House of Bone and Rain
by Gabino Iglesias

Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted September 17, 2024

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The three books I have read by Gabino Iglesias have violent passages mixed with the supernatural/mystical elements. House of Bone and Rain is even more violent than the other two, or else I have been able to block certain scenes from my memory. As with the previous book, this starts out as a character drama, and it takes a while for the horror element to be revealed. The majority of chapters are in first person, the narrator being Gabe, who shares some traits with the author, including where he was born, Puerto Rico. Gabe was an athlete, but he had quit his sports activities, other than weight-lifting and other strength training. He also reads a lot, with several crime/noir authors mentioned, including Jim Thompson. The few chapters interspersed between Gabe's account are in third-person, concerning three women. Gabe knew two of them, but probably not the third. One other chapter is titled The Hurricane.

The hurricane is María, so this is set in 2017, but before the storm hits another tragedy occurs. On the day of Gabe and his friends' high school graduation, the mother of one is murdered. Bimbo (real name Andrés) calls to tell them his mother María had been the victim of a drive-by shooting on the sidewalk outside the Lazer tavern. María had been selling drugs there, Bimbo thinking she was just a low-level dealer, but later revelations indicate she had been trying to work herself up the line, encroaching on other territories. After the funeral, with only his friends remaining near her casket, Bimbo reveals his plans to find out who killed his mother, and gets the others to vow to back him up as he tracks them down and kills them. After all, their slogan had always been, "if someone fucks with one of us, they fuck with all of us." The group includes Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, and Paul. Tavo is the only one who speaks very little, if any, Spanish. His parents had emigrated to the US, where he was born, then moved back to Puerto Rico when he was a teen. All are 18 or thereabouts but already adults, since in their environment if you don't grow up quickly you may not grow up at all. A few weeks pass with no word from Bimbo, but he finally contacts them again, having obtained information which he hopes will lead to his mother's killers. They go to the Lazer club, where they try to blend in, but also look for someone to interrogate for more information. I won't go into detail about their search, mainly to avoid telling you about the horrific things Bimbo does, with Gabe and Tavo supporting him, Xavier only being the driver, but Paul decides to walk away from his friends. He would come back into the fold later, but that also involves things I would rather not spoil.

Nigerian author/editor/publisher Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki once posted on social media (paraphrased), "Just because a story includes religious iconography from indigenous traditions, that doesn't make it fantasy." However, anyone not subscribing to any particular belief system is likely to view it as fantasy, nothing you can do about that. Many African, Caribbean, Latin American, and South American traditions include beliefs in the Orisha gods, of voodoo (variable spellings), along with a couple mentioned here of which I was not familiar. I had heard of santería, but not Mesa Blanca, or Palo Mayombe. Anyone who believes in these or similar faiths will be able to see the work of the gods throughout, or if not, you should be open to seeing how the characters direct their actions due to their beliefs. Even if sometimes they question those beliefs. A major Orisha god is Elleguá, but alternatively called Papa Legba in certain places. He is the god of the crossroads, an intermediary between life and death. Bimbo had learned of the gods from his grandmother, and now he has several prayers to Elleguá saved on his phone to guide him on his quest. Gabe wasn't sure if he believed in the gods, but certain things convince him he believed in ghosts. Or not. At one point he says, "I blinked and [REDACTED] was gone. Had he been there at all? Maybe he wasn't a ghost, Maybe he was something my brain was creating for me, a vision to help me deflect the guilt that should be crushing me, a childish excuse for my inhuman behavior."

The three women are: Altagracia, a bruja, originally from the Dominican Republic, now Bimbo's girlfriend; Natalia, Gabe's girlfriend, who continually pleads with him to leave Puerto Rico with her, since she wants to pursue a nursing career in the US; Rebeca, who may or may not be related to either of the other women. Her chapter is about her visit to a bruja, who may be the same woman Natalia also visits. Bimbo is convinced he knows who pulled the trigger (El Brujo), and the driver (Raúl), and the man they work for, the infamous Papalote, who mostly stays out of the public eye behind his fortress walls in La Perla. One by one, Bimbo tracks down these men, meting out his justice, and in so doing they discover the existence of another group of "creatures" whom their quarry has been involved with. Another thing I don't want to spoil. As I said in the beginning, there are very violent events, some that almost had me thinking I would not finish, but I was trusting Gabino to make it worth my time, that he would exonerate Gabe and Bimbo for their actions. He does somewhat, but some things are left unresolved. Natalia leaves Gabe for the University of Texas, even though he may see her again, but I don't expect a sequel. Bimbo has lost more than just his mother, and a couple of friends, but also Altagracia, whose fate I will also not reveal, nor will I tell you of something she does at least twice. I know the what, but not the why; not her motive for doing it, nor what result she expected.

Another fantastical element involves an oft quoted phrase: "There are nameless things that travel with a storm." In the wake of María comes children born with deformities, horns growing from their forehead, or fully developed teeth, only very sharp. Those echo stories from previous storms, including one baby chewing itself out of the womb. Those babies are quickly killed and buried, with rosaries stuffed into their mouths. Something Gabe's grandmother repeated frequently: "Estamos rodeados de fantasmas y todas historias son historias de fantasmas." (We are surrounded by ghosts and all stories are ghost stories.) Gabe's experiences lead him to another: "All stories are ghost stories, and some stories turn us into ghosts."

I have always been able to visualize what I am reading, at least if the author is good at their craft. Gabino is, which means I have some horrific visions in my head of brutal violence. If you can handle that, I can recommend this as well written and compelling. If not, you might want to look elsewhere for your stories.