians. Ten years after poaching elk, four men are haunted by that decision in ways that turn not only nightmarish, but deadly. Readers follow the plot through multiple perspectives, providing layers of insight throughout the narrative. The book is well-paced, providing multiple climatic points until the last 20% of the book, which hits the gas and doesn't let up. Readers of horror, suspense, and psychological thrillers will all enjoy the bracing read. Jones centers Blackfeet experience, and Crow are also prominently featured. Woven into the narrative are issues of racism, prejudice, and reservation life. A great book.

Brutal and original horror novel. I can't believe this is my first Stephen Graham Jones novel. After reading The Only Good Indians I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of his work. Maybe it's just me but Jones reminds me of Joe Lansdale. Southern Fried Horror! It's really refreshing reading a Native American story, especially one that falls in the horror genre. Other than Owl Goingback I don't think I've read hardly any(at least none that come to mind) Native American horror stories. TOGI has great characters, and while odd and strange at times, it is engaging(great pacing) all the way. You could probably classify this novel as nature fun amok except on a much smaller scale. As in the scale of a vengeful elk. Yes, it sounds kind of out there and goofy but it works and it's really fun and horrific. There's more to it than just a vengeful elk. Think Native America spirits taking revenge and you're on the right track.. I'll leave it at that and not give away too much. Just read it! It will stay with you long after you've read it!

Dark and beautiful, THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by the talented Stephen Graham Jones is a stunning work of art that gripped my heart and blew my mind.

Vivid characters and locations brought this sometimes shocking story to life for me, and I devoured the second half of the story in a wild-eyed frenzy.

This is the kind of book that lingers with the reader long after the final page is turned. I highly recommend this haunting masterpiece!

I did not finish this galley. The number of editing and grammar errors bothered me enough and made it tough to read without concentrating on the errors.

The Only Good Indians is the story of four friends desperately trying to escape the consequences of a night ten years in the past. A night where they took too much from the hunt and now an entity is out to get its comeuppance. A horror story woven with American Indian culture. A sizzling tension… a low growl for dozens and dozens of pages until a snap of the teeth. I was shocked by the frequent twists. Told is an urgent style that puts the reader in the hip pocket of the narrator, lodged in there with a skinning knife and a history of violence.

I read many horror novels and stories of the supernatural, and this one blended the real and the mind-f*cking so blisteringly well. There are several scenes at the beginning of the book where one of the men, Lewis, sees a ghost or image of a long-lost nightmare. He spends parts of several chapters trying to recreate the imagining in an effort to find its origin. Jones describes this obsession with such a circular way that I felt all wrapped in the character’s mind. A nightmare of justifications and promises to change and move on start to turn Lewis on himself and others in his life. This is just one character, but Jones follows through in the rest of the novel. Gore and all!

Read this one for a shock or six. And plenty of excellent writing that will get you into the heart and head of evil.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Saga Press, and the author for an advanced copy for review.

I'm not really sure how to feel about this book. It was SO weird. An elk woman coming back to enact revenge against God 4 men who killed her, many of her herd, and caused the death of the calf she was carrying? It's such an odd premise and was super slow to get started. The last 10% of the book was what really saved it for me, so if you can stick it out til then it becomes a blood rushing pulse pounding terror filled nightmarescape and then just....ends. It's a pretty good ending, I would have given this 5 stars were it not for the achingly slow build up and just overall oddness of the plot.

An entity born of a tragically violent incident from the youthful past of four American Indian men leaves them fighting for their lives and their sanity. Ruthlessly hunted, the friends are caught in the spotlight as their actions and traditions they thought they didn't believe in anymore render them powerless against the tidal waves of rage that lied dormant for years.

"It was so easy. He was so fragile, so delicately balanced, so unprepared to face what he'd done."

I love randomly finding out that the author of a book I've wanted to read actually lives in my home state, I'm not entirely sure why it makes me so happy but there it is. I also enjoy learning new things - I surprisingly didn't know about elk ivory. It's something that's never come up with anyone that I know of that hunts elk. I have always been fascinated by Native American culture and beliefs. Some cultures and places just have that pull for me - the other that comes to mind is Egypt. My grandmother told me that our family had a American Indian ancestor but honestly, I would have to do a DNA test to believe it. If I actually do, what then? Claiming it or wanting to research it more would just make me feel like an impostor. One thing I will always wonder about is what this country would look like if the Europeans hadn't been *insert choice word here*, bringing sickness, death and religion with them.

