Most-generous-guy-in-Twit-Lit Gabino Iglesias knocks it out of the park, here -- a white-knuckle thriller and chiller, unapologetic in its voice and tone and plot. It's scary, it's human, it's dark and twisted and a blast. Totally unexpected and also exactly right.

When the unthinkable happens, what’s still unthinkable? What would you do to get hope back? Is there anything you wouldn’t do?

Imagine getting stuck in the anger stage of grieving. That’s where Mario find himself and he spends the rest of the book convincing himself that his actions and the situations he finds himself in are a means to end. I’m not going to go into the plot much, but the short version is that a man at the end of his rope takes a job that that will change his life and might just provide him opportunities he’s never had as a Mexican American living in the US. It’s going to be dangerous, but when you’re at rock bottom, how much further down can you fall?

One aspect of the novel I really enjoyed was not knowing exactly what was going on. The characters in the book are told only what they need to know and the reader is in the same predicament. This is a world Mario and his friend aren’t part of or used to, and we find out how brutal, horrific, and unnatural things are right along with them. This device builds tension throughout and when the damn breaks, we have no idea what’s happening. We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore.

I hesitate to include this next part, but it seems like there’s some contention about it, so I’ll say my piece. There’s a lot more Spanish in this novel than you’re probably used to. Most of the novel is still in English, and the really important things are restated in English or referenced by another character in English. You don’t need to translate it to enjoy the book, or at least I didn’t. That said, Book of the Month sells the book with a translation guide, or you can manually translate phrases in an ebook or even use an app on a physical copy. I took two years of Spanish in high school (20 years ago, forgot most of it) and I was able to get the gist of a lot of it from context, so…what I’m trying to say is, don’t let that stop you.

I can honestly say I’ve never read a novel that’s mixed these particular elements together. Crime. Magical realism. Religion. Racism. Extreme violence. Grit. While I’m certainly not the first one to make the comparison, this has a supernatural Breaking Bad vibe. Not in that someone is creating an illegal empire, but more that a man pushed beyond breaking finds themselves in a world they don’t know. If that sounds like something you’d be into, go grab a copy.

“Sometimes God is your copilot, but it’s the devil who takes you home.”

Wow.

What a book. The Devil Takes You Home is my first Gabino Iglesias book, and I’m not sure why I waited so long to read him. His writing is visceral. He had me crying in the first few pages, and I don’t think I stopped until the end. Even then, maybe a few hours afterwards. It’s been over a month since I’ve finished this book, and it’s one I can’t stop thinking about.

Mario and Melisa live in Austin TX, and their daughter, four-year-old Anita, has been diagnosed with cancer. At first they’re hopeful. It is an easily treated childhood cancer. The doctor comes with bad news, though. Anita’s leukemia is a rare type that’s hard to treat. The bad news keeps coming when Mario loses his job due to Anita’s appointments.

“You can wrap a shotgun in flowers, but that doesn’t make the blast less lethal.”

Tragedy after tragedy sees Mario become a hit man. He comes to the realization he can’t do this any longer, and works with a friend of his to do one last job. We follow Mario and two companions on the way to make some easy money. It seems too good to be true, and maybe it is.

This is not an easy read. There’s a lot to it (content warnings are below), but it really is worth it. If you are in the right headspace for a novel like this, I definitely recommend it. It combines a lot of subgenres to make one beautiful novel. There’s crime, horror, and fantasy. All wrapped up into a really bleak book.

I don’t want to give much more away, but I have to say, The Devil Takes You Home is one of my favorite books of all time. No pressure. Any author who makes me cry within the first few pages has a special place on my bookshelf.

Thank you to Mulholland Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

CW for death of a child, death, blood, gore, racism, body horror, murder, gun violence, grief, addiction/drug abuse, cancer, domestic abuse, suicidal thoughts, animal cruelty, miscarriage, transphobia, and child abuse

I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me a chance at reading this. For spooky season, I decided to start my 'month' off early and dive into this book which promised me horror mixed with a south of the border setting. While it came off a lot like the book Razoblade Tears with a weird unexplained supernatural angle, I wasn't really wow-ed by it.

I think the author was a good writer and I the story moved fast, every bit was well established visually.

But when it got to the horror vibe, lets unpack that:

- body horror is something used in horror genres, the body horror was prominent in two scenes ... but the body horror didn't really explain anything and or give reason to the story except for it to be body horror. Hard to explain without going into spoiler territory, but I felt cheated by it
- supernatural bits are linked at in this story, and there are a couple that pop up but are unexplained. I felt like I was reading a sequel to something that I didn't know what. I counted 'crosses vibrating on walls' , 'ghostly apparitions without sources or reasons' , people who are claimed to be the devil, strange beings living in the tunnel below the earth connecting Mexico and a place outside the wall of Mexico in the US, and people becoming possessed?

