This horror novel is perfect for fans of The Terror. The story sucks you in before you know it and soon you are as unsure and terrified as the protagonists. The blend of folklore and legend, of myth and supernatural, of real and make believe are what keeps you reading long after it’s given you the creeps.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, is a horror story that will make you realize that past mistakes are never truly in the past.

Four childhood friends made a grave mistake ten years ago, when they hunted for elk in a forbidden section of their reservation. None, but one of them, realized at the time that what they had done was wrong.

Ten years later, the same men find themselves haunted by a supernatural entity that craves revenge more than anything.

Let me start of by saying that the premise for this supernatural horror story was excellent. I loved reading about the Native American culture, and life on the reservation. This book had good horror elements to it, and was at times quite thrilling.

That being said, I felt the novel was too drawn out. I understand basketball was a big element in the story, but it was just too much for me. I felt extremely lost in all the play by plays. Also, the writing style was not for me. Some things made no sense to me, so I had to go back a few times to reread some sentences. I'm not sure why it was that way either. The story itself was pretty straight forward.

I know this book has mostly excellent reviews, so I'm in the minority here. I urge everyone to read the other reviews, and then make up your mind.

3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Gallery for the Arc!

Will appear in print magazine LOCUS April issue. Cannot post until after publication. I also boosted via Twitter and Facebook on January 21.

This book didn't quite do it for me. There was a lot to like, but ultimately I just didn't love the plot, plus the story's construction didn't feel like a novel, really. The seams where the book switched to a different point of view just felt too visible and contrived to really work for me.
All that said, this did pique my interest toward Jones as a writer so I fully intend to check out more of his stuff in the future.

"The Only Good Indians" has been getting superb reviews from horror bloggers, but I'm afraid I found it astonishingly dull and boring, with a writing style so tedious I felt I was walking through treacle. If I bought this book after reading one of these many positive reviews I doubt I would ever trust another review again. One of the most boring books I have ever read.

Being an Indian and loving horror I was excited to get this ARC. The premise was original and intriguing, it drew me in. It turned out to be a huge disappointment. The writing was flat, banal and confusing. It was slow paced adn just never grabbed me.

Every horror fan should read THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS. Stephen Graham Jones, but so should a lot of other readers. Jones, a Blackfoot writer, uses a bloody, compelling folk tale as a lens through which to examine the realities of life in a contemporary Native community and argue - subtly, without didactic tactics - for the respect we owe our natural world.

A pretty compelling story, but the writing style was kind of difficult to decipher at times. There were dozens of sentences and paragraphs where I had to ask myself, “what did I just read?” Or “what was the author trying to say?”

The gist: This is a book of multiple horrors; spiritual, folklore-esque horrors, as well as real-world horrors of discrimination and racism. It’s a deep hearted book, at times genuinely heart-warming, at others shocking and brutal. Set against the backdrop of growing up as an American Indian, Jones explores life on and off the reservations. He introduces us to the four main characters in turn, and you come to know them like old friends. He shows us a small piece of their lives – a tragic coming of age tale, one that ultimately leads to a vengeful darkness pursuing them into their adult lives. He expertly balances the sense of community, tragedy, friendship and horror.

It’s the sort of book that etches images into your mind, leaves pictures sure to revisit you in your dreams. The power and character Jones portrays for the elk is genuinely impressive, the sense of place is brilliantly done, and the pacing draws you in – the book creeps up on you and refuses to let you go.

The Only Good Indians, with its blend of horrors but tinged with hope, proves to be the sort of read that stays with you long after the last page has turned. Hauntingly good stuff.

Favourite line: “Like they’re kids again, learning to break-dance.”

Read if: You want a horror that sends chills down your spine but has a strong, beating heart to it that cuts tenderness through the horrors.

Read with: Definitely no plans to go hunting any time soon.

I'll be posting the review on my website www.thedustlounge.com closer to the publication date

Well this book just wasn't for me. I could not get on with the style of writing and some leaps that just got in the way of my enjoyment. I know that others have loved this and I usually enjoy horror stories but even more unusually for me I couldn't make it to the end and just gave up. I loved the idea of native indian perspective in a way I hadn't seen before but this was not enough. I read for enjoyment, for NetGalley I will always finish a book but this one I just thought no, enough is enough. So my view is personal but that is what you want.

THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS, the latest novel by author Stephen Graham Jones, is that rare novel that comes along once in a while and feels like a blast of fresh, crisp cool air for the genre.

