Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a western with dark fantasy elements. What I loved about it is that it captures the spirit of a western without the problematic components of celebrating colonization over indigenous people.  It is emotionally difficult to read because Stephen's eloquent prose  emotionally cuts to the core.

The character of a Lutheran pastor in a horror novel strikes a tender place in my heart. I was raised by Lutheran ministers and trained to be a Lutheran minister so that was not lost on me. The theology geek in me loved the references to solid Lutheran theology. I really appreciated the way the pastor was portrayed as well. Too often a minister figure is portrayed without complexity. But this is definitely not the case in this story. 

There is a lot of violence against animals in this story. However all of the animals are in the wilderness and not pets which makes a difference for me in the ability to read it. The violence comes from a primalistic instinct and I really like the way the characters are portrayed. But if this was a movie I would not be able to watch it. While movies make you react to the image on screen, a book that allows the imagination to go as far as it wants. Also I loved getting into this characters head!

This book definitely touched some really tender places of my heart in the best possible ways. I am grateful I obtained a review copy through Netgalley and Titan books. However as a huge fan of Stephen Graham Jones I definitely would love to eventually purchase one of the gorgeous hardcovers that I have been seeing all over social media eventually. 

Goodreads rating 4/5 stars

I am also posting a modified version of this review on Goodreads