Book Review: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

4.75/5 stars. SGJ is a master of turning a normal-seeming situation into something completely off the rails. This is the story about four childhood friends from the Blackfeet Reservation who, one day ten years ago, killed a group of elk on a hunting trip. One of those elk was pregnant, and one of the friends buried the fetus before the game warden caught them. Now, ten years later, something strange has started happening to these four men.

This horror story builds up slowly, but once the action gets going, it is nearly non-stop. Lewis and Ricky have moved away from the reservation. Ricky gets killed, and now Lewis is afraid for his own life. At first, it seems Lewis starts losing his mind and becomes increasingly paranoid after seeing images of an elk in his rented house. He feels the most guilt for the elk slaughter and with the ten-year anniversary upcoming, he knows the elk is out for vengeance! These thoughts lead him to suspect both his wife and his coworker of being the elk reincarnated. From this point in the story, the action ramps up, the suspense becomes more extreme, and the characters become increasingly unhinged. My only criticism of this novel was the way it ended, but I cannot fault it much because I do see what the author was trying to do; it just felt too quick after all of the preceding build up.

This novel was fantastic, the characters were wonderfully depicted, and I highly recommend Stephen Graham Jones to everyone who loves a good horror, thriller, or suspenseful tale.