Reading it, I likened it to an A24 Horror Film - an independent psychological horror with a fresh perspective, a different idea, an exciting approach to horror. One that shatters my expectations and takes me, a seasoned horror fan, for a ride.

The story goes like this: Four American Indian men from the Blackfeet Nation find their quiet lives disrupted when something from their past comes back to haunt them. Something relating to what these friends did ten years ago.

Beyond the unique perspective that the setting and characters lend to the story, there’s a darkness to The Only Good Indians. One that builds slowly. Like a pot set to boil, it crackles and spits in increasing intensity the more you turn the page. There’s something disquieting at work, something bleak behind the curtain. You can feel that in its opening prologue and you can feel it in the beginning chapters. It only increases this pressure as the novel unwinds.

This tension, this disquieting dread, explodes here or there in fits of gore, as nasty and horrific as any Stephen King or Jack Ketchum novel, as seemingly excessive as an Evil Dead Movie, before dropping back to a more slow and foreboding pace. The end result, for me, was that I was caught off guard. I thought I had the novel figured out but I was often wrong. Which is a nice feeling.

Stephen Graham Jones’ writing takes the style of the stream of consciousness, flowing like a lucid nightmare. Since we’re with the characters every thought, we’re also with their mind when they think reality is shifting and cracking, when their world starts to unravel.

The writing feels effortless, powerful (Where has this man been all my life? I’ll need to dive into his work) and there’s a dreamlike feel that seeps into Jones’ passages. He has an eye for detail, he sets the stage in a way that feels cinematic.

The most interesting aspect of this novel is that it could’ve been a conventional genre piece from start to finish - and that could’ve still been an enjoyable treat - but the novel went beyond my expectations, telling a larger story with a bigger scope. One where you could peel back the layers of these characters and disappear into these worlds.

There are some parts - sections, developments - that feel a little too fast paced for me. I must admit I’m conflicted with this aspect because while it does move at a break neck pace, some developments felt a little rushed to get to a major point. It doesn’t detract from overall enjoyment, I just feel certain aspects - without being too spoilery - could’ve been developed a bit more to draw every bit of tension out.

As it is though, THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS brought me back to a time and place where I was a young horror fan and looking for something unlike anything I had seen previously. It’s a feverish nightmare, a thrilling psychological horror and the first horror novel in a long while that left me with its images long after evening came for me.

If you’re a fan of Clive Barker, Lucky McKee, Stephen King or even David Lynch, I think you’ll be as pleasantly entertained and surprised as I was with this novel.

This is my first book by Jones and I think I may have found a new author! This book was super engrossing and kept me on my toes. Highly recommend!!

Another book hit me on the face and gave me complex feelings: I liked it but I also disliked it as well. I hate to be decisive and stay in the middle. I also hate grey. I liked to choose between black and white. So let’s rephrase how this book confused the hell of me!

Firstly this is fresh, inventive, unique, different story and seeing Native American representation always picks my interest because I love to learn more about different traditions, cultures and original, remarkable perspectives. We have so many vivid ingredients in the sea of literature and we need to discover them more by reading those talented, brilliant authors works and help them raise their voices, share their opinions.

So this book made me so excited, especially reading the blurb tells us this is crossover of Paul Tremblay books and There There. And after reading bizarre opening with the incident at the elk hunt, I was captivated and I thought that was it, I was reading something heart pounding, mind bending!

But after that, I slowly drifted apart from the story. I found the pace a little slow and the way of story -telling distracted my concentration. But there are also too many elements still held my attention. The plot about cursed four friends who committed crime at the beginning of the book are threatened by some supernatural identity gave me so much creeps! As a die-hard fan of action packed revenge stories, I kept going and at some parts I jumped off my seat, screamed and checked my back to make sure nobody was sneakily approaching behind me (This kind of stories turned you into a paranoid!) and the ending is also satisfyingly impactful touch!

But I have to admit, it was struggling and compelling reading and I had some trouble with the language and progression of the story. It reminded me of Nic Pizzolatto’s dark, slow-burn, eerie, heart shattering writing style more than Jordan Peele’s horror movies.

So I gave 3.25 stars! But I liked the idea and I appreciated author’s efforts to bring out something fresh, controversial, spooky to the literature jungle by getting the readers’ full attention. I love to read his other works in near future.

