This is my first Nick Medina book and I can already tell it won’t be my last. It straddles the line between mystery and horror. And you can never quite tell where you’ll land. Keep reading this book review of Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina.
Summary
All Noemi Broussard wanted was a fresh start. With a new boyfriend who actually treats her right and a plan to move from the reservation she grew up on—just like her beloved Uncle Louie before her—things are finally looking up for her. Until the news of her boyfriend’s apparent suicide brings her world crumbling down. But the facts about Roddy’s death just don’t add up, and Noemi isn’t the only one who suspects something menacing might be lurking within their tribal lands.
After more than a decade away, Uncle Louie has returned to the reservation, bringing with him a past full of secrets and horror and what might be the key to determining Roddy’s true cause of death. Together, Noemi and Louie set out to find answers…but as they get closer to the truth, Noemi begins to question whether it might be best for some secrets to remain buried.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
With mystery and horror vibes, Indian Burial Ground is a character driven suspenseful story. It features dual perspectives and different timelines – which, not going to lie, took me a while to figure out the links. While at the beginning, this dual timeline confused me, by the middle I had it figured out and it ended up being one of my favorite elements. This writing choice establishes and keeps the tension and suspense. We aren’t sure what happened in the past and the secrets it’s hiding.
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We see not only how Noemi grew up, but how her life and their past in their town impacted Louie. The histories of regrets, mistakes, trauma, and hidden secrets. It has a slower lead up than what I come to associate with a thriller, but it’s more of a character driven mystery until the shoe drops – and then it really drops. For the most part, the past storyline is responsible for holding the tension. Illusions like curtains ripped down. Indian Burial Ground manages to make us question what we’re reading, what we understand, and what we see. Monsters we don’t name and the power that unnamed shadows have.
Find Indian Burial Ground on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.