The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Jones
⭐⭐⭐.5- Kindle Worthy!
Kindle & Audible: US or CA
Morning Readers & Happy Tuesday!
I hope everyone is having a great week so far and for my friend in the Northern Hemisphere, surviving the cold!
Last month I started listening to the audio version of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and it was not what I expected. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure about another novel from Stephen Jones as his previous novel, ‘The Only Good Indians‘, strayed a little further into the horror genre than I normally go, but I’m so happy I picked his most recent novel up!
In 2012, a Lutheran pastor’s 100 year-old diary is unearthed within the walls of a building. It contains a record of confessions from a Blackfeet man known as Good Stab and reveals a brutal history of violence and betrayal: a massacre that left 217 members of the Blackfeet people dead.
Haunted by this injustice, and condemned to an immortal curse, Good Stab embarks on a chilling, bloody quest for vengeance. As he hunts those who destroyed his people and desecrated the land, the novel becomes a visceral blend of historical horror, vampires, grief, and retribution.
I have to say that I found the mix of indigenous storytelling and elements of vampire myth so intriguing! It was not a combination I ever would have thought possible but I loved every second of the historical recounting. I think the narrator, Shane Ghostkeeper, really helped carry this story and his performance brought it home for me.
One detail I loved was, what I’m assuming is, the use of traditional Amskapi Pikuni terminologies and descriptive language use. This provided such a contrast in characters and highlighted the cultural differences in ways of thinking and how language reflects how we process and interpret the world around us.
The plot was original, the delivery was phenomenal, and the characters were good, however my only ‘but’ is the ending. I could have done without the last 2 hours of the audio book. As soon as the present day started to tie-in and wrap-up the story, it lost the hold the rest of the story had on me completely. I personally think it might have been better to just have left it off as a cliff hanger, with dark, lingering questions.
My favorite quotes:
Overall I really enjoyed the presentation of the audiobook and it’s narrators, and adored the tie in or indigenous descriptive language use. The pairing of Aboriginal inspired storytelling and vampires, genius!
I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week & Happy Reading!
-Anna R.
Other books I’ve read by Stephen Jones: The Only Good Indians (2020)– ⭐⭐.5
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Kindle & Audible: US or CA
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