Off the Reservation

The Only Good Indians #2

by Stephen Graham Jones

A ragtag group of activists sets out to repatriate the bones of a Blackfeet boy taken to the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial School in author Stephen Graham Jones’s return to the Blackfeet reservation of his award-winning New York Times bestsellers The Only Good Indians and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter.

Nate Yellow Tail is one of the survivors of the deadly revenge murders of Stephen Graham Jones's breakout bestseller The Only Good Indians. Five years after the massacre on the Blackfeet reservation, Nate finds himself in the hospital after a terrible accident that should’ve killed him and that nearly killed his best friend Sebby, who is hanging onto life in a room a few doors down.

Nate’s life is out of balance, so when he is given the chance to reset his life, and maybe save Sebby in the process, Nate steps up, again. This time it’s into a camper van that is almost as run down as his broken body, filled with three older Blackfeet, to find the bones of the lone Blackfeet boy who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, where many Indigenous children were abused, and repatriate this boy home. The problem is, when they get the bones, something terrible has escaped with them.

Jones has crafted another American Indian novel for our times, shining light on the dark corners of this country’s history while also showing the desperate choices people make when they’re put up against a wall.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Indigenous, Audiobook, Thriller, Fantasy, Adult

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 13, 2026

About the author

Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author thirty-five or so books. He really likes werewolves and slashers. Favorite novels change daily, but Valis and Love Medicine and Lonesome Dove and It and The Things They Carried are all usually up there somewhere. Stephen lives in Boulder, Colorado. It's a big change from the West Texas he grew up in.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

the number of times i've accidentally picked up a sequel to a book i haven't read is genuinely impressive.
(i remedied that before reading this anyway.)

(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc/review to come)

[Sidney · Rating 3.25 out of 5]

the quest to find another sgj that hits as hard as the Indian Lake Trilogy continues...

i read TOGI earlier this year & while i did find it enjoyable overall, i don't necessarily think we needed a sequel? regardless, i was still eager to dive into Off the Reservation to see how the story wraps up.

there is no denying Stephen Graham Jones' talent & ability to come up with original concepts. i've quickly learned that when picking up sgj books, you should always go in expecting the unexpected—& somehow i still manage to get thrown for a loop by the time the story is finished.

unfortunately, i have some of the same problems with Off the Reservation as i had with TOGI.

let me start by saying there are parts of this i really did like.
i enjoyed the characters. if you know me, you know i love a good possession story especially one that has a fresh twist to the trope. it was a bit of a slow burn to get to the horror, but once the horror hits?? omg there's some nasty nasty body horror & gore going on.

i was really eating this up in the beginning, but the further i got into it, it felt like the pacing was just getting slower & slower. to the point i contemplated dnf'ing because it felt like nothing was really happening to keep me engaged. i don't know if it's the writing style or if i was just zoning out here & there, but there were moments i was genuinely lost on what was going on. the ending did feel a little rushed to me, juuuust a smidge, but i'm glad i stuck it out til the end.

it's not a bad book by any means it just didn't completely work for me.

3.25 ✨ rounded down for gr

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review

[megs_bookrack]

MOST ANTICIPATED 2026!!

I couldn't preorder fast enough...



Releasing 10.13.26.

[Lauren · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

This was so good at the beginning, but I quickly lost interest as the story progressed. I appreciate Stephen Graham Jones SO much, but I didn’t enjoy this at all.

[Maxwell]

There’s something about a Stephen Graham Jones book that just gets under my skin. It weaves its way into my psyche while I’m reading it and I can’t look away. Even when it’s difficult to process–because let’s face it, his mind works differently than other horror writers and he *forces* you to pay attention. And this one, the pseudo-’sequel’ to his 2020 breakout The Only Good Indians, is no exception.

We pick up about 5 years after the events of TOGI, but don’t worry, you don’t HAVE to have read that one to read this (but you should, of course, it’s great!) because this is more of a companion piece than a straight-up sequel. Think, spin-off following a minor character from TOGI with a new mission: to return the bones of a young boy from an Indian boarding school in Pennsylvania back to the reservation in Montana. But of course, since this is an SGJ novel, something is lurking in the shadows and causing chaos on this trip.

I can’t really say much more about what happens in this book because it’s the kind of book that withholds information from you for quite a while, forcing you to just go along for the ride and then in hindsight see what was directing their course of their trip, history, and the fateful circumstances that sets up the novel in the first place. And I will admit, as much as I love SGJ for how he forces me to pay attention, to think (this is not a shut-off your brain kind of book whatsoever), I did find myself lacking a bit of investment in the characters and their mission for about half the book because we are kept in the dark for so long.

BUT, as always, once the horror really starts, it doesn’t let up and only SGJ can write such creative and memorable horror scenes that somehow feel like an homage to old slashers and the genre conventions without feeling derivative. On top of all that, the reason behind this story, the way he weaves in real, historical elements, and the pay off for all those details you might feel drag the story down at the beginning and feel irrelevant, are NOT irrelevant. He sure knows how to end a book, I will say that. Things come full circle and it's so satisfying to see.

So while this wasn’t my favorite SGJ novel I read, a bit of a mixed bag from characters and pacing, I did ultimately like this one and honestly, would probably like it even more on a re-read. I appreciate that his books aren’t ‘easy’ reads that you can fly through; they require attention, demand it, really, and hold up their end of the bargain by giving you something to think about while packaged in a crazy and clever story that could only come from his mind.

[Becky Spratford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starred review in the July 2026 issue of Booklist and on the blog: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2026/07... (link live 7/7 at 7am central)

Three Words That Describe This Book: immersive, non-Christian possession, visceral/venerable/hilarious

Every detail matters, immersive, character centered, road trip horror, revenge horror, horror of historical racism especially as inflicted upon the marginalized people, intense dread from start that literally bursts open, possession trope reimagined, nuanced characters, exorcism of racism, intense, uneasy.

