The Only Good Indians

My thanks to W.F. Howes/Whole Story Quest for an audiobook edition via NetGalley of ‘The Only Good Indians’ by Stephen Graham Jones in exchange for an honest review. It was narrated by Shaun Taylor-Corbett and has a running time of 8 hours, 37 minutes at 1x.

I previously had read and reviewed the eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Only Good Indians’ and it was a 5 star read for me.

It was quite interesting to revisit the story so quickly via this different medium. I found Taylor-Corbett, who is an actor and singer, an excellent narrator who brought the story to life. Like the author, Stephen Graham Jones, Taylor-Corbett is a Blackfeet. It was clear that he had great respect for the source material.

While this novel is a work of folk horror with the revenge theme coming from nature, there are also threads of dark humour running throughout and I felt that Taylor-Corbett balanced these elements well.

With this being a finished work I also appreciated the inclusion of the author’s acknowledgements that really rounded out the novel for me; especially as he included the titles of stories that had inspired him to write this novel. I plan to look these up as I am fascinated with folklore linked to animals.

The audiobook also rates 5-stars.

I absolutely loved the story of this book, it was genuinely like keep you up at night creepy and I haven’t read a true horror for a while so that was refreshing!!

The characters were well fleshed out and interesting, I found myself pretty invested in them and what was going on with them.

I stayed intrigued throughout the entire book and I absolutely flew through it but I wasn’t completely jelling with the audiobook narrator and the audiobook in general which is why this is a 3.5 rather than a 4.

This is at its core a horror story, there are many components of this tale that are horrific but they come from the surreal and creative imagination of the author but the biggest horror is the fact that the native Americans have been suppressed and their culture bastardised, this is not a pleasant tale and nor should it be so but it is a bloody (in all senses of the word) good story well worth listening to, i had not heard this narrator before and I have no complaints about his telling of the story

Full review available on my blog on August 12th.

Trigger Warnings: a LOT of graphic animal violence, graphic violence, alcohol abuse, hunting, murder, stalking (supernatural).

I listened to the audiobook version of The Only Good Indians, and I absolutely recommend this book as an audio experience. Shaun Taylor-Corbett does an excellent job narrating, and really brings all of the characters to life. I liked that he did a great job of making all the characters sound distinct enough that I didn’t need dialogue tags to be able to tell who was speaking, even in the high-tension moments. Throughout the entire audiobook I stayed engaged and I didn’t get too lost at any point, even with the perspective shifts. I did get confused during the basketball sections, but that’s more my complete lack of basketball knowledge than the book itself!

The atmosphere in The Only Good Indians is unbelievably good. It’s built up slowly and steadily, creating an eerie world where, for a good portion of the book, I just wasn’t sure whether there was something supernatural afoot or whether I was being drawn into the main characters’ paranoia. And when it does ramp up? This book goes hard. There was a point where I audibly ‘oof’d at a piece of vivid and horrible description. It is explained why the events of the book are taking place, ten years after Lewis, Gabe, Cass and Ricky illegally hunted in the territory reserved for the Elders of the Reservation. The way that the story unfolds; the past being revealed and then each of the men being hunted one by one; was incredibly well-done and I spent most of the book waiting and worrying about the consequences of their actions. And the way that they were haunted, the revenge that the entity chose to take, was absolutely brutal and made for a very slasher-esque horror, without any of the trope-iness I usually worry about with slashers.

I love the way the book tackles guilt and remorse, as well as a twisted and violent sense of revenge, but my favourite aspect was definitely the way that The Only Good Indians looked at the way the men were driven to madness by their fear, and how that could cause them to lash out. The main characters aren’t actually bad people. They’re good people who did one bad thing that they haven’t been able to shake, and that’s infinitely more compelling to me than just ‘bad people getting punished’.

The Only Good Indians is packed full of cultural references, some that I recognised but a fair amount that I, as a white reader, had to stop and educate myself about. I haven’t read much, if any, Indigenous horror before, but this was accessible enough to have me understand the folklore and superstitions that underpinned its plot, without feeling like it was pandering to readers who weren’t familiar with them. I really liked the way it tackled the way that cultural perceptions of Native American communities have been weaponised against their members, and how they’ve become embedded in the communities themselves. However, I am a white reader/reviewer, so be sure to take a look at ownvoices reviewers for any commentary on the rep.

