Bad Cree

A Novel

By: Jessica Johns

Narrated by: Tanis Parenteau

In this gripping, horror-laced debut, a young Cree woman’s dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community and the land they call home.

"A mystery and a horror story about grief, but one with defiant hope in its beating heart."—Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Pallbearers Club

When Mackenzie wakes up with a severed crow's head in her hands, she panics. Only moments earlier she had been fending off masses of birds in a snow-covered forest. In bed, when she blinks, the head disappears.

Night after night, Mackenzie’s dreams return her to a memory from before her sister Sabrina’s untimely death: a weekend at the family’s lakefront campsite, long obscured by a fog of guilt. But when the waking world starts closing in, too—a murder of crows stalks her every move around the city, she wakes up from a dream of drowning throwing up water, and gets threatening text messages from someone claiming to be Sabrina—Mackenzie knows this is more than she can handle alone.

Traveling north to her rural hometown in Alberta, she finds her family still steeped in the same grief that she ran away to Vancouver to escape. They welcome her back, but their shaky reunion only seems to intensify her dreams—and make them more dangerous.

What really happened that night at the lake, and what did it have to do with Sabrina’s death? Only a bad Cree would put their family at risk, but what if whatever has been calling Mackenzie home was already inside?

©2023 Jessica Johns (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

• Featured on CrimeReads’ "Unprecedented Era of Native American Noir”
• One of Book Riot's Most Anticipated Horror Novels of 2023
• One of Lit Hub’s "20 New Books To Read Right Now"

"Bad Cree deftly explores the permeable boundaries of dreams, reality, and culture, as well as complex family dynamics and relationships. A compelling novel that is a mystery and a horror story about grief, but one with defiant hope in its beating heart." —Paul Tremblay, author A Head Full of Ghosts and The Pallbearers Club

"Both tactile and dreamy, terrifying and beautiful, Bad Cree will wrap you up and pull you along for the journey -once it starts, there’s no backing out, no pause, no stall. I have been waiting years for Jessica Johns’s books – I say books because there had better be more! She did not disappoint." —Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves

"Bad Cree is a mesmerizing, enticing read. Jessica Johns writes the world in all its messiness and terror, while simultaneously remembering to center its tender beating heart. A book about family and foundations, but also about how the secrets we keep can knock the floor out from under us. A captivating novel from an exciting new author." —Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things

Engaging story about grief and the supernatural

I enjoyed this book. The first person narrative was very engaging and the characters were relatable and likeable. This is really a story of grief and the family ties in many indigenous cultures. The supernatural undertones were creepy but didn’t go into full horror or gore for me - and I mean that in the best way.

Dramatic & poignant future classic

The novel starts off with a dream sequence. And I, like any reader who is familiar with this trope, suspended my skepticism for just a moment and a moment was all I needed to discover that this novel was going to take off in an unexpected direction.

Excellent character development, Johns does an excellent job wrapping up plotlines with finesse. This is a complex parable neatly woven into a tapestry rich with culture, feminist matriarchal wisdom, and hope for an individual's healing from trauma. Mackenzie's struggle to be honest and vulnerable was incredibly believable and understandable, and we really get to see that she falls back into old patterns right up til the end when there is an unexpected but needed intervention, one that is subtle but effective.

I am only disappointed in the plot involving JoLee. I understand why Mackenzie needed to lose contact with her friend, however I greatly wish we could see more of JoLee. I hope they make a reappearance in a future novel, separate from this even. They were clearly a well-developed character and deserved their own tale.

Overall, the novel did not disappoint and the stakes increased and kept increasing, the climax was suspenseful and the creature of the novel was terrifying. This work truly deserves to be immortalized as a classic.

Very different

I really enjoyed this book very creepy and very meaningful. Had me wanting to keep listening. Loved it!

Eerie

I loved this book and the narration. Haunting & heartfelt, an exploration of grief, love and family that will at once move you and spook you to your core.

Strong start

This books started strong for me but somewhere along the way it lost its magic for me

Bad Cree But Beautiful Writing!

4 well deserved stars for Bad Cree by Jessica Johns. I became 100% immersed in this story of a Native American young woman who is haunted by the loss of her sister and trying to escape her grief by moving as far away from the home where she grew up in rural Alberta and the family she grew up with to no avail. When her dreams begin to leak into her conscious hours like spilled ink on paper, she finds escape impossible. This book has a fantastic supernatural element to it that was so well played you throw your believability card right in the garbage in chapter one. And you don't care! I was into it. Indigenous folklore is a genre I just adore but Jessica Johns had some very big shoes to fill here. As someone who reads a good bit of Native American books with folklore as a sub theme- I was not expecting for Johns to just march in and so confidently step into the rink and throw down. This book was so beautifully told. And to me it was more about loss and sisters and grief and all the ways we cope and don't cope. The characters were written with such a perfectly messy pen that I wanted to give each of them a hug. Maybe it's that I just lost a sister two years ago, but I felt Mackenzie's pain. I felt her need for distance. The haunting aspects of the book are truly creepy AF, but the family aspect is what pulled at my heart and really elevated this book. Wholeheartedly recommend.

brilliant

What a wonderful novel. Even though it's a scray story, the imagery is beautiful and the sentences are so well crafted. I enjoyed it so much, I plan on purchasing a hard copy.

Gripping & emotional & terrifying

I would have finished it in one day, but it got dark outside and I was honestly too scared lol

This book was phenomenal in so many ways. If you're also Native, I hella recommend not listening to it when you're home alone at night tho

Interesting release from a promising new author.

This book took a few chapters to get me hooked, but then kept a steady pace as the plot developed.

I hope someone makes a movie of this!! A24 where you at?!?

A powerhouse debut horror thriller centering three native sisters and a terrible tragedy that has befallen them. A perfect balance of moody and atmospheric with excellent characterization and depth. Beautiful representation and a gut-wrenching narrative of seeing and accepting the dark as well as the light. If you like A24 films you’ll like this.