The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians comes a tale of the American West, writ in blood.
This chilling historical novel is set in the nascent days of the state of Montana, following a Blackfeet Indian named Good Stab as he haunts the fields of the Blackfeet Nation looking for justice.
It begins when a diary written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall in 2012. What is unveiled is a slow massacre, a nearly forgotten chain of events that goes back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow, told in the transcribed interviews with Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar and unnaturally long life over a series of confessional visits.
This is an American Indian revenge story, captured in the vivid voices of the time, by one of the new masters of literary horror, Stephen Graham Jones.
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #10: Spans a decade or more)
The Reason
This is my bookclub’s Book of the Month, and I wanted to read more diverse books and Indigenous authors.
The Quotes
“What I am is the Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had.”
“You put your reminders of pain on the wall and pray to them. We still hurt, so we don’t need that reminder.”
“My father used to tell me that I needed to pay attention to where I was instead of looking farther away than I could see, and I know he was right, but knowing and doing aren’t the same thing.”
The Narrator(s)
Shane Ghostkeeper. Marin Ireland. Owen Teale. The narrations and production was incredible, very well done.
My Thoughts
I really loved the story; I loved how Indigenous history and culture was presented here but also woven into the story’s vampire lore. It brings a whole new level to the “you are what you eat” thing and I am here for it, but it’s also such an interesting detail because of the theme throughout the story about how there is this whole “us vs. them” mentality, and how we dehumanize “the others” so that we can feel good about victimizing them.
There is a lot more to parse through with topics of morality, religion, heritage, and revenge, and the story itself is thrilling in and of itself and I found myself rushing through it in order to find out what happens next. The format of the story was also really meta; it’s a story within a story within a story within a story! Good Stab’s story as told by Arthur, Arthur’s story as told by Etsy, and Etsy’s story finally, and the story as a whole.
I feel like there is so much to this book and I’m very aware of the fact that I probably missed a lot of details, but I also feel like this is the kind of book that I will go back to again and get more out of it.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
