You know, once in awhile you pick up a book and you think that the cover is amazing, the blub on the cover sounds interesting, and then the first handful of pages start ok and you feel like once it picks up this is going to be a great story? Well, this one will really disappoint you. I was super excited to read this one, especially when Stephen Graham Jones is compared to Paul Tremblay. I didn’t get any Tremblay vibes from this story, at all.
Let’s start with the book blurb: “The creeping horror of Paul Trembly meets Tommy Orange’s There There in a dark novel of revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from the tradition in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror, Stephen Graham Jones. Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with a sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their your puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions the left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.”
So, that sounds incredible, doesn’t it? Well, it is too drawn out, making it really confusing and extremely difficult to follow. Now, the event that happened in their youth isn’t easy to follow so it is not very clear what happened that night. Then, it jumps from one man to the next. Each time building and then just stopping and moving to the next one. Then the ending, well, it is just as confusing as the rest. The whole last third of the book makes absolutely no sense in regards to the rest of the book. What did that girl have to do with any of it, I’ll never understand.
I don’t recommend this book. Not to anyone. I feel like there is still a lot of editing to do here. It is 291 pages, and after some real editing, this could be a good, strong, horror filled short story. So, there is potential there.
Let’s start with the book blurb: “The creeping horror of Paul Trembly meets Tommy Orange’s There There in a dark novel of revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from the tradition in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror, Stephen Graham Jones. Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with a sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their your puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions the left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.”
So, that sounds incredible, doesn’t it? Well, it is too drawn out, making it really confusing and extremely difficult to follow. Now, the event that happened in their youth isn’t easy to follow so it is not very clear what happened that night. Then, it jumps from one man to the next. Each time building and then just stopping and moving to the next one. Then the ending, well, it is just as confusing as the rest. The whole last third of the book makes absolutely no sense in regards to the rest of the book. What did that girl have to do with any of it, I’ll never understand.
I don’t recommend this book. Not to anyone. I feel like there is still a lot of editing to do here. It is 291 pages, and after some real editing, this could be a good, strong, horror filled short story. So, there is potential there.