First thing first, this is a companion novel to The Only Good Indians. It is only a sequel in that it comes 5 years after the action of the first. (TOGI is 2011 and this is 2016) There are multiple povs here but our main narrator is Nate Yellow Tail-- the only survivor of the massacre at the sweat lodge in TOGI and also the on and off again boyfriend of D, the basketball player and (in my opinion) the young woman who carries the hope at the end of that book.

You can read these in any order though. Seriously. Each will inform the other.

And one of the threads here is what makes a "Good Indian" maybe even more so than in TOGI as multiple characters struggle with this-- or maybe don't but should in the case of one very sure of himself PhD holding Indian.

Okay let's get to this book. Just like SGJ took the Vampire trope by the horns and made it something totally new, a great horror novel, but also a thoughtful deep dive into the horror that is being Native in America, here he does this by taking the possession trope on a roadtrip. It is one of the most terrifying, violent, and visceral road trips ever, but it is also tender, vulnerable, and honestly, hilarious.

Like all of his novels, there is a lot of vengeance here, but the revenge is not just the Natives against an America that has caused them so much ruin (so many examples here like always) but also there is a lot of revenge here against each other in so many nuanced and varied ways.

The character building drives this story. The POV is spread around so as readers we know the characters from themselves and others. It enhances the story. Especially because most of the action is inside an RV. There are 4 Indians on this road trip. Nate high schooler, Nurse Seine (Plenty Wolf) who springs him out of the hospital (about 60), Christian-- a young man, seemingly mute, dressed as a priest, and Mooch, clearly younger than Plenty Wolf but with all white hair-- it turned white after she lost all three of her sons and her husband (not at once, but the story of their deaths is shared and for 2 in particular, they are key to the story)

Let me back up, Nate is in the hospital AGAIN (because he was after TOGI) because he and a friend break into a "Summer Indian's" reservation luxury home, they destroy it, steal a few things -- but when returning to the car, their car is hit by a gravel truck. The friend is on life support and Nate is trying to recover. But while this is an "inciting incident" to start the novel and it does come into play later -- as there are a few key twists in the second half here after they get the bones...see next paragraph

So what is the roadtrip for-- well they are driving to the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial School, to grab the bones of a young boy who was murdered there and repatriate them home. Why they are each on this quest is part of the story. But they get the bones in the middle of the story that is when the book goes from a road-trip novel to a possession horror story, but they are also still on a road trip back.

When you dig into the darkest corners of history, no one is spared from unearthing the masters of the past, present, and future.

I love SGJ's writing because every single detail matters. He crafts these interesting and engaging characters-- and the 4 Indians on this RV might be some of the best ever-- provides a lot of details about them, I don't want to give them away, but one example the motorbike caught mid air and impaled into the RV's rear as a tribute to one character's dead son, that alone and the details around it ALL END UP MATTERING. That's a big thing, but it is but one example of many.

The 1988 movie WAR PARTY is also key here. You will want to look it up, find a copy, get lost in the problematic nature of it, but also, see the love/pride the characters have for it. Again it is nuanced and complicated. I hope this book allows more people to see and discuss the movie.

The Little Bighorn monument is key as well. As is the 2016 Standing Rock protests of the Dakota Pipeline protests. And very key-- 2016 is the year after the inflatable dinosaur costumes came into our world-- Not going to share more than that but note above when I said there was hilarity here. Not dark humor, hilarity.

This book is more than the sum of its parts. There is an ongoing nuanced description of what it means to be a "good Indian" but it is all wrapped up in a perfectly executed roadtrip/possession/revenge horror novel. The horror is not sacrificed for the serious discussion of the legacy of oppression on the oppressed people and in their interactions with each other.

It is Nate Yellow Tail's Last Stand-- pun intended.

A hilarious road trip horror story, a bold new, non-Christian take on the possession novel, a Visceral and vulnerable character driven story. with a 360 degree view of the horrors of oppression visible as they drive across the upper plains of American.

I have written many words here, but I have given NOTHING away.

For fans of road trip horror in the vein of The Devil Takes you Home by Iglesias or Wheat he Wolf Comes Home by Cassidy, and the possession trope as reimagined and explored by Cordova in Monstrilio-- not based on the Christian devil and exorcism rules, although cleverly one character is named Christian, carries a bible, and dresses like priest (and the reason is amazing and heart breaking when you find out the full story).

Did I mention....every detail matters? I cannot stress enough, this is what is best about SGJ's writing. He throws a lot at the reader, sometimes, it seems like it is there just to stand out and for no reason, but NO, as a reader, you know and trust ever detail will some into play-- even a clock discussed, handled, but not stolen in the opening scene. And once it reappears, you think that is it, but no.....there is more.

Also trust me not his one-- grab a blue Icee from the local gas station/rest stop. Not a Slurpee-- the off brand. Bonus if it is the blue flavor.

[Michael · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

"Off the Reservation" by Stephen Graham Jones serves as a standalone companion/sequel to his bestseller "The Only Good Indians." The novel that takes place five years later and follows Nate Yellow Tail, a survivor from the first book. The story centers on a grueling, frantic road trip in a run-down 1980s Sundancer RV traveling from Montana to Pennsylvania to repatriate the bones of a Blackfeet boy from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Opened in 1879 the Carlisle Indian Industrial School did not hate Native Americans in a traditional sense, but it operated on a policy of forced cultural erasure and assimilation designed to destroy Indigenous cultures, languages, and identities. When they retrieve the boy's bones, a dark, malevolent presence or entity escapes with them, turning the cross-country journey into a terrifying possession and survival nightmare. The second half of the book, the reader is introduced to the supernatural terror which is deeply intertwined with the real-world historical atrocities and abuse suffered by Indigenous children at residential boarding schools. This is a book that makes you think and wants you to learn something. The horror is built upon the realities of history, of residential schools and massacres and wars.