I had heard only good things about this one, and was delighted when I was approved for the audiobook and I wasn't disappointed. I usually find horror can be a tricky genre for me to get into, but this book played it to perfection, from the set up to the moment everything went off the rails and beyond.
This is not a fast-paced book, especially in the set-up but that works to its advantages, as combined with fantastic prose it draws you into the story and lulls you into a sense of security, that only heightens the horror aspect. It's also the kind of writing that doesn't let you go, and I found that I would tell myself I would listen to just a chapter, and then find myself still there three chapters later.
Honestly, it is hard to do justice to this fantastic book - and the narrator who really brought it to life - but one of the best horrors I have read in a long time, it was disturbing and horrifying in the best way and so beautifully written, and I would highly recommend.

This book tells the story of four young Blackfeet men who are facing supernatural happenings as repercussion from a elk hunting incident ten years ago. They killed surplus animals and on restricted ground. As they go on with their lives they are unaware revenge will be sought.
One by one the author introduces each of the characters and we get to see their life events and the grisly impact of that day.
The story is well crafted, creepy, gruesome and atmospheric with a quite a shock factor.
We learn the American native folklore, social issues and this is all balanced with a nice dose of humour.
I thought the narrator did a good job and I found his voice easy to listen to which kept my interest throughout.
Quite a unique book I would recommend.
My thanks go to the publisher, author and Netgalley in providing this arc in return for a honest review.

This book really got under my skin. The Only Good Indians is a deep dive into the psyche of 4 men who are haunted by a shared traumatic incident in their adolescence. I loved how the plot is kept tight and focused with enough left to your imagination - this is what I look for in a good horror story. The character development was so nuanced and involved that there was a point in the story in which I had become so immersed in Lewis's point of view I had to pause and take a step back. I listened to this as an audiobook and Shaun Taylor-Corbett's performance is brilliant and he is fast becoming one of my favourite narrators! Thank you to the publishers for giving me access to this audiobook.

My first experience of this author, and listening to a book rather than physically reading it. That, I'm sure, impacted on my ability to settle into the story as it is such an unfamiliar way of reading for me.
When I started this I really didn't know what to expect. I, like many, have heard the rest of the phrase this title is taken from, and the pre-release info makes it clear this is not a book for the faint-hearted. I have little experience of the background of the characters this book focused on, so I was definitely nervous about missing something or doing the author a disservice through my own ignorance.
The book opens with a frankly unsettling scene, resulting in the death of an Indian man outside a bar. There's mention of elk, and I really did have to go back and listen to the start again as I thought I had misheard something! We then switch our focus to another character, Lewis, who we learn was part of a close-knit group of four young men who did something so awful that even after leaving his reservation he lives with the guilt. We learn this event took place ten years previously, and it's something to do with the strange and unsettling experiences of him imagining he now sees an elk-headed woman in his front room.
Initially I have to say I found the narrative of this quite hard to follow. We jump from event to event and there's a muddling of time-frames that left me quite confused and even wondering if I could get through this. I don't honestly know if this would have been any different reading...and looking at other's responses to this, perhaps not.
If you've decided to pick this up and read it then you're likely to have done a little research. We know the story focuses on the awful events that took place ten years before our book opens - where Lewis and his three friends venture onto a section of the reservation that is only meant to be accessed by elders and butcher a number of elk. They are punished, and alongside their feelings of guilt they have to contend with the expectations of others because of who they are. Now, ten years on, something has returned to get revenge.
The book was dark. We had graphic descriptions of dogs being mutilated, elk being shot and people being killed. As the book progressed and there was talk of the elk-head woman I wasn't sure if this was going into supernatural territory or whether some kind of breakdown was being described. During the narrative we switched viewpoints from Lewis to the elk as well as the daughter of one of the men involved in the original event.
Once we were back on the reservation and following Cassidy and Gabe, I was surprised at how funny parts of this book were. Thought I'm no basketball fan, I was completely gripped by the character of Gabe's daughter who really made this into something more than I was expecting. The final scene, though definitely not one I want to dwell on, was also more uplifting than I was expecting.
Thanks to the publishers, Saga Press, and NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to publication.

Let me just say: WOW! This was an amazing listening experience. The narrator and the production are just perfect, and the book itself is extraordinary. I thought I knew where the story was headed, but lo and behold, halfway through and I was completely thrown.

I loved being immersed in the Blackfeet stories, mythology, customs and beliefs - I knew very little about the tribe before the book - and this book has opened my eyes to a new and very interesting part of their culture. I love a very well written book (like this one!) where I also feel like I’m learning something, experiencing something I haven’t seen before without it ever feeling like I’m being force fed. Thank you for this experience!

Again, the narrator and narration is flawless, and though I also have a copy of the book, I preferred listening to this story. Highly recommended!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for letting me listen in return for an honest review.