The Only Good Indians

By: Stephen Graham Jones

Narrated by: Shaun Taylor-Corbett

Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

Adam Nevill's The Ritual meets Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies in this atmospheric Gothic literary horror.

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.

©2020 Stephen Graham Jones (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic Reviews

"The Only Good Indians has it all: style, elevation, reality, the unreal, revenge, warmth, freezing cold, and even some slashing. In other words, the book is made up of everything Stephen Graham Jones seemingly explores and, in turn, everything the rest of us want to explore with him." (Josh Malerman, author of Bird Box)

Boring

I just could not get into this book. So boring and uneventful. The story and the narrator did not capture my imagination at all.

Beautiful Narration!

The beautiful narration is what kept me glued to this unique story! Will read Jones again!

even for the non reader

I've read a few of his short stories and have been waiting for this book for a while. I have it on both kindle and audio. I loved it. but what's impressive to me is that my partner, who has no interest in fiction at all, has only read three fiction books in his life, was hooked on this book.
great read and a great listen. I also love the author's note at the end, actually read by the author. it was nice to hear the voice behind then writing.

Not as anticipated

The premise and plot summary of this book had me hooked and for the first half kept me engaged.
While the book is well written with fleshed out characters and a unique, cultural twist on your classic ghost story, I found myself frequently lost or confused by both the slang the author uses and the constant references to basketball. Whether being used as a metaphor or as the primary setting of a scene, basketball was so consistently and vividly being described in explicit detail that I had to question what genre of book I was reading.
The story told is weird and unique, and I like that aspect of it. The frequent shifts in perspective along with the at times confusing jargon has left me unsure what score to leave this book with.

Wow. Just wow.

Brilliant. Just brilliantly unrelenting, imaginative, deeply mythical and tinged with great sadness. Wonderful narration as well.
I've never read anything like it.

Meandering and meaningless

A solid reading does not a good book make. The main spine of the story just didn’t work for me. Its peculiar tale of revenge was a non-starter, as it seemed rather meaningless, all told. And the individuals being hunted down were all too of a kind, so they blended together. Which ultimately means, I never cared who lived or died.

a different type of horror

Mixing in the real world horrors of the treatment of natives in America with a more traditional ghost story gives credence to a much smaller tale than most out there nowadays.

For those jaded by the same old stories, give this a go.

The narration reflects the stoicism of native people in America and delivers a fantastic performance.

Scary and very haunting

I really enjoyed this book on two levels. First, it's novel about contemporary Native Americans figuratively and literally grappling with legacy and religion in a modern context, which is pretty rare. Second, because it's genuinely scary and quite gory. Overall this is a beautiful piece of work, daring, sorrowful. Last but definitely not least, the audio performance of it was really spot on, and may have helped me to connect even more with the content.

absorbing, evocative, thrilling

loved this book. characters so vivid you buy everything that happens to them, was thoroughly invested in finals girl being the final girl. won't forget the story or its power for along time, or ever I hope.

Genuinely Great Streytelling

I was gripped from beginning to end; a really wonderful story. The reading was well done too.

Good story, terrible narration

At first I thought the voice was good - appropriate for the story, but after a while I realised I hadn’t listened as his voice is sooo monotonous. Quite dramatic twists happened in the storyline but there was absolutely no change. Afraid I had to give up, but will read it instead. Disappointing.

This had me hooked!

I had no expectations going into this one. I'd previously read Jones' collected short stories but tried "Mongrels" and it didn't gel with me.

This one, however. Whoa boy. Not only is the story by turns heartbreaking, terrifying and very current - it also takes many turns I didn't see coming. The performance was top notch, too - especially with giving life to the indigenous American language. Couldn't recommend this enough.