In the beginning I had a hard time understanding his writing being that this was the first time I ever read one of his books. His signature style relies heavily on a fast-paced, non-stop stream of consciousness that can feel breathless, overwhelming, and highly immersive. "Off the Reservation" feels like a roller-coaster ride because of its high-velocity, disorienting blend of a surreal road trip, mounting psychological dread, and sudden shifts in reality. He deliberately drops punctuation or pushes sentences to their breaking point to simulate panic, paranoia, or adrenaline. His stream-of-consciousness, breathless prose style perfectly captures the internal chaos of horror, anxiety, and survival. Once I got used to the book, I really started to like what I was reading. Part fever dream, part road trip, three parts scary and all heart, "Off the Reservation" was a frightening yet emotional tale of both belonging and letting go.

[Lorin (paperbackbish) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you horror gods (and your vessels on earth) for blessing me with a copy of Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones — available Oct 13!

» READ IF YOU «
🖤 want me to think more highly of you
🦌 loved the vibes of The Only Good Indians
🦖 are craving violence mixed with hilarity
🚐 have ever been on a terrible roadtrip

» SYNOPSIS «
Travel back to the world of The Only Good Indians to join Nate Yellow Tail on a fraught cross-country roadtrip, in a run-down RV with a bunch of characters who might be genuinely insane. Their mission? Rescue the bones of the only Blackfeet boy murdered at the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial School. But since nothing can be quite so straightforward in an SGJ story, you better buckle up…

» REVIEW «
Oh, Nate. It’s impossible not to empathize with his particular plight, but you’ll still spend the whole story questioning his every decision. In fact, since so many of the decisions made in this story are absurd, it’s best to just lean in and enjoy the chaos. And, dear readers, easter eggs abound, so keep an eye out for those if you’re an avid SGJ fan…

Anyway, it should come as no surprise that this is a five-star read for me. I am, admittedly, not objective when it comes to his books, but I do think that this particular Jones story is a perfect complement to the time we spent with Elk Head Woman in 2020. She’s actually never left the dark corners of my psyche, but you may have a new (or additional?) specter to haunt your dreams once you finish Off the Reservation.

I don’t know how he achieved it, some 6 years later, but the tone and rhythms of this book are a perfect match to those of TOGI, so you will be dropped right back into that space and time, almost like you never left. And? Things just get wilder from there. What do superglue, dinosaurs, blue icees, studded tongues, and creepy dolls all have in common? Well, come on down and find out.

Thank you, Stephen, for always writing stories that entertain the heck out of us, sometimes scare the bejeesus out of us, and often make us look more thoughtfully at the world around us. Don’t miss this one on October 13.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[C. Sinclair · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

I did not expect a sequel to The Only Good Indians, so when the announcement for Off the Reservation appeared, the thrill that ran through me was... indescribable. Stephen Graham Jones has an unparalleled ability to wield suspense, and the deftness with which he weaves foreboding into a story's tapestry is just stunning. Breath? Taken away. The horror builds with quiet, visceral precision, each detail contributing to an atmosphere that feels increasingly like a trap. Historical and cultural references that might have decorative in lesser hands are meaningfully embedded in the narrative; no scene, setting, or observation is incidental. Everything, and I mean everything has a place, even when the reader has yet to understand what that place might be. The result is a story that feels both classically horrifying and distinctly original, which is a wild accomplishment in a genre that has been mining its own graveyard for decades.

And the characters? Instantly compelling, and the construction of this particular ensemble is ambitious out the gate. On paper, the main character lineup reads like the opening to a “these four people walked into a bar” joke, which is a hell of a casting call to pull off under the lightest of literary circumstances, and this is not light work. Jones withholds information with brutal efficacy, keeping me invested to the point of near frustration but without ever making me feel abandoned by the narrative. Every unanswered question made me double down on my engagement rather than lose faith in the story. The pacing and prose are deliberately challenging, as any fans of The Only Good Indians will understand. Jones writes with a gut-wrenching defiance that makes it clear the story will unfold on its own terms. The reader is invited along, but never catered to. I reread some phrases and passages two or three times trying to let them sink in. At other lines I closed the book entirely to consider stepping outside to touch grass, because what I'd just read... once was more than enough. And to be clear I mean that as the highest of horror compliments. I expected the fear factor to be good, even great. I did not expect it to be fucking art.

And the raaaaaaaaaage. Untethered, incandescent, and entirely unwilling to make itself convenient. Once again, Jones turns his attention toward injustice, oppression, cultural identity, and forced assimilation; the plot mercilessly cultivates horror from wounds that are historical, personal, and painfully ongoing. Yet for all its brutality, Off the Reservation is also darkly hilarious. Not a comedy — let me be absolutely clear about that — but riotously funny in ways that make the disturbing moments land all the harder. There is something remarkable about writing that can leave you disoriented while simultaneously grounding you so completely in its characters and cultural context. I don't know how else to describe it, and if you want to know what I mean, you're just going to have to read it for yourself. Strongly recommended, obviously. Off the Reservation is distinctly different from its predecessor without ever feeling distant from it, expanding the experience rather than attempting to repeat it. If this book isn't already on your spooktober reading list, add it right now. Even if you haven't read The Only Good Indians (which you should), this sequel absolutely deserves a place in every horror-lover's library.

Thank you to Saga for the ARC of Off The Reservation in exchange for an honest review. It is always an honor to be trusted with unpublished work, and I look forward to the next opportunity.

[Christian Z · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

"The elder in that recording under War Party was supposed to have known that song the dead could hear. But maybe it wasn't about the song itself? Maybe it was about how you sung it. Where you sung it. How much you were hurting when you opened your mouth"

Off The Reservation is a follow up to The Only Good Indians and follows the character Nate as he goes on a kind of vision quest to rescue the bones of a Blackfeet child from the grounds of a former Indian School. During their journey, Nate and his companions discover that they have unwittingly awakened something that is determined to follow them back to the reservation.

