“The depravity of man’s heart knows no floor, and everyone in this hard country has a sordid chapter in the story of their life, that they’re trying either to atone for, or stay ahead of. It’s what binds us one to the other.”
A novel that evokes the strongest of feelings that are not easily described, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones is, simply put, a modern masterpiece. There is no other way around this very bold sentiment other than to state so first and foremost, hoping the words used in the following passages do enough justice to convey every reason of its truth. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is not a novel that falls squarely into one genre; it is undeniably bloody (horror, check), we spend the majority of the novel in 1912 and previous years (historical fiction, check), but perhaps the signature of this novel is the earnest nature in which the story of Good Stab and Arthur Beaucarne is told. Stephen Graham Jones possesses an undeniable talent, a masterful storyteller who holds readers rapt with devoted attention as untold stories of our nation, those stories paved in blood, suffering, and infinite pain, are shared.
In 2012, a woman is notified of a found manuscript written by her distant relative from 1912. Arthur Beaucarne, a Lutheran pastor, recounts a series of events in connection to a Blackfeet known as Good Stab. What seems like a simple artifact of history, Beaucarne’s inscription, Good Stab’s story, is one that is filled with death, blood, violence, and revenge made possible through seemingly impossible circumstances. However, certain buried truths find the light of day — every word of this manuscript plausible, the consequences earth-shattering for all connected even in the present.
The weight of a book like The Buffalo Hunter Hunter has no quantifiable value, its gravity immense. Stephen Graham Jones does not tell this multilayered, interconnected, complex story in a linear fashion to our immense benefit, taking a wholly nuanced stance on that of the vampire. While the pieces fall into place with every turn of the page, the awe in such plotting and planning cannot be contained. Moreover, with every shift in perspective, Jones manages to wholly and completely embody voices, tones, colloquialisms, mannerisms, and personalities so defined. To call this style of writing “immersive” falls short of the transportation experienced in reading these words.
Most profound is the emotion ingrained in each character, most specifically Good Stab, the Blackfeet who has encountered oh so much. His is a story that hurts deeply, as it should. The bleak realities of colonialism are displayed in full, stomach-churning detail with no soul spared. As Good Stab recounts the many winters he has endured, the trials, tribulations, deaths, and lives he has lived, the human heart cannot help but ache. We are gifted a wholly unique version of a vampire that is viscerally upsetting for the newly discovered facets of imprisonment within an eternal body. Dare I make the bold statement that this may just be Jones’ bloodiest book yet in every sense, with gore and emotion hemorrhaging from every imaginable outlet.
Here’s where I begin to lose words for the deeply impactful significance imparted with a novel such as this: Jones’ exploration of devotion and faith. No, not religion, but the idea of committing to a cause, an idea, a notion, or a feeling that defines every action taken by a character. Concerning Good Stab and his relationship to Beaucarne at the beginning of the novel, Jones pens such an emotionally intelligent conversation surrounding what it means to be dedicated. While the parallels to faith are clear to see, ideas of revenge and reckoning also thrive in this space. Things not said are just as important as what is, a remarkably intense, fruitful style of unveiling what this story is really about.
Brilliant, harrowing, and irrevocably devoted, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter feels like a novel that only comes around once in a lifetime. Stephen Graham Jones has given us earnest, emotional stories before, but this particular venture into the past, a tale of reckoning, feels like something else entirely. Good Stab, Weasel Plume, Wolf Calf, Otter Goes Back, Tall Dog, Peasy, and every Pikuni lodge themselves deep within the heart. Their loss, their suffering is felt so deeply, reverberating deeply within our bones and souls. Jones’ words make this feat possible, a visceral reading experience that transcends the page. Incredibly constructed, passionately told, and simply unforgettable, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is every reason Stephen Graham Jones is a writer like no other, a sincerely devoted storyteller with a masterful voice that must be heard.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is available wherever books are sold from Saga Press!
