Hugo Contreras will be the first to tell you that he’s a fraud at the same time that he sells you healing candles and charms at the botánica where he works. His boss, however, believes that Hugo actually has the ability to see and talk to the supernatural. Both of these facts contribute to the unbelievable job offer that lands in Hugo’s lap at the beginning of A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens, the frightening and affecting new novel by Raul Palma. If Hugo agrees to work a cleansing for the man he considers his worst enemy, he can wipe out the debt that’s been following him for decades.
Hugo is followed not just by his debts but also by his grief for his deceased wife. Since her death, Hugo has lived a half life. His wages are garnished. No one except his friend who owns the botánica will hire him. The only joy in his life is the coffee and cubano he orders once a week at his favorite diner. He’s pretty much given up the hope that his life will ever get better than his weekly meal out. But then the call comes from a man Hugo hates more than anyone else on the planet. Alexei is a rich lawyer who buys and collects on debts. Hugo hated the man even before his wife died but the hatred became all-consuming after a collections notice arrived immediately after Hugo’s wife’s funeral. Alexei offers to wipe out all of Hugo’s debt if Hugo will rid Alexei’s house of whatever’s haunting it. After a little arm-twisting, Hugo agrees to do the song and dance routine he’s perfected over the years of selling magical remedies to believers.
Of course, Hugo regrets taking the job the instant he meets Alexei. The self-confident rich Alexei gets right up Hugo’s nose as soon as he starts talking about what’s been going on—a frightening encounter with what he describes as a demon at a construction sight, a near death experience in his pool, hints that whatever is after him might be after his daughter—while also bragging about his tacky house and all the money he’s made. Hugo keeps his babaláwo mask on as much as he can while handing out evil eye bracelets and providing more tangible “evidence” that something supernatural is after Alexei. And Hugo might have managed to pull off his con if his supernatural debt hadn’t knocked him off his stride.
At the same time that Hugo goes through the motions of cleansing Alexei’s haunting, Hugo’s depressed shell starts to crack. Long-repressed memories of his wife and his childhood in the shadow of Bolivia’s Cerro Rico surface. Before long, Hugo is a wreck who can’t stay in the present. Worse than the psychological torment of his memories, however, is the confusion and terror Hugo feels when he starts to experience his own definitely-not-normal apparitions and visions of a deity Hugo thought he left behind in Bolivia that begin to walk in his dreams. After a while, it’s hard to tell if Hugo’s really the haunted one instead of Alexei or if they’re both being hunted by vengeful supernatural beings.
This unexpected emotional ride adds a lot of depth to what starts out as the story of a conman pulling off an unbelievably big score. I was astounded by A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens. I definitely plan on recommending it to anyone looking for a great, scary read.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.