Like many of his other books, Stephen Graham Jones uses the horror genre to capture the generational trauma of the indigenous people where he has his roots.

Like The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, I found this book difficult to follow at times. There are jumps between various points of view and flashbacks that seem to be intentionally placed to throw the reader off balance. The last third of the book brings things into focus for a powerful conclusion.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for and advance reading copy of the book.

[BookishlySonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, single-handedly, the most fever-dream Stephen Graham Jones book I’ve read thus far, to the point that I genuinely wondered if I was somehow three gummies deep and didn’t know it. It was glorious!! I can’t help but feel that this phantasmagoria of a book is the vision quest Nate never got to experience in The Only Good Indians.

Off The Reservation takes place five years after the events of TOGI, with Nate Yellow Tail serving as our narrator. While I don’t think reading TOGI is necessary to enjoy this book, I do think it enriches the experience. Nate is grappling with profound survivor’s guilt stemming from those events, as well as from an accident in this book that leaves his best friend, Sebby, in a coma. That guilt informs so much of his thinking and decision-making, particularly when he agrees to help a ragtag group of Blackfeet repatriate the bones of a Blackfeet boy from the notorious Carlisle Indian Industrial School. This confrontation with the past reverberates throughout the narrative, ultimately serving as its fulcrum.

Structurally, the story unfolds like a road trip: an almost uneventful beginning that gradually gives way to mounting exhaustion, until by the end, all you want to do is collapse into your own bed. It’s also a fascinating subversion of the traditional hero’s journey, with the school itself serving as the midpoint rather than the destination. What initially feels like the culmination of the journey becomes something else entirely.

Jones’ prose is always masterful, but here he really flexes his muscles. He creates an incredibly claustrophobic atmosphere despite the wide-open road, and that juxtaposition adds yet another layer of surrealism to a story that already feels barely tethered to the RV careening toward its inevitable conclusion. In these almost liminal spaces, the horror no longer lurks in the shadows; it forces its way into the open and makes itself felt with every sense. The result is a story that feels disorienting, visceral, and almost impossible to shake loose.

The longer I sit with this book, the more I love it. Jones has a way of writing that feels intimate, raw, and singularly his own, and I can’t get enough of it.

I would highly recommend experiencing this one immersively. The audiobook features a full cast: Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Darrell Dennis, Tomi Endter, Kimberly Guerrero, and Jana Schmieding, all of whom do a fantastic job bringing their respective characters to life. The story feels like something told around a fire, and the audiobook’s production really captures that feeling. The sound is crisp and clear, with no distracting mouth sounds, and the narrators deliver some genuinely fantastic tones and inflections that make the horror feel even more immediate and real.

An absolute fever dream of a book, and I loved every second of it.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Off the Reservation, we meet back up with Nate, a survivor from The Only Good Indians, who quickly ends up in dire straits with his best friend hanging on for his life. Nate embarks on what ends up being a road trip from hell, full of plenty of everything that Stephen Graham Jones is great at writing.

The first half of the novel contains an abundance of character development, lots of seemingly mundane details about each of the road trip passengers. But this is where as a long-time reader of SGJ, you know to trust his process. Those details are anything but mundane, and the process continuously delivers. The halfway mark hit, my mind exploded with the shift in direction of the novel, and I was hopelessly hooked for the second act.

And what a second half it was! I felt like everything I thought I knew about the story flipped upside down. Not to say I was tricked or manipulated into it, but the book allowed me to take what I had read and see it from a different perspective. There is deceit, there is retribution, and there is atonement. Oh, and did I mention the violence? Some of the descriptions are so visceral and so vivid that I was squirming as I read them, looking at my e-reader with a side eye because I was afraid to stare it directly in the face. Well done, SGJ.

It’s worth mentioning that this is a sequel to The Only Good Indians, but it doesn’t have to be read as such. I think you could read them out of order, and not miss a thing. Although, I did find myself revisiting some scenes from TOGI as I traveled with Nate and company.

My highest recommendation. I plan to read it again immediately.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for the advanced copy of the book.

[Summer (on brief hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Off the Reservation is a road trip filled with quirky and relatable characters. Stephen Graham Jones masterfully writes about a culture that has been purposely ignored and erased (which happens to be my own culture). Like his prior works, this is a vivid horror story with unsettling imagery, original monsters, and social commentary. Tense with edge of your seat action, a shocking twist, and plenty of humor, Off the Reservation is unputdownable and will keep you reading long past your bedtime.

The central messaging on the consequences of the choices we make and how trauma from past generations affects us in the present, will stay with you long after finishing. You don't have to read The Only Good Indians before reading this one but I highly recommend you do. Reading the prior work adds such an extra layer and it's also one of SGJ's best works (imo).

I alternated between reading the book myself and listening to the audiobook. The audiobook is read by a full cast including Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Darrell Dennis, Tomi Endter, Kimberly Guerrero, and Jana Schmieding who all did a brilliant job bringing this story to life. Stephen Graham Jones also reads the afterward! If you decide to pick this one up, I highly recommend this format.

Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones was published on October 13 so it’s available now. Many thanks to Saga Press and Simon Audio for the gifted copies!

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for the pre-release copy of Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones. Below is my honest review.

This one baffled me a bit, mostly because half the time I felt like I was in a fever dream of confusing hallucinatory moments that built up to create a wild story. But I got the framework down so just went along for the ride and I loved the weirdness of it all.

I really loved the characters of Christian/Christiana and Nate Yellow Tail, but the rest were... hard to root for or downright awful in the right way (come on, we're supposed to hate the bad guys!).

