Believe me when I say no one is safe from the wrath of this spirit. A lot of what really got me about the book was not just how the four men are taken out by the vengeful spirit, but everyone else that gets dragged into it. The big themes of the book are on cultural heritage and what that looks like today, personal responsibility and living with one’s actions, and what we owe others. Lewis is the character we spend the most time with, so his descent into madness is the most compelling and really drives the novel for me. The spirit haunting them seems to drive into this feeling of otherness like he doesn’t fit in and the guilt over not being “Indian enough.” Jones is also Native American and deals with themes of alienation and cultural heritage a lot in his works, but it’s at the heart of this story. He lives off the rez, he works for the government (as a postal worker), he doesn’t maintain most of the traditions, and he married a White woman. He understands that even though he is a Blackfeet, he doesn’t feel as connected to his heritage as perhaps he should. He also manages to capture the feeling of otherness, especially in the character of Lewis. So if you’re into that kind of bloody, twisting story, you’ll devour this book as I did. And it’s just as gruesome as a slasher as well, only over when the original misdeed is made right. Jones manages to take what is a worn-out old formula and imbues it with dark twists and an original take. A group of young men trespass and commit a terrible, moral crime and are chased due by a supernatural force intent of murdering them all for their sins. It’s strange to say, but I didn’t even realize this was a slasher novel until I really thought about the story.

But how it all gets resolved, that’s the real kicker. Each of these men sees and hears things that aren’t there, haunted by a Thanksgiving hunt that shouldn’t have been, and it leads to their deaths. The other two friends, Gabe and Cass, end up facing their fates after a sweat to honor Lewis. Soon after, a postal worker named Lewis starts to see strange visions and gets twisted ideas in his head. It starts with the death of Ricky, a member of the Blackfeet, who is beaten to death by white men outside of a bar. The Only Good Indians is the latest novel by horror great Stephen Graham Jones.

When four friends living on the reservation go hunting where they shouldn’t and end up killing a female deer and her unborn baby, they start a chain of events that will lead to their deaths and the deaths of their loved ones. No matter how big or small, everything we do has the ability to help and hurt in turn.

The only good indians book