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Description
In this "stunningly visceral" (New York Times Book Review) novel, a group of young men seek vengeance after one of their mothers is murdered in a Puerto Rican slum; STAND BY ME with a haunted, obsidian-dark heart.
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.
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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Praise
"The book captures, in stunningly visceral detail, not only the havoc of a hurricane that left thousands dead, but also the everyday life of a vulnerable community . . . It is in Iglesias’ stark, authoritative, sometimes surprisingly beautiful descriptions of the grit and pessimism of urban Puerto Rico that his prose turns electric."
—Christopher Bollen, New York Times Book Review
"Gripping, eerie, and impossible to put down, House of Bone and Rain is a dark coming-of-age story drenched with spectral terror. And it’s a page-turning dive into the cost of vengeance, loyalty, and love. Gabino Iglesias walks the electric high wire between crime and horror with breathtaking assurance."
—Meg Gardiner, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of HEAT 2
“House of Bone and Rain is one of the most intense, scary, and lovingly heartbroken modern novels you’ll read. It is a story of violence and hauntings, of friendship and deadly winds in paradise. And it is unforgettable."
—Mariana Enriquez, bestselling author of OUR SHARE OF NIGHT
“This book is a symphony of vengeance, violence, and loyalty. At once a coming of age, page-turning epic as well as a nail-biting journey of suspense, House of Bone and Rain takes absolutely no prisoners. It also manages to be dark and beautiful and relentless. There’s a storm coming this summer…and its name is Gabino Iglesias.”
—Richard Chizmar, author of BECOMING THE BOOGEYMAN
—Richard Chizmar, author of BECOMING THE BOOGEYMAN
"A pulse-pounding, blood-spattered revenge tale about the bonds of friendship and the devastation of violence, about ruthless gods and restless ghosts, about love and loss and righteous anger. With breathless pacing, knockout prose, and dynamic characters to follow into the dark, House of Bone and Rain is part crime thriller, part supernatural horror, and completely brilliant."
—Rachel Harrison, national bestselling author of BLACK SHEEP
"Thoughtful and violent, lyrical and muscular, House of Bone and Rain is a mystical, moving powerhouse that never lets up -- and lingers long after the last sentence. Buy this book and welcome the storm.”
—Michael Koryta, New York Times-bestselling author of AN HONEST MAN
“Iglesias’s relentless and overpowering novel comes on like a hurricane – of wind, of bullets, of blood, of hope – and you read it breathlessly, waiting for the eye of the storm.”
—Daniel Kraus, New York Times-bestselling author of WHALEFALL
"I loved this book. One of my favs this year!"
—Ayesha Rascoe, NPR
"Intricately plotted, with a strong sense of place, told with awe-inspiringly lyrical language and brutal violence, this is a remarkable novel that beams its hope into the darkness; a
story that stands on its own as wholly original while confidently inserting itself into a conversation
with horror’s complicated past. It's a story that will introduce readers to a new favorite author while they wait for the next S. A. Cosby or Stephen Graham Jones." —Booklist, Starred Review
story that stands on its own as wholly original while confidently inserting itself into a conversation
with horror’s complicated past. It's a story that will introduce readers to a new favorite author while they wait for the next S. A. Cosby or Stephen Graham Jones." —Booklist, Starred Review
"Pour a large glass of horror master Stephen King with a jigger of spicy Don Winslow and garnish with a splash of magical realism, and you have Iglesias’s latest, a tall, tasty cocktail. Five boys, childhood pals, are surrounded by ghosts, violence and accidents. The book’s “Stand By Me”-like setup turns into a vigilante tale when one of their mothers is shot and killed. The highly skilled Iglesias draws on the familiar without any worry that it might not be freshly frightening. Puerto Rican drug dealers, hurricanes, evil spirits and revenge are all ingredients in this potent novel."
—Lisa Levy, The Washington Post
"The author of The Devil Takes You Home conjures a story of ghosts, gangland carnage and serious storm winds in this tale of four childhood friends from Puerto Rico who seek vengeance when one of their mothers is murdered. If this is magical realism it’s a dark, grimy variety that takes no prisoners."
—Boston Globe
"Iglesias is an unstoppable force himself, intensifying the grief and widespread helplessness felt on the island post-Maria, along with the supernatural elements."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Iglesias blends the history and myths of Puerto Rico into a gritty coming-of-age story, whose violent excesses may be off-putting to some readers. Readers who like their horror bloody, however, will be pleased."
—Publishers Weekly
"A propulsive supernatural thriller. . Corpses, clairvoyants, traitors--and specters with gills!--populate Iglesias's vengeful frightfest. He writes with a steely resignation, mirroring his characters' youthful tunnel-vision that won't be tempered by (still living) mothers, struggling sisters, questioning girlfriends."
—Shelf Awareness
"In his most accessible work to date, Iglesias has crafted a coming-of-age story that blends friendship, vengeance, and mysticism in beautifully written prose that demonstrates the thinness of the boundary between the spiritual world and grim reality. Recommended for fans of S.A. Cosby and Stephen Graham Jones and those who enjoy Nordic noir, with its strong sense of place and of the power of weather."
—Library Journal, Starred Review
"House of Bone and Rain is very much about the human blood and guts and darkness of living through Hurricane Maria in San Juan, but it also touches on the paranormal in a complementary way. Iglesias’s writing is intensely violent and intensely visceral (in the sense that Iglesias takes you right like how the weather feels and how emotions feel, as well as, you know, actual viscera), and it goes down brutal and fast."
—The Maris Review
"Gabino Iglesias casts the grit and gore of street violence against a cosmic backdrop, and he doesn’t hold back from prolonged, brutal beatdowns. . . a lament for young, dumb men and the codes they feel pressured to live by."
—Neil McRobert, Esquire