What if your exorcist didn't believe in demons, in the supernatural, or even in God?

Hugo's wife is dead and he is deeply in debt. He works in Miami as a babaláwo - loosely, a spiritual man in West African religions who performs ceremonies and gives spiritual advice. Despite his non-belief, he makes the job work. When Alexi Ramirez, the man to whom Hugo owns the bulk of his debts, calls him, in desperate need of someone to cure his haunted home, Hugo sees a chance. Will his actions free him from debt or leave him owing something more than money?

I really enjoy political horror and A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens was exactly what I was hoping for! It was strange, it was fantastical. and it was current. Through the lens of the paranormal, Palma tours us through the emotional struggles of immigration, debt, marriage and infidelity, and the class system of America.
I found the writing to be engaging throughout and I really found myself to be enjoying the way the narrative wove back and forth through time, which is not always something I look for in a book. I found Hugo to be a very real and very flawed man, evoking emotional reactions throughout the story. I enjoyed very much being able to both root for and feel disappointed by him.

This is a perfect read for October - the frights of the paranormal and real life while still easing the nostalgia for summer with its Miami setting - or December - everyone loves a good Christmas horror story, right? I would highly recommend and I look forward extremely to reading more by Palma!

Thanks to NetGalley for this eARC!

Wow! What a read. I loved the fast-paced storytelling and enjoyed the plot of the book. I've been thinking a lot about what we owe in life and how sometimes that indebtedness can weight on you, even haunt you. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it!

A HAUNTING IN HIALEAH GARDENS
Raul Palma

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve finished AHIHG. I still don’t know what I think about it. The nature of the haunting that I found horrific isn’t in the synopsis. So, I’m left wondering if I imagined it, or inferred too much.

It was scary to me.

Oversexed, overextended, and nonbeliever, Hugo performs spiritual rituals he doesn’t believe in and values his relationships based upon what can be gained, and what can be acquired. Since his wife died, he’s had little hope, nothing to believe in, and even less to live for. He lives a life of lack and his indebtedness introduces itself first in conversations.

Hugo owes Alexi more than he can ever repay in his lifetime. However, Alexi offers Hugo a chance to settle his debts.
All he must do is believe.

A HAUNTING IN HIALEAH GARDENS is about the immutable nature of death. Where simple choices lead to unintended consequences. Things you never knew mattered happen to matter the most. And at that point, you realize you are the one arbiter of this one and only life you have. It is all up to you, and it has been this way the whole time.

That’s some scary shit!

Thanks to Netgalley, PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton, and Penguin Random House Audio for the advanced copies!

A HAUNTING I HIALEAH GARDENS…⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens by Raul Palma was a superb debut!
The exceptional writing was phenomenal. I was hooked onto every word.
With characters who were intriguing and kept me flipping the pages.
The writing style of the author is absolutely flawless and the evocative prose drew me in the moment I started reading it.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Dutton for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

A Haunting In Hialeah Gardens by Raul Palma is a story unlike anything I have read. I am still not sure which genre it fits into, which, in my opinion, is a good thing. It is definitely a genre bending.

Hugo is a babaláwo but doesn't believe in spirits. He is still grieving his dead wife while escaping the debts that he owes. A lawyer keeps hounding him, and what follows is Hugo's past catching upon him. Hugo's ghosts haunt him, and that's where the horror element of this story comes into the picture. But is this a scary horror? I personally don't think as. Is it trauma? I definitely think so.

This story is not as simple as it seems. The author has tackled topics like slavery, the effects of colonialism, debt, colorism, and the disparity of classes. The pacing of this book is good, and it leaves us with a lot of questions.

CW: Grief, death, financial trauma, and a particular chapter that describes bird abuse.

Hugo works at a local bodega in Miami selling religious artifacts in thanks to his boss everyone thinks he is a series Just like her but he hasn’t he’s a fraud. She’s told him everything he needs to know when it comes to religious cantations quotes in removing The evil are bad mojo evil spirits ET see he also has recently lost the love of his life Millie while she was alive she would always dream of living in a beautiful home with nice furniture but Hugo could never deliver it he built up that could never pay it off now but she has passed away but added her hospital bills to his debt to make it even worse but win the lawyer handling his debt account tells him if he uses his Bonobo skills to get rid of the evil ghost in his home he will wipe his debt clean put in getting rid of a Lexuses ghost it brings up things from Hugo‘s past because it never forget it doesn’t matter if you believe in ghosts it’s whether the ghost believe in you! This book is way more than just a funny story about a man without skills trying to get rid of ghost it is funny and I do mean really funny but it is also a very detailed story about a man and his past demons in the ghosts that come back to haunt him. This was a superb story and one I absolutely loved a definite five star read. I want to thank the publisher Annette Galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This was an interesting read. Less spooky than expected. Maybe horror is the wrong genre. It’s entertaining enough to finish although it’s difficult as the reader to like anyone in the book.