I think my issue with the book that lost it a star was the huge pacing problem for the first 50% or so of the book. It just dragged on for a while. After that, the poo hit the fan so it raced towards the end, but that first bit was kind of a slog for me.

Also, make sure you read the acknowledgements. Jones lays out so many inspirations for details from his story, and it's a really cool glimpse into the mind of a writer.

Four stars, go enjoy this one!

[theliterateleprechaun · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book highlights a group of activists on a mission to repatriate the bones of a Blackfeet boy who attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

I think if I’d known that this was book two in a series or duology, I’d have read book one first so that I wasn’t confused. I questioned, multiple times, where the author was going with the story and what point he was trying to make, especially in the middle third.

That being said, the author deftly spotlighted the desperate choices people make when they feel they’re out of options and he left me with a desire to search out book one, The Only Good Indians.

I was gifted this copy and was under no obligation to provide a review. .

[Stacy (Gotham City Librarian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Only Good Indians” is one of my favorite horror books of the last several years, possibly of all time. I didn’t really find a flaw in it at all. Since then, I’ve read quite a few other books by SGJ but none of them have affected me in the same way as that one did. (Except maybe “Mongrels.” I loved that book.) As a sequel, this read more like it took place in the same universe even though it directly involved a character from the first story. This book had a different feel, different “monsters” and a more experimental structure. All of that is fine, but I loved the first one more. Still, one thing you can always count on with Jones is exposed, raw nerves because he very openly writes from a deeply personal place.

As usual with anything by SGJ, I got a bit lost here and there in the action. These characters are referred to by multiple names at different points and for a while I couldn't pin down their ages in relation to each other, so I had trouble picturing everyone. But there would frequently be beautiful sentences woven in to keep me grounded. I’ve never been able to figure out why this is a thing with Jone's writing, (in every book aside from “The Only Good Indians”), where there are constantly moments where I just flat out don’t understand what I’m reading. But I always shrug off the confusion and keep going, whereas with other authors it would likely lead to a DNF. With Jones, the reward of trusting the journey is always worth it.

Here, I felt that the second person POV chapters were the best ones, though there weren’t many of those. In the afterword, he said that writing this novel took longer than usual and he mentioned many different pop culture influences that helped to shape the story. In "Off the Reservation," the horror and violence is scarce in the beginning. But once it kicks in, things are pretty eerie, surprising and bloody. There is some gnarly and disgusting body horror. (And a surprising amount of urine.) A couple of things were done to people that I will be thinking about for a while. And I know this is an odd thing to say unless maybe you're doing the audiobook, but it's a real "blink and you'll miss something important" kind of story, where every sentence feels carefully crafted. I can honestly say that I didn't know where the plot was going, and I probably couldn't have predicted it either.

This was a nightmare of a road trip, for sure. Even though I was sometimes a bit confused, I still know quality when I see it. I'm probably due for another readthrough of the first book soon, and of course I will continue to read anything that SGJ writes. 

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you to Netgalley for this early copy in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own. I'm grateful to be one of the first people to read it.

Biggest TW: Domestic abuse, Self-harm, *Harm to animals, Transphobia/Deadnaming/Misgendering 

[Matt M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set five years after the events of The Only Good Indians, Off the Reservation continues the story of one of its survivors, Nate Yellow Tail. Some of the marketing has called this a sequel to TOGI but really it’s more of a companion novel rather than a traditional sequel. And I think it’s even better for that. Because yes, it continues Nate’s story but this novel is a very different beast than its predecessor. Avoiding “sequelitis” can be hard but SGJ does it so well by making this its own story.

Off the Reservation is a road trip possession horror novel. It’s told with multiple POVs and every perspective has a unique voice. This is a novel that deserves to be savored like a fine wine. I read this 2-3 chapters at a time rather than bingeing it. The layers and the details SGJ embeds into the dialogue and little character moments all come back to matter in some way.

The horror elements are so effective and I was genuinely creeped out. It can be really difficult to pull off possession stories but this is one of the most unique takes on it, especially since it is not done via the “typical” Christian-lensed possession stories we are used to.

One thing it has in common with TOGI is a moment partway through that completely shifts the story in a way that had my jaw on the floor.

Is Off the Reservation as great as The Only Good Indians? That’s totally up to the reader. I think it’s just as good in a completely different way. Off the Reservation stands on its own as yet another banger of a horror novel by one of the best to do it.

Thanks so much to Saga Press for the gifted ARC and for the approval on NetGalley! #SagaSaysCrew

[Lei Monk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just so so so good. SGJ is a master of making things get under your skin and linger there, waiting for the opportunity to pounce. I read Only Good Indians as sort of a gateway to reading the horror genre, and getting a sequel was never on my mind. But, the sequel still came, and I am immensely grateful (and a little harrowed) I got to read it while recovering from surgery, right before the fall season starts. It made all the nasty and scary bits last longer, and it was needed. Where Only Good Indians was a massacre and blood bath, Off the Reservation is subdued, and quiet in its horror. There's still a slasher esque bloodbath that follows this cursed road trip, but the commentary on human grief and the taste of more in the supernatural realm was a departure that I'm really digging.

I always read Stephen Graham Jones, but to read this sequel to my gateway book early, now almost one year into running a horror bookclub of my own feels like a full circle moment.

Unfourtunatley, this book has fundamentaly changed how i will view blue slushies and blow up dinosaur costumes forever.

I'll be waiting on the next one!

[Disha]

THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS SEQUEL????

[Steph (starrysteph) · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

Stephen Graham Jones took a classic possession story, put spin after spin on it, AND turned it into a road trip. You never quite know where this story is going to go and you never quite know who your next narrator will be, but what you do know for sure is that absolutely nobody is safe.

Off the Reservation follows one of the characters from The Only Good Indians, and there are some references to the first book (plus you’ll have a better understanding of Nate if you read TOGI first), but this is a completely standalone story.

