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| Cover image courtesy of publisher |
That blog title seems like a lot to soak in, but the overall plot is surprisingly simple. Bimbo wants revenge for the death of his mother at the hands of a Puerto Rican drug lord, and he drags his childhood buddies into the danger zone with him. This is only the catalyst, for Bimbo is not our main character. Gabe is.
Gabe is the muscle among a group of young men who have had each other’s backs since before high school, and his loyalty to his friends, Bimbo in particular, just might get him killed before he can escape to the states to live a better life. When Bimbo calls upon a mix of culturally religious vodun spirits to protect and guide them along the way, he may have made things worse. Oh, and one more thing. The revenge plan comes together at the onset of a historic hurricane that will leave the island in devastation.
Puerto Rican folklore tells of monstrous things emerging from hurricanes; creatures from the sea that are as old as time, and that folklore plays its part. Also, there are the ghosts of the characters’ sins—past and present—added in.
These ingredients all lend to the flavor of a solid, gritty horror story, but it’s the underlying depiction of the poverty of a cultural community that makes this rise above the rest. Puerto Rico is depicted as a place abandoned by the colonizers who once occupied it, and the people now living there struggle with the idea of hopes and dreams. The hurricane wipes out what little the people of the island have, but it’s a perfect setting for a half assed vengeful murdering spree. Until the monsters show up—the monsters who might likely have been the guardians of a more utopian land until the colonizers arrived.
Will Gabe, Bimbo and their posse of friends find peace from their vengeful agenda? Or will the ghosts and monsters born from an oppressed history dragged them down to a watery hell too?
You can find House of Bone and Rain here, or at your favorite online book retailer.
