“From the Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Devil Takes You Home, a group of five teenage boys in Puerto Rico seek vengeance after one of their mothers is murdered. Set during a vicious hurricane, a Latinx Stand By Me with a haunted, 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. As the boys strategize, a storm gathers far from the Puerto Rican coast. Hurricanes are known to carry evil spirits in their currents and bring them ashore, spirits which impose their own order.

From the Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker Award®-winning author, this is a harrowing coming-of-age story; a doomed tale of devotion, the afterlife of violence, and what rolls in on the tide.”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias. House of Bone and Rain was published by Titan Books on 8th October 2024 and is available in paperback and digital formats. I chose to read a free eARC of House of Bone and Rain but that has in no way influenced my review.

I’ve been wanting to read a book by this author for some time and have The Devil Takes You Home on my ever-expanding TBR. The blogger friend who put me onto this author in the first place then reviewed this latest book. Her clear love for the way this author tells a story confirmed that I had to read Gabino Iglesias’s work sooner, rather than later. So I managed to get hold of a copy of House of Bone and Rain. And NOW I understand. Iglesias is a rare talent. A true storyteller and I cannot wait to get started on his back catalogue.

But a disclaimer before I get stuck into this review. House of Bone and Rain is another of the books I read last year in the middle of an unplanned, uninvited blogging hiatus. I was reading like a woman possessed, I just wasn’t reviewing anything because of shoulder surgery. So, with that in mind, this will be a shorter review than usual. I remember this book VIVIDLY. It has that effect. But my thoughts will be condensed.

Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul and Bimbo – five childhood friends in the liminal space between being a teenage boy and a man. Living their lives in the shadow of violence in Puerto Rico. When Bimbo’s mother is gunned down in cold blood, the teens are grief-stricken and full of anger. They demand revenge, they demand a type of justice only they can deliver. Led by Bimbo, who has been shaped into something else by his grief, something his friends no longer recognise, they embark on a mission to find and destroy those responsible. But with the ever-present threat of a hurricane, and with no one willing to talk for fear of their own lives, the teens soon find out that they are in way over their heads…

House of Bone and Rain is violent, bleak and grisly, but it’s also beautifully written. Driven by grief, bonded by years of friendship, the group agree at Bimbo’s mother’s funeral to help him wreak his own form of revenge. Some of the boys are more up for the plan than others, but a sense of duty drives them forward into the unknown. They are brothers, united by their love for one another. We mainly see things from Gabe and Bimbo’s perspectives, but all five teenagers are beautifully drawn and multi-layered. They’re individuals with their own thoughts, feelings and dreams. Their own hurdles to cross on a daily basis. I loved the characterisation. The setting is sublime. Hot, humid and suffocating one minute, drenched and blown apart by the hurricane the next. The setting was hugely atmospheric and so very immersive. But a hurricane isn’t enough to stop grief-riddled Bimbo from seeking revenge. House of Bone and Rain is a superb supernatural, coming-of-age thriller with a dark and gritty horror bite. It’s raw, emotional, unapologetic and edgy. One of those books you experience rather than just read. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of House of Bone and Rain. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias was published in the UK by Titan Books on 8th October 2024 and is available in paperback and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Gabino Iglesias is a writer, professor, book reviewer, editor, and translator living in Austin, TX. He teaches creative writing at SNHU’s online MFA program and runs a series of low-cost writing workshops.

His novel The Devil Takes You Home was a Guardian Best Crime and Thriller Book of the Year, was shortlisted for the Best Novel Prize at the 2023 Edgar Awards and nominated for a Bram Stoker Award.

His latest novel House of Bone and Rain is published by Titan.