"The Ghost Tracks" by Celso Hurtado is a supernatural thriller that blends elements of mystery, horror, and urban legend to create a tale that is both eerie and intriguing. Hurtado's novel follows a group of teenagers as they investigate the mysterious disappearance of a young girl on a haunted railway track, uncovering dark secrets and facing their own fears along the way.

The premise of "The Ghost Tracks" is undeniably compelling, drawing readers in with the promise of spine-tingling suspense and supernatural thrills. Hurtado effectively builds tension throughout the narrative, using atmospheric descriptions and eerie imagery to create a sense of unease and foreboding. The central mystery of the story is captivating, keeping readers guessing as they follow the protagonists on their quest for answers.

The characters in "The Ghost Tracks" are well-developed and relatable, each grappling with their own personal demons and insecurities. Hurtado explores themes of friendship, guilt, and redemption with sensitivity, weaving these elements into the fabric of the story in a way that feels organic and authentic. The dynamics between the characters are believable, adding depth to their interactions and enhancing the emotional resonance of the narrative.

However, while "The Ghost Tracks" excels in creating atmosphere and building suspense, it may fall short in terms of originality and execution. The novel treads familiar ground in terms of its supernatural elements and plot twists, relying on well-worn tropes and conventions that may feel predictable to readers familiar with the genre. Additionally, some of the character arcs and storylines may feel underdeveloped or rushed, detracting from the overall impact of the narrative.

Furthermore, while the setting of the haunted railway track adds an intriguing backdrop to the story, it may not be fully utilized to its potential. Readers may find themselves wishing for more exploration of the history and folklore surrounding the location, as well as a deeper exploration of the supernatural elements at play.

In conclusion, "The Ghost Tracks" by Celso Hurtado is a supernatural thriller that offers plenty of chills and suspense for fans of the genre. While it may not break new ground in terms of its premise or execution, it succeeds in delivering an entertaining and atmospheric read that will appeal to readers looking for a spooky and engaging mystery. With its well-drawn characters and eerie setting, "The Ghost Tracks" is sure to keep readers turning the pages until the very end.

I've tried to read this book a few times and it doesn't seem to stick with me. I definitely believe this is a case of the reader and not the book.

I wanted to enjoy this a bit more because I always want to support Mexican American authors especially fellow Tejanos. Unfortunately, I thought it was a bit scattered and the tone was off. (view spoiler) One big positive is the main character, Erasmo (my grandfather's name!), and his friend Rat. They are two lonely, abandoned souls who found each other and rely on each other to persevere. I also loved all the San Antonio references and any book that mentions chorizo and egg tacos is a-okay with me. I will be reading the sequel for sure and hopefully that one hits the spot like a chorizo an egg taco.

Wonderful! Passionately written and just felt like someone laid their heart on the page. Wonderful! Passionately written and just felt like someone laid their heart on the page. Wonderful! Passionately written and just felt like someone laid their heart on the page.

This one was not for me.
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Very enjoyable and unique perspective of ghost story telling. The characters were compelling and fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkshares for this ARC. I appreciate it.
#NetGalley #Inkshares #CelsoHurtado #TheGhostTracks

I have recently found a fondness for YA horror. I discovered it by accident i.e. not realizing it was YA until I was hooked. This is a ghost story and I loved it. I love the ghosts and the gore. I’ll definitely look for further books by this author.
This is a story about a young ghost hunter who opens a supernatural detective agency in order to help pay for his grandmother’s cancer treatments. The description on it calls it “Fear Street for a diverse America”. I would call that an excellent description! Very good, easy and enjoyable read.

The Ghost Tracks was spooky good. Erasmo s such a fun and creative character and the premise totally awesome! Erasmo takes his love the supernatural to a new level when he opens up a detective agency to help those with supernatural problems. He does this all to help his grandmother pay for her cancer treatments. It's really wonderful look at what it means to be family.

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

Using a San Antonio, Texas, folklore story for the premise made this YA horror fiction feel unique. Strong story building will keep the reader guessing about what is hiding around the next page, and the fast-paced trajectory will hold the interest of even the most reluctant reader.

Solid YA horror fiction that will creep you out, but that also has a lot of heartfelt moments as well.

Thank you to NetGalley, Celso Hurtado, and Inkshares for an e-arc of The Ghost Tracks in exchange for an honest review.

Seventeen year old Erasmo and his best friend, Rat, are in desperate need of money so they place an ad on Craigslist. If you need help with a supernatural problem, give them a call and they will help.

They get three promising responses. Now the pair has to figure out if a series of seemingly unexplainable occurrences are actually paranormal or if they are being played.

I loved how this story unfolded. I loved getting little snippets of Erasmo’s backstory as we explored the current plot. I was very intrigued with the mystery behind the Ghost Tracks and how it pertained to Erasmo’s credibility as an expert in the paranormal. I loved the ambiguity throughout, not knowing most of the time if what Erasmo and Rat were dealing with was just people playing jokes on them or actually supernatural in nature.

Erasmo is a very naive character, so it would be entirely plausible for him to be taken advantage of for his ‘celebrity’ status. This naivety also makes it frustrating to read at times, but overall, this was a solid horror novel. It had a good bit of violence and gore, but it didn’t really seem excessive.

It also seems as though this has been set up so it could be a series, and I would be ok with that.

