Off the Reservation

 

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Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook.

 

Off the Reservation was my first Stephen Graham Jones book. It's the sequel to Only the Good Indians, but there's enough background woven in that I never felt lost jumping in here.

Nathan Yellow Tail and his best friend Sebby rob an isolated cabin owned by a "weekend Indian" on the reservation. While fleeing, they crash, and Sebby ends up in a coma, kept alive by machines. Nathan barely survives, but his life is out of balance. Nurse Seine offers him a way to set things right and pull Sebby back from the brink. All he has to do is join her on a road trip to return the bones of a young Blackfeet boy who died after being taken to the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

Along for the ride are Christian, a young man who doesn't speak, and Mooch, a grieving mother who lost her husband and sons. Nurse Seine and Mooch each have their own hidden reasons for going.

This was the weirdest road trip ever, and I had no idea where it was headed. I knew I was getting horror. I didn't expect possession. When they dug up the boy's bones at Carlisle, they dug up something else too.

But the real horror here is the oppression inflicted on tribal peoples, and the racism and injustice Native Americans still face today.

🎧 The full cast narration was exceptional. Every narrator gave a fantastic performance and made it easy to keep the characters straight.

It's atmospheric and character-driven, with dark humor running all the way through. A few spots dragged for me, but overall I really enjoyed it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Grab a copy at Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it.

About the Author

Stephen Graham Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, and I Was a Teenage Slasher. He has been an NEA fellowship recipient and a recipient of several awards including the Ray Bradbury Award from the Los Angeles Times, the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the Jesse Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural Fiction, and the Alex Award from American Library Association. He is the Ivena Baldwin Professor of English at the University of Colorado Boulder. Follow Stephen on Instagram and visit his website for more news and information about his books.