I might be the only person in the universe who didn’t love The Only Good Indians, and that’s not to say it wasn’t a good book. It was. It just didn’t click for me. This one did, however. From the first page, Jones nails the group of teenagers aesthetic, creating an array of characters that is easy to care about and to worry about when things start to go downhill.

Sawyer, the first person narrator, tells us how the group finds a mannequin, affectionately dubbed Manny, and makes him part of the crew for a bit before inevitably growing bored of him. The group brings out Manny for one more prank, and as they tend to do in books that are horror or the like, things begin to go badly.

I’m not sure where I expected this story to go when I picked it up, but definitely not where it ended up. The journey that Jones takes us on through the chaos happening in a small town, the thought process of the narrator, and makes us wonder what’s really going on all the way up to the ending is mastery. There are some authors, and Jones fits neatly into this group, that are utterly brilliant for their ability to manipulate their audience and play with them like marionettes. Not to mention, have the audience thankful to have paid for that experience.

This book is five easy stars. A two-day read that unpacks like a 90 minute movie. Action-packed and madly paced, but thoughtful as well. Coming up with groups I’d highly recommend to is a little rough. Stephen Graham Jones fans, of course, but beyond that telling you what kind of genres/tropes it hits does get a bit spoiler heavy. If a murder-y, monster-y, psychological mash-up that reads cinematically sounds up your alley, I’d definitely pick this one up.

I received a copy from Netgally for review consideration.