This was a very interesting horror book. I liked the descriptions a lot and some parts were genuinely shocking. I will say, the more you read, the more unlikeable the main character, Hugo, becomes. At first he just seems kind of down on his luck, but the more I learned about him, the more I felt like maybe HE was the problem. I will also say that I did not appreciate the use of the r word in the year 2023 even if it does come out of the mouth of the "bad guy". Uncalled for and unnecessary. I am also a little uncertain about the Bolivian/Cuban dynamics in Miami... Our main character comes from Bolivia in a very like Indigenous/religious coded town where they provide gifts to El Tio who is their version of a kind of devil god that provides protection by stealing souls. Hugo later shuns this belief and now will frequently laugh behind the backs of his clients that believe in magic and religion seemingly in an attempt to be taken more seriously by people though it may also be connected to what happens with his brother or a combination of both. Hugo also seems to encounter a lot of lowkey shunning from the Cuban people in his area because he is Bolivian, but this could also have just been in his head based on some of the other scenes in the book. Though Hugo also displays some kind of superiority and disdain for some of the Cuban traditions. It was a kind of weird dynamic I didn't quite understand and never felt like there was a resolution for in the story; though I guess that's not entirely necessary. Maybe if I reread this one day I will understand more. Overall, this was a very interesting horror novel centering around guilt in many different ways, the guilt over losing a spouse after illness, guilt over being distant from family, guilt from not being able to keep your head above water financially, the unacknowledged guilt one should feel for being the reason people are struggling while you are thriving off of them. I would have loved some more creepy ghost stuff happening and less of Hugo. I also for some reason thought this was some kind of period piece, like set in the 60s/70s or something (maybe because of the cover?) but it is set in the mid 2010s which took some adjusting of my expectations. I think this is a good horror novel for people who don't mind close character work and less overall horror in the way you would expect, though there are some very creepy scenes.
3.5 stars. I'd be interested to read more from this author in the future.

I got an ARC of this book.

It really wasn't a horror in the jump scare, ghost way. It is more a literary fiction book. It is not scary. It is not horrific. Nothing that screamed horror happened, outside that ghosts were involved. But I enjoyed the narrative anyway.

Was it what I wanted? No. Did I enjoy learning all about the MC? Hell yeah.

There was so much that filled this world. I enjoyed learning every little detail. I can see how this could be difficult as an audiobook. It jumps from memories to present to weird stories that don't seem related in the same sentence. It is a bit jumbled at times. Some of that is the charm of it though. Some felt like an editing mistake.

But if the author used "indebtedness" one more time, I might have ripped out all of my hair. Please find a new word. It was close to on every page for the first half of the book. Why?

Thank you Penguin Random House & Netgalley for the ARC.

Three stars because this wasn’t for me, but I can see why it would be for others & it was good despite not scratching any of my itches. It wasn’t as gory, mysterious, demonic, or exciting as I was expecting, that’s all.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Raul Palma for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens coming out October 3, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I thought the first half of the book was really suspenseful and mysterious. I loved the writing and thought the style really flowed. The second half of the book wasn’t as top notch in my opinion. I started to dislike some of Hugo’s actions and the haunting wasn’t as terrifying as I was hoping. There are other themes in the book, which is great. But I was thinking it would be more about a haunting. I can read Spanish, so it wasn’t a problem for me, but some of the Spanish wasn’t translated. It might be an issue for non-Spanish readers. The timeline of events was also a little confusing. It switched back and forth with no real indicator of the year. I would check out other books by this author though.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys books with serious themes about life and death.

A slightly bizarre story that tells the story of Hugo who is pretending to be a babalawo. Along with the Priestess Lourdes their are moments of hilarity and gravity. He finds himself drawn into a scheme that he is not equipped for. The story is told in the present and the past and gives the readers a glimpse of how Hugo ends up in this situation.

This story is very different from what I expected. The main character is a Bolivian man named Hugo Contreras who is living in Miami, working at a botanical and pretending to be a babaláwo, though he doesn't even really believe in spirits and ghosts. He is filled with guilt and rage for all the mistakes he has made in his life. And he is weighed down by indebtedness--credit card and medical bills incurred by his wife before her death. His boss approaches him with an offer: The home of the rich lawyer who holds Hugo's debt is being haunted. If Hugo can get rid the home of what plagues it, his debt will be forgiven. Since Hugo doesn't believe in these things, he figures it should be easy to fool the man and make him believe that all has been taken care of. But no! Instead, Hugo starts being plagued by visions himself. What is real and what is some form of bedevilment?