I wish I would enjoy this book more than this and because trying something brand new always force you to be brave and take more risks. And I always support those authors who are really brave enough to bring different tastes, stunning shocking, twisty stories. I wish I could focus more but it was dragging and struggling reading journey for me.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for this ARC COPY in exchange my honest review. Thanks to Stephen Graham Jones for his original work to help the readers experience a brand new journey!

This wasn't a book I would normally read. I'm glad I did though. The writing was very good as well as the story. I give it 4 stars and I recommend it.

4 stars!!

A group of friends go elk hunting and shoot at a herd of elk thus killing a pregnant elk. Little did they know this elk would come back eventually for vengeance....

This story is slower, but is far worth it for the eerie, creepy factor.

The is book was honestly gory and horrifying.... Which is why I highly recommend it!!

This is my first Stephen Graham Jones Novel, and it won't be my last.

*** Many thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for my review copy in exchange for an honest review***

Excellent horror novel. The voices of the narrators are unique and give real immediacy to the story they are telling. A tale of vengeance where you really feel for all sides. I especially appreciated that all characters don't really fight what is happening to them, they accept the insanity of events and try to work with them. And it is always to find more genre tales told with non-white characters.

Unfortunately this book just wasn't my cup of tea. I wouldn't consider this to be an objective fault with the writing by any means but it certainly did not suit my tastes. I did find some of the jumps in logic made by the character Lewis to be kind of hard to swallow (I never fully understood or was sold on the idea that somehow looking through spinning fan blades revealed the truth? Maybe this was just supposed to show how he was losing his mind? But he wasn't really losing his mind, he was right about a lot of things. I don't know). This book had too much gore for me and I had a hard time especially with the violence to dogs in particular. Later on, when Gabe and Cass get into their fight, and Jo dies, and Nathan dies, and Gabe's daughter dies, but wait, no, she didn't - I don't know I found it all to be simultaneously hard to follow and also a little too perfectly realized? I don't know, the writing just didn't do it for me. But I'm sure a lot of people would enjoy this book, so I would recommend it to fans of literary horror who have a strong stomach for violence and don't mind pet death. I don't know if I'll purchase it for my library however because horror is a bit of a tough sell here and I don't know that it rose to the level that I feel I need to have it. Appreciate having the chance to review, as always.

I was excited to dig into the new Stephen Graham Jones book, since I've enjoyed everything he's written. This is a supernatural revenge story that does not hold back when it comes to pushing the envelope on what's emotionally brutal and chilling. The only issue I had with it was uneven pacing. The story starts with bang, and then that momentum is stalled when the next character is introduced and we have to wait for that story to build up and then that happens again. I will say the climaxes after each peak is well worth the wait. Stephen Graham Jones has always been an expert at ripping my heart out and this is no exception.

The Only Good Indians was a very unique read for me. I liked the story, but as an avid reader of horror it was a bit hard for me to get used to the pace of this book. It was definitely creepy and like I said the story itself was interesting (I especially enjoyed learning more about some of the American Indian cultures/traditions that were included in the story) but the writing style was a bit slow for me. It was hard for me to really get into the story because of the pace unfortunately. There were moments which might have been much more effective/scary if not for the slower pace. By the time I got to the "twist" or the actual bigger parts of the story I had already guessed what was about to happen and it detracted from the real feeling of it for me. I believe the author's intention was to draw out some of the moments, prolonging the creepy factor, and at times this was successful, but mostly there was so much detail given that instead of prolonging the scare it made me want to skip all the extra and get to the moment I've already guessed will happen so it would feel more real to me. Although the writing didn't work for me as far as suspense goes, it was quite effective for wonderful character development and I liked that each character was flawed but again developed enough to make them likable anyways or really not likable but because they aren't meant to be. This was a difficult book for me to review because though I liked the story and the characters and even the writing, I didn't like the writing for this genre. The slow pace just didn't fit the style/genre of the story well and instead detracted from it. I would love to read more if this author, but in another genre if written because I think I'd really enjoy his writing when used to convey a story not meant to scare. Thank you to Net Galley and Stephan Graham Jones for letting me read this book. This book wasn't for me, but I truly do think this author could be.

Have you ever really been looking forward to a book, then you start it and go “when is this going to pick up?” Yeah, that was me with this book. I have never read Mr Jones before so maybe all of his books are written like this one, I’m not sure. It took until 15-20% for something to even happen. Horror is a singular experience, meaning what one person finds scary someone else will think isn’t. This was not scary to me. It was original and I liked seeing the current world through the eyes of an American Indian, which is why I gave it 3 stars instead of 2. And it had wayyyy too much basketball.