Some Family Secrets Are Better Left Buried

Luckily for us, this one wasn’t. The last time I was held captive like this was reading The Only Good Indians. Stephen Graham Jones has a way with words and an even better way at stringing them all together. Here with his latest, Buffalo Hunter Hunter, he teases us with a found diary then transports us back to the all too true horror of the Marias Massacre in 1870s Montana, then paints the history that follows with one of the most unique and creepy vampires the West has ever seen. The story itself is amazing. So why not five stars? It is a little slow in places. Perhaps that’s from the epistolary form of the novel. But don't let that stop you. It also adds much making it one of the most creative and interesting tales I've read this year. 

Who else has read it? What did you think?

#BHH #NetGalley

 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Buffalo Hunter Hunter

by Stephen Graham Jones

Published by Simon & Schuster/Saga Press

March 18, 2025

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 9781668075081

448 pages

#BHH #NetGalley

As always. I encourage you to buy from independent bookstores. 

The Only Good Indians

This was one of my most anticipated novels of the year. It did not disappoint as it is easily in my top five of the year. Stephen Graham Jones is one of those prolific authors who has a number of tasty morsels and full meals out every year. I first read his werewolf novel, Mongrels, last year, and since then, I have been slowly working my way through some of his other works. 

The Only Good Indians is a literary slasher of guilt and retribution. It is the story of four Blackeet—Ricky, Lewis, Cass, and Gabe—and the aftermath of an elk hunt gone wrong. It is a tale of a deed done in the dark that follows each man and haunts them, and when you violate tradition and cultural norms, you will pay a price. We, too, pay a price because we care about these men. Jones drags us through life both on and off the Rez leading us to an epic battle the likes of which I have never experienced before. In the end, I was left sweating and gasping for breath. I know that I will never look at an elk or a ceiling fan the same way again.