I'm genuinely torn about my thoughts about this one. There are some validly engaging points throughout the book, and I like our central characters, however, there are some less than pleasant sections that hit very wrong just when we're prepared to be approaching a true resolution to the plot and several subplots that figure into it. As a result some parts of the book come off uncharacteristically bleak and discordant, particularly as we engage with self - destructive actions and denial in a one two punch that comes off as unpleasant and honestly out of true for the characters and their development. There's something genuinely good about Erazmo's narrative here, make no mistake, but I was left feeling like the book could have used a bit more development in the latter half and we could have used a bit more grounding in these resolutions.

I DNF this book. After about 50% I gave up becuase the story made less and less sense.
There is this boy, Erasmo - I kinda liked him and he is only character I liked - who sets up shop as a paranormal investigator but as he meets clients he thinks all of them are nuts.
He says he belives but at the same time he doesn’t.
All the other characters are mostly unlikable and one-sided.

My other problem was that the story was hard to follow, made unexplicable jumps.

I really liked the book’s discription so I’m disappointed that I couldn’t even finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

I struggled with this one a little bit...

Narrative follows seventeen-year-old Erasmo as he decides to create a supernatural detective agency. He puts an ad in the paper and the story unfolds from there. To me, this certainly had more mystery elements than I was expecting for a book with supernatural elements. There's more discussion around grief and abandonment from your parents and how that impacts the decisions you make in life. I feel like the events that happened would've been a little more believable with an adult character. It all seemed a bit much for someone Erasmo's age. BUT THAT EXORCISM SCENE! That made the whole book and more of that please!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkshares for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not certain this book works as either a mystery or a horror story. While I can see what Hurtado is going for, exploring issues of belief and skepticism. Erasmo actually finds a decent balance between these two. He can keep a belief in the supernatural without following blindly while his friend follows stories whole-heartedly. My issue with the the plot on the whole is that it relies heavily on the physically horrific. We get an awful lot of disgusting detail: violence, gore, literal rot. It is, quite simply, gross more than it is frightening.

I really enjoyed this. Reminded me in a lot of ways of Raymond Chandler, but for a contemporary youngsters of course. The way the protagonist has multiple cases to solve, one or two seemingly more “important” than another, only to discover that they’re all tied together in some way.

The maturity of the tone and subject matter was also good. I admire that the author never felt like he was talking down to the reader.

I the main characters and would love to read about their future adventures and investigations.

The Ghost Tracks was more than I could have ever hoped for. It was spooky, and had twists around every corner that I didn’t see coming.

I liked this book. However I did have some problems. The three cases Erasmo was investigating were very interesting, but I really hated their conclusions. The story would have been scarier if not for that.
Also, the romantic subplot felt really unnecessary.

I was blown away by this twisty thriller from debut author Celso Hurtado.

After his grandmother receives a grim cancer diagnosis, seventeen-year-old Erasmo Cruz must find a way to earn money for her treatment. And fast. But Eramso, along with his down-on-his-luck friend Rat, get more than they bargained for after placing an ad as paranormal investigators on Craigslist.

The stakes are continuously raised as they encounter a man allegedly haunted by his deceased date, a young boy allegedly possessed by a flesh-eating demon, and a man claiming to have disturbing visions of the future. Not to mention that Erasmo must come to terms with his own brush with the supernatural. Was he really rescued by the spirits of the Ghost Tracks on that fateful night?

This gory and gruesome horror novel blurs the lines between perception and reality, and begs the question of just how far Erasmo is willing to go to help these disturbed individuals.

Erasmo Cruz is such an intelligent and likable protagonist. Although initially motivated by money, Erasmo continually puts his own life on the line in the name of family, friendship, and love. Readers realize that his no-bullshit exterior is not a matter of indifference, but rather of caring too much.

And Celso Hurtado writes with such a deft and knowing hand, especially when building feelings of dread throughout the text. Sometimes information that is withheld can be even more powerful than a grisly description.

This is highly recommended reading for genre fans.

What I liked best about this book is that it’s got the perfect tone and pitch for a YA paranormal/ghost novel. I’m middle-aged now, but as I was reading I reflected back on my teenage years and how much I loved ghost, horror, and paranormal novels and this book would have fit perfectly among those books. It has spunk, an interesting premise, and a touch of both occultism and the phenomena of urban legends that I’ve always adored.

One of the most interesting dichotomies in this book is how no main or supporting character in this book is reliable. We can’t even trust the tale of what the book’s protagonist, Erasmos, went through that has made him so notable in his hometown that gives birth to not only the book’s title but also lends him the authority to put the book’s plot into motion. And once that plot is put into motion, Erasmos and his best friend (and business partner), Rat, are suddenly sucked into what seems to be a never-ending series of events that take twists and turns over a series of months that only seem to become creepier and more violent as time goes on. And as events spiral downward, so does the physical and mental health of both Erasmos and Rat.

There is a romantic subplot in the middle of the book that I felt would’ve done the book a world of good had it been left out or changed. It slowed the book down and lessened the nice tension and suspense that permeated the rest of the book. It would’ve made the book shorter, but I think the book would’ve been much better for it.

All in all, it really is a great young adult ghost/paranormal story. If I were a teenager who devoured these sorts of books, I’d definitely pick it up.