The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Author: Stephen Graham Jones

Title: The Only Good Indians 

Publisher: Titian Books 

Published: 2020

Pages: 352

Genre: Horror / Thriller 

 

     Ten years ago, four young men shot some elk and then went on with their lives. It happens every year; it's been happening forever; it's the way it's always been. But this time it's different.  Ten years after that fateful hunt, these men are being stalked themselves. Soaked with a powerful Gothic atmosphere, the endless expanses of the landscape press down on these men - and their children - as the ferocious spirit comes for them one at a time. The Only Good Indians charts nature's revenge on a lost generation that maybe never had a chance. Cleaved to their heritage, these parents, husbands, sons, and Indians, men live on the fringes of a society that has rejected them, refusing to challenge their exile to limbo.

     Horror is steadily becoming a genre that I dip into more and more. I think maybe that I had always written it off as being too similar to its on-screen counterpart. But as I am starting to learn these two while coming under the same genre are very different beasts. It seems to me that there is something far more primal about the books of this genre I have picked up. Whilst they do contain blood splash here and there they speak of something buried deep down that still harks back to when we lived in caves and hunted to stay alive. Which when it comes to The Only Good Idians is a little more apt than most of the others I have read. This in large part is down to our heroes starting this tale with an ill-advised hunting trip to land they knew they did not belong in. But this is maybe getting a little ahead of myself. I first read about this book when someone I follow on soicals said it was one of the scariest books she had read in quite some time. Unaware of his quite prestige collection of other novels he has written I jumped in a little blind.  

     Our four heroes have lived what they believe to be quite unremarkable lives. Following in the footstep of countless young men that came before them. They are believed to be the forgotten ones, people who the greater society thinks of as bringing nothing of value to the nation. But for so many of us, this is life from cradle to grave without ever really being noticed except by those closest to us.   But for these men mistakes happen and just sometimes things don't get forgotten and the events of one dark night will come back to haunt them in ways they could scarcely imagine. I can safely say that I am neither American nor First Nation but there are definitely elements of these young men that are very familiar. We can not only see elements of ourselves in them but also our friends. Those days when we cared little for the rules we were told and kept on pushing and pushing to see just how far we could go before the band snapped and we were pulled back in line. But here more so of the old ways, how traditions are important and finding a way of living in balance is more important than ever.  But as is so often the way of things we learn our lessons far too late. How could these four young men know that the actions they perpetrated would circle back around? They have been crafted in such a beautiful way that they seem to step out of the pages and look us straight in the eyes. With both what would seem like a bold arrogance as to who they believe themselves to be. They are also deeply and very humanly flawed as we so often are. It goes to breathe the spark of life into these very fictional characters.

     The book is structured in such a way that we get the tale in two narratives. The then and the now both form curious and captivating yarns. What Jones also delivers is the world we know and that one a couple of steps removed from our own. These places where the myths and legends of old still breathe, and for them, there is not so many grey areas.  In some ways, it reminds me of a book I read not so long ago by C.J. Cooke called The Nest. They both seek out to bring to light those pre-Christian beliefs. There are beings out there that we may no longer believe in, but that does not mean that these old gods and goddesses have not forgotten us. It's a notion that really does captivate me, How the old worlds are still swirling around just on the fringes of what we class as acceptable society. Maybe this is why such books really work, we have this primal fear that no matter how much we tell ourselves they are just old legends that their jaws still have fangs and when hungry can still come around to us for a meal. This is most definitely a concept that seems to permeate this novel. For me, it was this foreboding terror that stalks us through the novel. And whilst there are moments of gore and blood. It is the sense of what is to come that creeps it's icy way up your spine. And how some sins can not be forgiven but can serve as a warning for those still yet to come. 

     I went into this book pretty much blind, so each of the elements rolled over me casting its web of magic. The author most definitely grabbed hold of me and each moment in the day that I could stuff my nose into its pages I was taking it up. With its mixing of The Blackfeet legends and the notion that we must start looking after what we have, this book is both spellbinding and terrifying. The author has created a work that I know will stay with me for a very long time to come if not forever. It is also a story that wants to teach us a lesson. But that is one for you to discover should you choose to pick up a copy. And I most assuredly hope that you will and in turn recommend it to others spreading ut across that land.