"These are the kind of wrong thoughts people have who are spending too much time alone. They start unpacking vast cosmic bullshit from gum wrappers, and then they chew it up, blow a bubble, ride that bubble up into some even stupider place."

The prologue of the book sets the tone for the rest of the novel and the newspaper headings are a tragically comical way to break up what's currently happening. Really the only portion of the book that I struggled to get through was Lewis even though the events are interesting his character is a little dry. The interactions with the garbage disposal though - seriously I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The way The Only Good Indians is written definitely leaves you wondering if the entity inflicting its wrath upon the men in this story is a facet of guilty imagination or real. This book gives a interesting approach to herd mentality and collective memory. There is so much grief wrapped up in this novel - on both sides. Stephen Graham Jones does an amazing job transferring the character's uncertainty, horror and confusion to you - the reader. The ending for this book - seriously... all the feels like a sucker punch to the gut.

The Only Good Indians does have it's fair share of sensitive topics - gore/death/murder both animal and human, alcohol/drug use being the main ones that stick out. I highly recommend this book to readers who love slow burn horror, American Indian culture, supernatural/paranormal and thriller novels. I would like to thank the publisher Gallery Books for granting my wish for this book through NetGalley.

I have picked this book up at least 5 different times now and I just can not force myself to keep reading. As soon as I start my eyes glaze over and I start daydreaming. So like many other reviewers have said.....this one just isn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Gallery / Saga Press for kindly granting my wish for an arc.

What a freaky, mind-blowing and unforgettable read!

The beginning of this gutsy book grabbed my attention and it was hard to quit reading. Like many others, I stumbled through the writing style. It was hard to stay engaged at times, but it was worth it. This author has one freaky imagination!

This absolutely gorgeous cover caught my eye several times before I finally read the description. Indian culture and tradition has always fascinated me, then the horror aspect sealed the deal.

You’ll need a tough stomach to get through this one, for sure. Lots of blood and gore, both animal and human. It’s totally different from anything I’ve read before! Difficult at times, but I’m glad I stayed with it.

Whether you love this one or dislike it....it won’t easily be forgotten!

Thank you to NetGalley, Saga Press and Stephen Graham Jones for this ARC, in exchange for my honest review!

<b>My Rating: </b> 4 ⭐️’s
<b>Published:</b> May 19th 2020 by Gallery / Saga Press
<b>Pages:</b> 320

@SGJ72 @SagaSFF @GalleryBooks
#TheOnlyGoodIndians #MustRead #HorrorThriller #NetGalley

An interesting blend of the Native American condition in THERE, THERE and the horror of Stephen King's CUJO or PET CEMETERY. Killing a herd of elk can mean meat in the freezer for all the people on the reservation but when an ill planned hunt goes horribly wrong an entity called Elk Head Woman is let loose to exact revenge on the hunters. Ten years pass but the memory of that night is still fresh in the minds of the four young guys as they are about to pay the price for a mistake of their youth. This book is a paradox that shows the loss of pride, respect and remembrance of the old ways with the mythical spirit of the elk woman who takes out her revenge on the four because they did not respect the old ways of only hunting what you can eat and need. It is graphic and true to its horror roots yet also gives a great viewpoint of the modern day Native American trapped in the futility of living on the reservation. The language is choppy but authentic and it took me a bit of time to get used to the back story of each character which can lull you into a false sense of calm before the next horrific event. This book will appeal to readers who enjoy the violence and sheer terror of a good horror novel but also like reading between the lines for more of a story. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

I usually have a lot to say about a book, good or bad.  I also usually know where to start a review.  I want to say so much about The Only Good Indians, yet I feel that anything I try to say will be insufficient.  But here it goes.....



I went into this one pretty blind on the storyline, and I'm glad I did.  This is one of those books that you can't really describe without giving away major plot points, something I try not to do in my reviews.  But to sum this up as best as my limited vocabulary can, it's a story that is realistic yet surreal; there are modern graphic horror bits and Native American mythological  stories interwoven into one.  It truly is a story of revenge and redemption, and maybe not in the ways you may think.

I loved this story.  This is one to be savored and appreciated, and one I think you won't be able to put down.  This is also one that will haunt my dreams for some time to come.... my less than 5 stars is only due to my lack of knowledge when it comes to basketball which pulled the story down a bit for me.

A huge thank you to NetGalley for sending me an advanced e-copy for review.

And another huge thanks to Stephen Graham Jones for writing this!!