Jones, Stephen Graham. The Angel of Indian Lake. New York: Saga Press, 2024.
ISBN-13: 978-1668011669 | $28.99 USD | 464 pages | Horror
Blurb
The final installment in the most lauded trilogy in the history of horror novels picks up four years after Don’t Fear the Reaper as Jade returns to Proofrock, Idaho, to build a life after the years of sacrifice—only to find the Lake Witch is waiting for her in New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones’s finale.
It’s been four years in prison since Jade Daniels last saw her hometown of Proofrock, Idaho, the day she took the fall, protecting her friend Letha and her family from incrimination. Since then, her reputation, and the town, have changed dramatically. There’s a lot of unfinished business in Proofrock, from serial killer cultists to the rich trying to buy Western authenticity. But there’s one aspect of Proofrock no one wants to confront…until Jade comes back to town. The curse of the Lake Witch is waiting, and now is the time for the final stand.
New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones has crafted an epic horror trilogy of generational trauma from the Indigenous to the townies rooted in the mountains of Idaho. It is a story of the American west written in blood.
In the series
Review
3 stars
After reading and largely really enjoying the first two books in this series, to say I deeply anticipated The Angel of Indian Lake would be an understatement. But it sadly failed to deliver what I expected.
The character development is the strongest part of the narrative here. Jade once again centers the story, being the sole POV character after sharing page time in the previous book. She has grown through all that she’s experienced, and I admire her for continuing to face down all these slasher cases that seem to find her and reckoning with all her trauma at the same time.
The interstitial bits also remain interesting. They focus more on observations of Jade this time around, but I like how this highlights the scrutiny she’s been under thanks to everything she’s been through.
But as far as the plot…it really was like “throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.” I can deal with the sometimes gratuitous violence of horror, but there was just a lot going on to the point it lacked much in the way of cohesion.
While I had mixed feelings about this installment, I can respect why certain choices were made, even if they didn’t necessarily work for me. And despite the lackluster ending, I’d still recommend the trilogy overall to horror readers, especially if they’re looking for something with meta slasher references and a compellingly written protagonist.
Author Bio
Stephen Graham Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians. He has been an NEA fellowship recipient and a recipient of several awards including the Ray Bradbury Award from the Los Angeles Times, the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the Jesse Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural Fiction, and the Alex Award from American Library Association. He is the Ivena Baldwin Professor of English at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Buy links
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