Nathan Yellow Tail was one of the few who walked away with his life after the events of The Only Good Indians. Now, five years later, he’s hanging on by a thread one more time. He got into a brutal car accident with his best friend Sebby on their way back from breaking into a wealthy summer home. And now Sebby’s in a coma, and it’s not looking good.

So when Nate’s offered a chance to bring things back to balance, he’s ready to give it a try. And this time, it means heading off in a camper van with a trio of Blackfeet adults with their own traumatic histories. Their goal? Find the bones of a boy who was murdered at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and bring him home for a proper burial. But they have no idea what they might dig up with him.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge Stephen Graham Jones fan. I love the cadence and flow of his work, and it feels almost casually chatty (and sometimes funny) in a way that makes the wild gore and trauma hit harder. The character work in particular here really stood out to me, and I’m obsessed with this reworking of possession and demons, similar to how he tackled vampires in The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. SGJ is a horror superfan writing (in his own unique & very skillful way) for other horror superfans, and I adore that about him.

The bouncing around of perspectives all contained in a sometimes-claustrophobic RV really enhanced the horror once we got there. We get to know this group internally and also learn how they’re perceived (often vastly differently) by the folks surrounding them. And even though Nate feels like our home base perspective, we’re also jolted around so frequently that it can be hard to anticipate who might survive in the end and what everyone’s true intentions are. Every single narrator’s voice is SO distinct and precise, and that’s one of the most charming things about this novel. We’re constantly having our expectations subverted and characters are framed, and we even get a villainous second-person narration.

From Nate’s imagined “Bad Indian” neon sign above his head to Christiana navigating the safest way for her to act in each new social situation, performing the different aspects of your identity is a big theme here. All of these characters unpack their inner mythology while also figuring out where they fit into future legacies. What footprints will they leave? Can they find balance in their lives? How will their stories ultimately end?

This is a great new spin on demons and possessions, and entangles them with colonial violence, mythology, and big questions of evil and sacrifice. It looks at the specific horrors and abusive, racist, violent systems found in residential schools, where an outside evil is to blame, but also the ways in which you harm your own communities and end up hurting the people who should have your own back. When you’re struggling, it’s easier than ever to become divided if you think that’s your best shot at survival


There’s also such an interesting blend of truths (Carlisle Indian Industrial School, War Party), inspirations (Monstrilio, Preacher, Simone in Pieces, Black Panther, etc.) and lore that Stephen Graham Jones has entirely made up, but that feels so very real.

It’s a fever dream, it’s beautifully disorienting and horrifyingly satisfying as the pieces click into place, it’s a heartbreaking story of grief, it’s got redemption and forgiveness and justice, it’s filled with creative gore, and it’s a masterfully crafted horror story where every tiny bit of detail ends up mattering.

And don’t forget to read the acknowledgements.

CW: murder (of children), death, body horror, violence, car accident, racism, gore, vomit, suicide attempt, transphobia, deadnaming (other characters are unaware), animal death, grief

Follow me on social media for book recommendations!

(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

[BookishlySonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, single-handedly, the most fever-dream Stephen Graham Jones book I’ve read thus far, to the point that I genuinely wondered if I was somehow three gummies deep and didn’t know it. It was glorious!! I can’t help but feel that this phantasmagoria of a book is the vision quest Nate never got to experience in The Only Good Indians.

Off The Reservation takes place five years after the events of TOGI, with Nate Yellow Tail serving as our narrator. While I don’t think reading TOGI is necessary to enjoy this book, I do think it enriches the experience. Nate is grappling with profound survivor’s guilt stemming from those events, as well as from an accident in this book that leaves his best friend, Sebby, in a coma. That guilt informs so much of his thinking and decision-making, particularly when he agrees to help a ragtag group of Blackfeet repatriate the bones of a Blackfeet boy from the notorious Carlisle Indian Industrial School. This confrontation with the past reverberates throughout the narrative, ultimately serving as its fulcrum.

Structurally, the story unfolds like a road trip: an almost uneventful beginning that gradually gives way to mounting exhaustion, until by the end, all you want to do is collapse into your own bed. It’s also a fascinating subversion of the traditional hero’s journey, with the school itself serving as the midpoint rather than the destination. What initially feels like the culmination of the journey becomes something else entirely.

Jones’ prose is always masterful, but here he really flexes his muscles. He creates an incredibly claustrophobic atmosphere despite the wide-open road, and that juxtaposition adds yet another layer of surrealism to a story that already feels barely tethered to the RV careening toward its inevitable conclusion. In these almost liminal spaces, the horror no longer lurks in the shadows; it forces its way into the open and makes itself felt with every sense. The result is a fever dream that feels disorienting, visceral, and almost impossible to shake loose.

The longer I sit with this book, the more I love it. Jones has a way of writing that feels intimate, raw, and singularly his own, and I can’t get enough of it.

I would highly recommend experiencing this one immersively. The audiobook features a full cast: Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Darrell Dennis, Tomi Endter, Kimberly Guerrero, and Jana Schmieding, all of whom do a fantastic job bringing their respective characters to life. The story feels like something told around a fire, and the audiobook’s production really captures that feeling. The sound is crisp and clear, with no distracting mouth sounds, and the narrators deliver some genuinely fantastic tones and inflections that make the horror feel even more immediate and real.

An absolute fever dream of a book, and I loved every second of it.

[CarlysGrowingTBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

🎧📚 Tandem Review 🎧📚
Thank you @Libro.fm for the gifted audiobook copy. Thank you @sagapress lfor the gifted physical copy.

