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In the latest from Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME, a group of five teenage boys, living in Puerto Rico, seek vengeance after one of their mothers is murdered; a doomed tale of devotion and the afterlife of violence. For childhood friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul, and Bimbo, death has always been close. Hurricanes. Car accidents. Gang violence. Suicide. Estamos rodeados de fantasmas was Gabe’s grandmother’s refrain. We are surrounded by ghosts. But this time is different. Bimbo's mom has been shot dead. We’re gonna kill the guys who killed her Bimbo swears. And they all agree. Feral with grief, Bimbo has become unrecognizable, taking no prisoners in his search for names. Soon, they learn Maria was gunned down by guys working for the drug kingpin of Puerto Rico. No one has ever gone up against him and survived. As the boys strategize, a storm gathers far from the coast. Hurricanes are known to carry evil spirits in their currents and bring them ashore, spirits which impose their own order. Blurring the boundaries between myth, mysticism, and the grim realities of our world, House of Bone and Rain is a harrowing coming of age story; a doomed tale of devotion, the afterlife of violence, and what rolls in on the tide.
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I've had Iglesias on my TBR for some time, and am thrilled that this was the novel to begin my deeper dive into Iglesias' currently published works.
A dark and moody atmospheric horror which combines elements of post hurricane Maria crises in Puerto Rico with cosmic horror elements, ghosts, and the demons a group of five friends fight in the process of avenging the death of one of their mothers.
Childhood friends Gabe (our main POV), Bimbo, Xavier, Tavo, and Paul band together to avenge the death of Bimbo's mother, María. As they learn who killed María (a drug kingpin from La Perla - San Juan's most infamous slum, and his goons), and hurricane María approaches the island, the friends form a plan for avenging her death. Interspersed with first person POV narration of Bimbo's descent into agony over the death of his mother, and dialogue amongst the five friends about having each others' backs no matter what are stories of an evil that comes with big hurricanes (as old at least as the Taínos who originally inhabited that part of the Caribbean), and an evil that lurks on the reef outside La Perla, and the kingpin's connection to it.
With tropes including what happens after extreme violence, what we lose of ourselves in the process of seeking vengeance, friendship against all odds and no matter what, and the realities of life in Puerto Rico as a long-time U.S. colony, House of Bone and Rain is riveting, disturbingly dark, and incredibly compelling.
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