The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

 

Title:  The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Author:  Stephen Graham Jones

Narrated by:  Shane Ghostkeeper, Marin Ireland, Owen Teale

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 15 hours and 29 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible.com

What is the best book you’ve read in 2025?  The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones is one of the best books I’ve read this year or ever. 

In 2012, Etsy discovers her ancestor’s private journal which has been hidden in the walls of a parsonage.  She decided that she will translate and analyze the journal as she works towards tenure at a university.  Inside the journal, she discovers at first the mundane life of a Lutheran pastor in a western town until he writes of the confessions of Good Stab, a native American turned vampire who has sought him out.  She will discover the true meaning of horror is not always the supernatural.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I went in blind to this novel, and it worked great as I was continually surprised.

·       This was a weird, but brilliant novel.  It’s really a vampire story told through the lens of American history and the annihilation of Native tribes.

·       Reading this novel made the destruction of the buffalo herds so real and so disturbing.

·       It was a powerful book and reckoning on how the tribes were treated in the United States.

·       This was a horror novel, but what is the horror?  Is it a vampire feeding on the people he finds, or he feels are deserving of punishment?   Or of the white people who indiscriminately kill Good Stab’s village by brutally slaughtering old people, women, and children in their winter camp while the man are away hunting.

·       The horror was really brought home when I discovered it was based on the very real Marias Massacre in Montana in 1870 which I had never heard of before.

·       Good Stab’s search for truth, reckoning, and honesty that the natives were killed as they were thought of as less than human, the whites wanted their land, and they enjoyed the killing. . . haunted me.  It’s the truths that are never said out loud.

·       The fact that men massacred people brutally and then went on living their lives as ordinary citizens is disturbing to think about.  I had this same thought after reading All the Light We Cannot See and realizing Nazis that brutally killed and tortured people, could be your plumber.

·       Good Stab’s part of the novel was a revenge narration that reminded me at times of The Count of Monte Cristo.

·       The book detailed Blackfeet culture and gave us an inside look into a world that once existed that we destroyed.

·       This was told as a story within a story withing a story.  Etsy Beaucarne is in the present day reading a diary written in 1912 of her ancestor Arthur “Three Persons” Beaucarne who wrote confession of Good Stab.  I loved, loved, loved the narration of this audiobook and the tone of the narrative.  Arthur Beaucarne sounds like a stuffy old timey pastor while Good Stab sounds like someone just learning English.  Etsy sounds like a modern-day person.  I also enjoyed the sound effect.  It was fascinating to listen to.  My 17 year old son also listened to this audiobook and greatly enjoyed it.

·       As a vampire, Good Stab is able to watch the destruction of his family, tribe, and way of life as an outsider over time.  He also participates at times in part of the destruction as he is not able to stop his thirst and he kills fellow natives.

·       Good Stab was difficult to follow at times as he talked like a person just learning English and he didn’t know the English words for all of the animals (example – “Long Legs,” etc.)  I guessed some for the animals and was not sure about other animals.  It still worked for me.

·       There is a lot of death blood, and horror to both people and animals in this novel.

·       I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

Favorite Quote: “What I am is the Indian who can't die. I'm the worst dream America ever had."

Overall, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones is a beautifully written, complex, haunting, and multilayered story.  It is a masterpiece that I soon won’t forget.  I read a lot of books, and I am always struck by books that are creatively different and that have a message that keeps me thinking.  Buffalo Hunter Hunter was just such a book.

 

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong

 

Title:  The Haunting of Paynes Hollow

Author:  Kelley Armstrong

Narrated by:  EJ Lavery

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Length: Approximately 9 hours and24 minutes

Source: Thank you @netgalley for the review copy. 

What is your favorite ghost story? The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving is one of my favorite ghost stories and Halloween favorites.  I was excited to hear that a new novel, The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong, was a modern reimagining of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Samantha Payne’s estranged grandfather has passed away.  She is surprised to discover that he left her very valuable property on Lake Ontario in Northern New York state.  He has left numerous stipulations including that she has to stay in the family cottage on the property for a month.  Her father took his own life there when she was a kid after being accused of murdering a local youth.  Sam needs the money to pay for her mother’s medical care.  She decides to live in the property with her aunt, but when strange things start to happen, is she losing her mind or are there creatures out there too terrifying to contemplate?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       There was a sense of dread and unknown throughout the novel.  Is Sam crazy?  Is she the one doing everything?  Is someone setting it up to spook her?  Is it really a ghost?

·       They visit an old cottage and discover old books left behind when the cottage was abandoned including Twilight, Shopaholic, The Time Traveler’s Wife.  This does tell a certain point of time and I was reading them all.

·       I couldn’t stop listening to this audiobook.  It was a riveting story with a great narrator.

·       The story had a great ending.  The story and explanation for it all really worked for me.

·       I enjoyed the Dutch folklore that was part of the story.  I have Dutch ancestors myself that lived in the state of New York on the Hudson River for two hundred years until they moved to Michigan.

·       This story has both horror and supernatural elements.

·       This story had great characters.  I loved Sam, her Aunt Gail, Ben (caretaker and brother of the murdered boy), and Josie (deputy).

·       The story was creepy and atmospheric.  It was perfect for Halloween.  I started it for the holiday but read most of it this month.

