Publishers Weekly
★ 10/30/2023
In Palma’s chilling debut novel (after the collection In This World of Ultraviolet Light), a second-generation Bolivian immigrant in Miami struggles with crushing debt and searches for redemption after his wife’s unsuccessful cancer treatments. Despite his gig playing a babaláwo (a priest in the Yoruba religion) at a botanica, Hugo is skeptical of traditional rituals and exorcisms. However, his life takes a surprising turn when attorney Alexi Ramirez, who had previously sued Hugo for unpaid debts, begs for an exorcism. A deal is struck: Hugo will banish the malevolent presence before Noche Buena, and Alexi will wipe clean his debt. Initially, Hugo sees his role as a con artist, but as he immerses himself in the enigmatic Ramirez household and confronts his own past, the line between reality and the supernatural begins to blur. Palma masterfully intertwines Hugo’s immigrant journey, his intricate relationship with his late wife, and the ominous presence of El Tío, a Bolivian devil who has haunted Hugo far longer than he realized. The tension mounts steadily, with spine-tingling moments of horror intensifying as Hugo’s anger and remorse towards Alexi come to the forefront. Eventually, Hugo makes a fateful decision that alters the destinies of those around him. Palma’s fresh interpretation of timeless themes makes this a winner. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
It’s a rare book that scares you and makes you think in equal measures. In this viscerally affecting debut, Raul Palma reimagines the manifestations and consequences of debt in terrifying and thought-provoking ways.”—NPR, Best Books of the Year
“From laugh-out-loud moments to chilling imagery, Palma’s novel reflects on the specters that haunt us — both real and metaphorical.”—Los Angeles Times, Des Los Reads
“An absorbing read that employs classic horror, societal critique, beautifully timed suspense, and a rich character study.”—BookBrowse, 5/5 Stars
“A sparkling gem of a novel…Palma writes with precision and wit, bringing out a story that’s genuinely compelling and insightful.” —CrimeReads, “The Best Debuts of October”
“The tension mounts steadily, with spine-tingling moments of horror intensifying as Hugo’s anger and remorse towards Alexi come to the forefront…Palma’s fresh interpretation of timeless themes makes this a winner.” —Publishers Weekly *starred*
“This brilliantly constructed, spectacularly chilling and original debut novel is as fresh and inventive as the devil is inescapable.” —BookPage *starred*
“Metaphors that would be heavy-handed in another writer’s hands, Palma deploys with ease, swirling together ghosts, debt, colonialism, and guilt to create something greater…A masterful tale of demons, trauma, and debt.” —Kirkus *starred*
“A captivating modern fable set in a vividly depicted Miami, rich with Latino and Afro-Latino culture, magic, and snark.” —Library Journal *starred*
“Palma’s writing brings Miami to life and populates it with wonderfully unique supporting characters for a wholly entertaining debut.” —Booklist
"Palma’s debut is filled with magic and trauma as it explores modern Latino culture. He bends genre into a new horror-tinged mythos exploring the classic immigration story. Whatever you think the experience Hialeah Gardens will provide, expect to be surprised every step of the way." —Debutiful, "Can't Miss Debut Books You Should Read This October"
"Raul Palma's novel, A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens, offers us hilarity and heartbreak in equal measure. With lush prose and an unerring eye, Palma chronicles the substrata of Miami—the human costs of immigration, poverty, debt, discrimination, and, yes, ghosts—beneath the city's breezy, tropical surface. A pitch-perfect debut." —Cristina García, author of Dreaming in Cuban and the forthcoming Vanishing Maps
“In this Faustian hell of a debut, the prose ripples with a mythical rhythm. Raul Palma has taken a splash of Oscar Hijuelos’ musical cadence, a dash of Alejo Carpentier’s magic realism, and along with his own considerable power to depict Miami lore, its humanism, its African rituals, its mysterious legends, its strong coffee—the end result is this suspenseful, stylistic, and sensory classic.”—Ernesto Quiñonez, author of Bodega Dreams
“Raul Palma’s A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens is the Florida novel of our moment. In a Miami filled with ghosts, curses, and personal loss, a Bolivian American babaláwo and his debt collector negotiate their immigrant histories and identities in relation to one another. Channeling Junot Díaz, Helena María Viramontes, and even Nathanial Hawthorne, Palma playfully limns gothic and supernatural literary traditions in order to offer a serious critique of a post-racial and post-ethnic American Dream.”—Kristiana Kahakauwila, author of This is Paradise
“The modern thriller, fantasy, magic, horror and the literary immigrant novel overlap in this at turns darkly funny, at turns heartbreaking and always disruptive debut from Raul Palma. In the ways that Walter Mosley maps and curates Los Angeles and its underbelly, Palma maps Miami - bringing the same intimacy and nuance to his cartography of place and character. Through elegant prose we follow Hugo Contreras on an epic quest for self and to resolve duty and love and redemption.”—Chris Abani, The Secret History of Las Vegas and The Virgin of Flames