Title: Off the Reservation
Author: Stephen Graham Jones
Pages: 416 pages
Narrator: Multi Cast
Duration: 12 hours 28 minutes
Genre: Horror
Pub Date: October 13, 2026
~~~~<<<<<<<<
🎧📚 Synopsis 🎧📚
A ragtag group of activists sets out to repatriate the bones of a Blackfeet boy taken to the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

🎧📚 My Thoughts 🎧📚
I gave The Only Good Indians 5 stars. I wish I could give this book 6. This was absolutely fantastic and I could not stop reading.

The burning question is whether or not you need to read the only good Indians before reading this book and I would say that I highly recommend it. You get so much more debt and understanding of the circumstances and Nate as a character. Just trust me when I say for maximum impact, you wanna read it.

This book had me in tears one minute and bordering on sleeping with the lights on the next. This book was a roller coaster of emotion that tore up my soul and left me forever changed. The characters were so interesting and so original. They all had a stunning place in the story and I don't know that my emotions will ever recover from this.

🎧📚 Narration 🎧📚
Shaun Taylor-Corbett. Really I don't need to say anything else, but the multi cast in this novel was absolutely amazing and I cannot recommend it more.
~~~~~~~~~

🎧📚 Read if You Like 🎧📚
* Thought provoking characters
* Suspense
* Possession stories
* Emotional damage
~~~~~~~~~
🏷️
#audiobookreview #audiobookrecommendation #bookstagram #offthereservation #stephengrahamjones

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can completely understand why this is a bit of a polarizing book. SGJ sometimes has a kind of fragmented or kaleidoscopic way of writing, which requires a certain amount of letting go by the reader, with the understanding that the pieces will all shake down into place at some point. That is on display here, and for me it made the telling of the story even more effective.

Why is that? Well there is more than one POV character who is unreliable even to themselves, so this fractal approach feels true to form, but it is definitely more work for the reader. That said, the upside is that everything that is ultimately revealed feels earned by both the characters and those of us following their travails on the page.

As I have come to expect with SGJ there is a lot to unpack here in the under layer, such as how generational trauma and poverty plays out for each of the characters. Additionally there is some not so nuanced commentary on the notion of cultural identity and what makes one person’s claim “more authentic” than another’s.

I would recommend reading the author’s afterward, if only to appreciate the wide ranging net that was cast to bring all the pieces of this story to its eventual form.

[JemeryInPrint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones is such a wild, disorienting, and wonderfully unsettling experience. I absolutely loved the writing style and how it enhances the atmosphere, making everything feel even more surreal, unhinged, and dreamlike in the best possible way. There’s something about the way Jones writes that pulls you into the madness and keeps you there, even when you’re not entirely sure what’s happening or where things are going. It truly feels like being trapped in a fever dream, and I loved every minute of it.

One of my favorite aspects was the possession element and how uniquely and originally it was handled. It felt fresh and genuinely unsettling, which is no easy feat in a genre that has explored possession in so many different ways. I loved how Jones took that concept and made it feel entirely his own.

While this isn’t a true sequel in the traditional sense, and the two books are very different in both style and feel, I personally enjoyed them equally for what they each brought to the table. I appreciate that Jones didn’t simply try to recreate the experience of the first book but instead gave us something that stands on its own.

I’m also so glad I purchased the limited editions of both books from OwlCrate! They’re definitely ones I’m happy to have on my shelves.

Overall, this was weird, atmospheric, disorienting, and completely my kind of thing. Stephen Graham Jones has such a distinctive writing style, and I’m always here for the strange, unsettling places his stories take me.

Thank you Stephen Graham Jones, Simon & Schuster Canada | Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[ellie ♈︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite SGJ horror but still a fun time! Off the Reservation follows Nate, a traumatised survivor from last book's blood-soaked night, as he recovers mentally and physically from a car crash that changes his life. He goes on a road trip with some other Blackfeet to recover the bones of a Blackfeet boy home. In typical SGJ style, it goes absolutely whacky and gory.

I really liked Nate as a protagonist and was rooting for him so bad, and I also enjoyed the supporting cast of characters quite a lot and enjoyed their chapters! Seine was morbidly interesting, Mooch was bat-shit crazy, and Christiana was so interesting and loveable. The main fault was the storyline and its unusual pace. I was actually confused in many parts of the story because we dart around a lot and I really have to focus on the stream-of-consciousness writing style to understand, but even with my full attention I was getting lost. It didn't feel as polished as SGJ's usual work.

I also didn't like the ending and how the slasher was defeated. It tipped over the line into "too goofy" and I couldn't really take it seriously. :(

Always a huge fan of SGJ's books and I will of course read everything he writes, but this one wasn't a total hit for me unfortunately.

[unstable.books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Off The Reservation takes us back to the world of The Only Good Indians as its companion novel that stands confidently on its own, weaving together a road trip from hell and the enduring traumas of colonial violence into something both emotionally resonant and deeply unsettling. While readers familiar with the previous novel will appreciate Nate Yellow Tail's return, Off The Reservation offers a complete story in its own right. Five years after surviving unimaginable tragedy, Nate is searching for purpose and a series of events leads him to join a small group of Blackfeet traveling to recover the remains of a child taken to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. What begins as a mission of repatriation gradually transforms into a terrifying supernatural journey where the weight of history refuses to remain buried. Jones excels at creating characters who feel richly lived-in. The cramped confines of the RV become an intimate stage for grief, humor, conflict, and compassion, allowing each member of this group to emerge as a fully realized person. Their relationships and secrets drive the novel just as much as the horror, making the inevitable violence all the more affecting. The supernatural elements are inventive and insanely impactful, offering a fresh take on possession that is rooted in Indigenous perspectives rather than usual genre conventions. Yet, the novel's greatest horrors come from the history itself. The legacy of residential schools, cultural erasure, racism, and the complex question of what makes a "Good Indian" permeate every page without overshadowing the story's momentum. Jones balances moments of genuine warmth and hilarious moments with relentless dread, creating a novel that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. Off The Reservation is another remarkable example of horror being used not only to terrify, but to confront historical injustice and the ghosts that nations too often refuse to acknowledge. Thank you Saga Press Books for getting me an ARC. SGJ fans will rejoice, as this is him at his very best. Make sure you preorder your copy wherever you buy your books. Off The Reservation publishes October 13th, 2026!