·       This is the first book that I have read by this author, but I will definitely be reading more.

Overall, The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong was engaging horror story, with great atmosphere and characters.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

 

Title:  The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires

Author:  Grady Hendrix

Narrated by:  Bahni Turpin

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Length: Approximately 13 hours and 49 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

 

What is the last book that surprised you?

Patricia Campbell was formally a nurse, but she has become a stay-at-home mother for her two children while her husband works to further his career as a doctor.  She joins a book club of other mothers in the 80’s that reads and analyzes true crime novels.  In the 1990’s, a mysterious new stranger moves into the neighborhood.  Patricia has suspicions about who he really is, but can she get anyone to believe her?  Or has she been reading too many true crime novels?

My thoughts on this book:

·       This was the Rogue Book Club pick for March, and it was a great different type of read for our group.

·       This book was a wild and entertaining ride.  I loved it!

·       The plot was unique.  I loved how the women had to band together to take care of a menace in their neighborhood.

·       I was infuriated when the husbands would not believe Patricia.  They cared more about making money and their own pleasures rather than what was best for their families.

·       I liked how the novel was written to show how evil descended on the neighborhood and how willing people were to go along with it.

·       Trigger warning - there were elements of horror, gore, and extreme violence in this novel.

·       I see mixed reviews on this book, but I really enjoyed it.

·       I liked how this book was humorous, handled a variety of issues, and also had horror.  It was a good mix.

·       This novel looked at racism and how when children disappear in the black neighborhood, no one cared.  It also looked at sexism.  The men do not believe the women and want to keep them in their homemaker roles.  In the end, it is the women who get the job done.

·       I listened to this novel on audiobook, and it worked well.  It was a book I wanted to keep driving to listen to.

Overall, if you are looking for a unique book experience that combines horror, humor, and societal issues, I highly recommend The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.  It was a crazy, enjoyable read.

The Residence by Andrew Pyper

 

What if the White House contains an evil spirit that the President cannot get rid of?

 On the way to Washington DC, newly elected President Franklin Pierce is involved in a terrible train accident.  While he and his wife Jane survive, their son Bennie does not.  They move into the White House and Pierce starts his Presidency, but both are shattered.  Jane is full of fear and sorry and invites the infamous Fox sisters to the White House to perform a séance.  During this séance she realizes that she may have invited more to the White House than she would like.  How will the Pierces battle this evil and move on?

 I love presidential history, but I do not remember ever learning this true story about the tragic death of young Bennie Pierce on the way to Washington D.C. I was fascinated.  I also liked the look into the Pierce’s marriage and how this tragedy affected it.  I know that seances and the look for spirits was very popular during this time period and I thought that was interesting. I’ll admit though that this book got too scary and strange to me.  I don’t want to say more to ruin the story – but it is really creepy!

 Overall, The Residence is an incredibly creepy look into the haunting of President Pierce and his wife Jane after the death of their son.  It’s the perfect book to scare you this time of year.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank-you!

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth MacNeal

Title: The Doll Factory

Author: Elizabeth MacNeal

Read by:  Tuppence Middleton

Publisher: Simon & Shuster Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 55 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Shuster Audio.  Thank-you!

The Doll Factory is a perfect read for this time of year.  It is the perfect combination of the realism of Victorian England of a Charles Dicken novel with the creepy obsessions of You by Caroline Kepnes.  The Doll Factory is set in 1851 London with the building of the Exhibition in Hyde Park as part of the background of the story.

Iris and her twin sister Rose work in a “doll factory” making dolls for wealthy clients that look like their children – dead or alive.  Iris dreams of breaking fee and becoming an artist in her own right.  When Louis Frost, a member of the pre-Raphaelites asks her to be his model, Iris feels that she has finally found a way out of the doll factory.

Albie is a young orphan who lives with her sister, a teenage prostitute.  He makes money by sewing doll clothes for Iris and finding dead animals for Silas.  Silas is a taxidermist who takes great pride in his work.  He has dreams of having his specimens being shown at the great exhibition.  When he sees Iris one day, he falls in love.  How will the ambitions of all be filled?

This was an intriguing audiobook to listen to and Tuppence Middleton was a wonderful expressive narrator.  I especially loved the author interview that was included at the end of the audiobook.  I hope more audiobooks start to do this!

I loved the descriptions in this novel of the dark depths of Victorian London.  The poverty, filth, and the limited possibilities juxtaposed with the glory, wealthy, and splendor of the Great Exhibition were fascinating to read.

My favorite part of the novel was the journey of Iris.  She wanted to live her dream and have a fulfilling artistic live – which is hard for a woman in Victorian London.  So many people wanted her to be the doll, a beautiful creature to look at, but not to live her own life.   The dolls, butterflies trapped in glass, and women in the paintings carried this same theme through the novel.  I also loved that she was a part of the pre-Raphaelite art movement, which I have read about in the past.  Her and Louis were placed among the real historical painters and I found it fascinating.

I loved how the story opened slowly over time revealing bits and pieces until you can put together the true arc.  I had some items figured out early, but was still surprised by the story.  I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say I found the ending to be immensely satisfying. 

Overall, The Doll Factory was an immensely satisfying tale that perfectly blended suspense, the dark depths of Victorian London, and one woman’s journey to artistic fulfillment.