“A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens is a sensitive and finely-wrought debut novel. Filled with currents of magic and sparked with sly infusions of humor, this deeply human tale of loss and grief makes room for the spiritual and the inexplicable, along with a gentle back beat of absurdism. These stories will resonate with any reader who knows what it is to straddle identities and traditions.”—Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Fencing with the King
“Bright with humor and vulnerability, A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens invites us to plunge deep into the crushing darkness of indebtedness. Whether financial, spiritual, or romantic, past and present, Palma splendidly conjures demonic debts in every sense, crafting a story both thrilling and tragic. An affecting novel about the invisible demons that truly haunt us.”—Gerardo Sámano Córdova, author of Monstrilio
"Evocative and insightful, Raul Palma's writing explores the soul-crushing burden of debt, both financial and emotional. A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens masquerades as a humorous supernatural tale while reflecting deeply on the immigrant experience and daring to question the unsustainable human costs of the illusory American dream."—Rudy Ruiz, award-winning author of Valley of Shadows and The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez
“Raul Palma’s Haunting in Hialeah Gardens subtly smashes the stereotypical portrayals of the largely unstoried global city of Miami. Part detective story, part prophecy, but all corazón, this novel probes the circuits of labor, debt and love that shape the lives of immigrants and non-immigrants in South Florida and the world they're intimately connected to.”—Roberto Lovato, author of Unforgetting
“A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens, Raul Palma’s searing first novel, is a provocative portrait of Miami and of the lengths to which one man will go to absolve himself of the debts of the dead. In gorgeous, careful writing, Palma mines grief and longing for their twin attendant humors and horrors. A compulsively readable debut!” —David James Poissant, author of Lake Life
“With his new novel A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens, Raul Palma continues to provide a fresh and vital perspective on the tensions within and around Miami’s immigrant communities, particularly between those who’ve “made it” and those who have yet to, and may never, do so. Palma’s nuanced representations of the physical, emotional, and ethical costs of both positions are deeply poignant, affecting, and tinged with a dark humor, reflecting the author’s expansive, not uncritical heart.”—Michael Mejia, author of Tokyo
Library Journal
★ 09/01/2023
DEBUT Hugo's life is small and weighed down by debt. He has lived alone ever since his wife Melli died, and he's still paying off her medical bills. One day he receives a phone call: if he gets rid of whatever is haunting his debt collector's home, his debt will be cleared, entirely. A trained babalawo, Hugo is no stranger to supernatural dealings. The thing is, he doesn't actually believe in any of it. He thinks he'll do some talk therapy and theatrics, then walk away from his debt collector's home a free man. He's hardly prepared for what's in store. Confronted with ghosts and devils from his past, Hugo must reckon with who he is and his own journey toward peace. Readers will find both tragedy and humor in Hugo's observations of the gaping inequities of American life and will become absorbed in his personal stories of love and loss. Debt as a part of the human condition is an interesting concept that is explored through fantastical encounters reminiscent of A Christmas Carol and Don Giovanni. VERDICT A captivating modern fable set in a vividly depicted Miami, rich with Latino and Afro-Latino culture, magic, and snark.—Joanna Harris
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2023-08-26
A skeptical spiritualist agrees to rid his enemy’s house of ghosts for a high price in this debut novel.
Hugo Contreras is a babaláwo, sent by his boss, Lourdes, to banish spirits and cleanse homes around Miami. He’s never actually believed in any of this nonsense, but it pays and sometimes people seem happy afterward. Struggling with the recent loss of his wife, Meli, and the weight of staggering medical debt, Hugo is haunted by his own past. When debt collection attorney Alexi Ramirez comes calling, asking Hugo to cleanse his house in exchange for clearing Hugo’s debt, Hugo can’t say no. Despite his innate skepticism, however, Hugo finds that this haunting is far too real and holds connections to his past. As Christmas draws near, Hugo is given three days to exorcise the spirits while making sure he doesn’t become a victim himself. Palma has created a rich and textured world, with the actual Miami that Hugo and Alexi inhabit touching the mystical world while remaining all too real. Metaphors that would be heavy-handed in another writer’s hands, Palma deploys with ease, swirling together ghosts, debt, colonialism, and guilt to create something greater. What happened to Meli is slowly unraveled until everything comes together at the very end in a triumph of pacing. Although Alexi is almost cartoonishly evil at times, he rings true enough to the stereotype of a rich man who is constantly justifying to himself what he’s done. Split into five sections, this novel is a quick read only because it's so hard to put down; each passage is well written and propels the plot forward just enough to keep readers intrigued.
A masterful tale of demons, trauma, and debt.