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I should preface this review with saying that really enjoyed The Only Good Indians and that The Buffalo Hunter Hunter was one of my top reads of last year and an instant favourite.

That said, Off The Reservation didn’t really do it for me. I usually like SGJ's writing style. He has a way of making you ask yourself if things are really happening and disorienting you in a way that’s usually pretty fun and unsettling but this one kind of lost me a little too much leaving me too confused to enjoy the horror.

We catch back up with Nate Yellow Tail from the first book who ends up on the road trip from Hell as he heads to a residential school to reclaim the bones of a boy who died there.

I felt less like this book had a beginning, middle and end, and instead was a series of increasingly strange events over and over until you end up completely lost asking yourself if you even really understood what you read and then it’s over.

The premise and first third of the book are stellar but the final third was a bit of a slog and I started to find myself not really wanting to pick it up and read anymore. Not the worst book by all means, and it has some great moments but unfortunately doesn’t match the experience I had with the first book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Road trip x possession story. Seems like a recipe for success to me.

I didn't think The Only Good Indians needed a sequel, but I sure am excited it got one. I don't think you need to read the first book to enjoy the second, but you should, because it's excellent.

Off the Reservation definitely has some creepy moments and lots of gore. I think my expectations were just super high for a sequel to one of my favorite horror novels.

My takeaways - 1. it's always time for a blue icee and 2. stay away from super glue.

My thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Ashley · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

"Nate had his back pressed to the wall, his throat full of regret or something worse, from deeper down. He was still seeing his breath. It made him not want to breathe anymore at all. Maybe he could go room to room, rob all the other inmates'-patients'-nightly pills somehow, knock back paper cup after paper cup of them, so when the morning crew clocked in he would just be a slobbering, grinning mess. That would mean getting the nerve to slip through all those doorways, though. Not happening. And, anyway, only one of the doors was open. Sebby's. "Shit shit shit" Nate couldn't stop whispering to himself. But-it was Sebby's room, right? Of everywhere, that had to be the one good place, didn't it? "

Good Lord. Wow. Off the Reservation was one of my most anticipated horror releases of the year. I was fucking terrified to start this book because... I don't know why. It's Stephen Graham Jones, it's going to be good. This is probably the most fever-dream like, hallucinogenic, Kafkaesque novel that Jones has ever written. It kind of feels like being drugged up and submerged underwater for hours, and it's wonderful. Like all of his works, there's a seething, monstrous rage that bubbles beneath the surface, it's infectious - latching onto the reader until you absolutely cannot help but feel blisteringly angry, but, most of all, what Off the Reservation made me feel was just, so deeply, horrifically sad. It's fucking harrowing. There's just, something about the way that Jones writes...

It's difficult to explain, but, his writing lingers, long after the book is finished, it burrows beneath your skin, sinks needle-like hooks into your brain. The storytelling is just, so, so vivid, and god... The way that Jones writes about addiction here is fucking heart-shattering. Off the Reservation is a road trip novel. Except that this is the most lonely and isolating road trip of all time. This thing is mind-blowing, it's such a difficult book to process, and not just because of all the suffering you're going to encounter... But also beause, it sort of feels like you've just been dosed up on acid and then dumped along a lonely strip of highway. Alone. In the dark. This book is one that demands every ounce of your attention, blink and you'll miss something vital. Because here, every. Single. Detail. Matters. Nothing in this book exists without purpose.

"The elder in that recording under War Party was supposed to have known that song the dead could hear. But maybe it wasn't about the song itself? Maybe it was about how you sung it. Where you sung it. How much you were hurting when you opened your mouth. Nate, gulping, knelt down in his dad's place, in the shape of that memory, and touched the ground with his fingertips just like then, because those horses never asked to be in this fight-they just wanted to be horses, do horse things. It didn't keep them from dying, though."

Many authors, I think, shy away from exposing this much of their soul to the reader. There's a dire lack of authenticity and originality within publishing, and I really, really appreciate Stephen Graham Jones for being willing to bleed for his audience. Books like this are the entire reason I read. I'm still not over this book, it caused me to feel a range of emotions I'm still not able to comprehend. There's something so unsettling about the horror of this novel, it feels... Quiet, almost, muted, like a beast that stalks you in the night but never quite rips your face off, and somehow, this makes it feel even more terrifying than most horror novels out there, because it's evident this is a thing entirely without mercy. This novel is more than just a road trip. This is a vengeance fueled nightmare.

"But he still had half a minute. Half a minute and a whole lifetime. He tried to blink the stars into some kind of organization, or story. Used to, in high school, him and Sebby would get halfway lit and lie out in some dark part of the reservation, trying to convince each other about lines between this star and that one, arguing less and less probable constellations, coming up with bullshittier and bullshittier cosmic ledger art. Mostly Sebby only saw pairs of breasts, of course. It was so hard to be serious around that idiot. Nate hated the hell out of him. And would give anything for him to just open his eyes."

[Molly G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen, you either get Stephen Graham Jones or you don’t. And this book was what he does best, spooky stories wrapped up in the human condition.

Five years after the massacre at the end of The Only Good Indians, Nate finds himself in another accident that leaves his best friend on the edge of life. To help balance the scales, Nate journeys with three others across the country to bring a Blackfoot boy’s remains home. But they don’t anticipate what they actually unearthed at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (iykyk).

This is unlike any possession story I’ve ever read and had me on the edge of my seat the entire last half of the book. I highly recommend reading all of SGJ’s acknowledgements to learn about what inspired him while writing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Saga Press, and the author for an eARC in exchange for my thoughts.