Critiques: I didn't really care for Hugo as a man, the way he treated people, his anger, his dishonesty. I thought the plot had too many crazy dreams and visions. And I found myself wishing that the Spanish phrases used throughout had been translated--I felt like I was missing out on something important and not fully understanding.

I received an arc of this novel from the author and publisher via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

While I went into this novel knowing it would be fairly literary, I was also expecting it to be a bit more spooky and scary than it ended up being. Maybe this was a case of mismatched expectations, but I was really hoping to be scared and blown away.

Unfortunately, this didn't hit the mark for me, and I so wanted it to. I am still going to recommend it to my followers, as I think this could be a fit for some people, but it just wasn't in line with what I hoped it would be.

Thank you for the chance to review!

DNF @30%

I didn't like or care about the writing or the characters. It felt detached and, at times, I found it difficult to follow.

Hugo is a privately doubting, unbelieving bablawo who is hired by a wealthy attorney specializing in debt-collections (including Hugo’s) to exorcize his haunted home. Hugo takes the job with the promise of having his personal debt erased. However, when Hugo realizes there are some real evil forces at play including his own personal demon(s); he’s in over his head and must make some strategic decisions.

Through Hugo’s visions, we learn of his journey from the Bolivian mines to the USA, the relationships with his wife and brother, his struggles with identity and assimilation, and his debt – monetary, spiritual, and emotional.

The story has some very interesting arguments that fuel Hugo’s dilemma. I loved the cultural themes, traditions, and customs that were blended in the story. However, there were quite a few phrases requiring Google translate to help me understand. This was a nice departure from my norm into the supernatural realm.

Thanks to the publisher, Penguin Group/Dutton and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.

This book is a solid slow build paranormal thriller. It hit all the hallmark Southern Gothic vibes while also having a fresh take within the setting of Miami. I appreciated the juxtaposition between the haves and the have-nots, between those who believe in the supernatural and the skeptics, and the varying beliefs of what makes a person good or bad. Overall, the writing is solid and I found it to be a quick and engaging read.

However, towards the beginning, there is a mention of the r-word, and I really wish that could be edited out. In 2023, there really isn't any good reason to include that word. It didn't add to the book or conversation, and it really soured the rest of the book to the point where I would think "This is a well written book BUT...." and wish that the r-word had been edited out.

A huge thank you to the publisher for sending me a widget of this in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I was all up in my feelings with this book. Hugo's despair at the loss of his wife, the weight on his shoulders from crushing debt, and the conceit of Alexi., with beautiful levity provided by Alexi's daughter Dulce. The dark clouds hung low throughout the entire book. It read like a more classic old fashioned atmospheric horror story rather than the modern in your face jump out and scare you stories we frequently see today. I loved how Hugo's past and present were merged while trying to help/con Alexi (because while Hugo makes a living helping others deal with malevolent spirits, he doesn't believe in them himself). It all combined for a crafty intelligent story where the reader is cheering for Hugo to successfully save Alexi, Alexi's family, and himself. Very hard to explain how this story can leave the reader feeling optimistic, given the content, but it was!

Hugo is a man haunted by the heavy debt he owes, which includes credit card and medical debt. He is also haunted by the death of his wife. His life seems hopeless until Alexi calls. The debt collector that has been hunting down. Alexi is offering to forgive the entirety of his debt if only Hugo will help rid his home of the spirits haunting him.

This is an intriguing premise that mostly delivers. There are layers of debt in the story, and it is fun to see them unfold as we learn more and more about Hugo. It is also very depressing, and I felt myself sucked into Hugo's hopelessness. That is a me problem. I found the themes to be timely and maybe that is why they affected me so much.

This is more of a social horror, and while there are some gory and haunting scenes, they are quite mild. While Hugo makes a living helping people get rid of spirits, he is a skeptic and describes himself as a charlatan. He lost faith in pretty much everything at a young age, and the more we delve into his life, the more we understand why.

If you're looking for a scary read, A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens isn't it. I was expecting a "keep you up all night" kind of novel. But there were barely enough smidges of horror to keep me going.

The pacing was very slow for me and I stumbled over the Spanish words that were not translated enough like Noche Buena, which I had to look up (Christmas Eve.) Since I am learning Latin American Spanish, I could translate some of the words. But I had to look up a bunch of others which just exacerbated the slow pace. I believe the pacing and lack of word translation were the primary reasons for me not enjoying the novel, and giving up at 46%

Supposedly, there was supposed to be some humor in the novel, but I just could not find anything humorous or snarky. Or maybe I just didn't get it.

Some of the content could be disturbing for some readers since the novel does depict slave/child labor as well as trafficking. This did bother me somewhat, but it's not the primary reason for the DNF.

Too bad I didn't enjoy the novel, But I'm sure there are those readers looking for an atmospheric read who would. An unfortunate one star DNF for me.

I received a DRC from Penguin Group Dutton through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.