A review by fjordlock
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a cruel, bloody, violent, and tragic revenge tale. It does not hold your hand and expects you instead to keep up with it. It’s not a book for everyone. First, please read the trigger warnings because Jones does not hold back in depicting those horrors in his book. Second, I respect people who cannot get into it because the language is difficult to follow. It took myself three tries to become fully engaged and understand what is going on. However, once I was in it, this book did not let me go.

This revenge is centered around the Marias Massacre, which I recommend looking up as it helps provide more context to this book. Now, what if one of the Native Americans became nigh immortal by becoming a vampire? How far does Good Stab go as he learns to live with his new affliction? Can he still remain Pikuni?

I found The Buffalo Hunter Hunter such an engaging narrative that blends in history with the existential horror of becoming a monster for Good Stab. Not to mention just the plain horror it is to witness Good Stab’s story from both Arthur and Etsy’s sections. Jones writing gives distinct voices to the three POV characters. The writing drips with atmosphere and emotion that it kept me wondering what would happen next while being anxious for that next page turn.

I did an immersive reading of this book, which I think highly enhanced my experience. The narrators are all excellent and suit the characters they voice. The production is great too and shines especially towards the end. Reading the text while hearing their voices really feels like I stumbled upon these old journals myself and am hearing their experiences.

I don’t think The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is flawless. As mentioned earlier, the language can be hard to understand. Also, I do think it could have benefited from being cut down a little as it did become a bit repetitive.

However, what Jones managed to accomplish here is so great that it makes me ignore those flaws. I’ve never had a reading experience like this and I don’t think I’ll forget it for a long while. It’s haunting in all the best ways.
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