I'd be willing to read something else by the author in the future, but I think a more structured horror world / reasoning / background for his choices is needed for me to fully enjoy it

The Devil Takes You Home is based on a premise that is any parent's worst nightmare: losing a child. With all of what comes with that emotionally and spiritually, Gabino Iglesias scorches the earth with a tale of a man who makes all the wrong decisions for all the right reasons. Soon he is lost in the world of the cartel.

Fans of Narcos, Ozark, and great storytelling should eat this up. Well, you'll love it in a can't stop crying kind of way.

Gabino Iglesias, 'The Devil Takes You Home'
Austin teacher, critic and writer Gabino Iglesias has won industry awards for his genre-bending “barrio noir,” which melds elements of horror, noir and magical realism. In August, “The Devil Takes You Home” (Mulholland Books, $28) arrives, poised to introduce his distinctive mix to a much wider audience. Circumstances make Mario a hitman, and tragedy sets him on one last job to get himself out of debt. There are real scares and supernatural ones, all enveloped in a propulsive, unforgettable journey.

Truly spectacular. Emotional, raw, chilling, touching. One of the best things I’ve read this year. Every page vibrates.

"The Devil Takes You Home" follows Mario, a young man who, after losing his only daughter to cancer, is left by his wife. In a desperate attempt for money to pay off his massive medical debt, he takes a dangerous job from an old coworker Brian. Mario and Brian team up with Juanca, and the three find themselves on the way to Mexico for the cartel, quickly realizing that they are in over their head.

This book was absolutely terrifying. I read a lot of horror books but not a lot of crime, and this was the scariest book I've read this year, hands down. The writing was beautiful, the characters were flawed by written with deep empathy, and the paranormal elements were few but memorable. I can't speak Spanish and a lot of this book is in Spanish, but Iglesias always finds an interesting way to translate some of the more pressing quotes for us monolingual English speakers. In other words, I didn't have a hard time reading it. I look forward to reading Iglesias' future books!

Struggling in the wake of his child’s heartbreaking death, Mario is caught up in an eddy of misfortune that threatens to destroy his own life. Seemingly at rock bottom, he desperately reaches out to his only friend, Brian - a meth-addicted petty criminal, who offers him a once-in-a-lifetime job that promises to be his once chance to reclaim his family, his dignity, and quite possibly his own existence.

This is Gabino Iglesias’s set up for his latest hardboiled/horror/fusion novel, The Devil Takes You Home. Set along the U.S.-Mexican border. It is a breath-taking heist story about a good guy forced to enter a world he’d spent his whole life trying to avoid. Mario, a second-generation Hispanic, agrees to help his pal Brian and Juanca, a battle-hardened drug cartel gangster, steal a rival cartel’s cash – a sum that will allow all three to retire from their criminal pasts.

As in his previous novels, Iglesias dives deep into Latino and American culture destroying stereotypes and exposing racism and injustice, while giving the reader an authentic experience of what it is like to live on the literal and figurative border between the haves and have-nots. He boldly addresses both casual and overt racism (both individualistic and systemic) as well as the inherent dangers of institutionalized religion, but he does so without coming across as being too “preachy.”

His characters are a mix of English and Spanish speakers which can be a difficult obstacle for a writer when it comes to dialogue. Iglesias masterfully solves this problem by simply being realistic. While most of the dialogue is in English or “Spanglish,” oftentimes it just makes it more believable to have the characters speak in their native Spanish. This gives the story a more genuine feel. The casual English-only reader will have little difficulty in using context to understand these passages. However, Google Translate app (with its freakishly magical camera function) makes translating a breeze. Hell, I discovered this app while reading Cormack McCarthy’s The Border Trilogy, and I don’t remember him getting slammed for his liberal use of Spanish.

If you’re a fan of hardboiled crime, magical realism, southern gothic, horror, and/or modern westerns, this novel will fit perfectly in your collection. It checks a lot of the literary fiction boxes and easily straddles genres. Iglesias is an important writer for our times, and he’s voice is one that should be heard.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Devil Takes You Home is by far the most unexpected novel I have read so far this year. I went into it with vague details about the synopsis so I can go in as blind as possible and holy cow. A mix of thriller crime with the supernatural this novel surprised the heck out of me. Our MC starts off with the worst news a parent could get… his daughter was dying. After her death his relationship with his wife is anything but salvageable and he’s thrust into drugs. From there he meets a guy who convinced him (although Mario is grown and can make his own choices) to start killing “bad” people. So when they get a job to rob the cartel you just know all hell breaks loose. But it doesn’t just break loose it freaking explodes and then some. Gabino really put something amazing out here that is so heartbreaking but beautifully written. He’s an author who has never let me down with his writing and The Devil Takes You Home proves that all good things come to those who wait. Thanks NetGalley for the EARC. Happy Reading! X

Disclosure: I was provided an advance copy via Netgalley.

What an incredible book this was. A twisted journey dealing with grief, trauma, racism, family, and the things we do to cope. I found myself hooked pretty early on with this one. A very unique story that has blend of vengeance, supernatural horror, and more. Highly recommend this one!

A startlingly original piece of work. Stunning and gritty. I was completely blown away by the violence and the beauty that Mr. Iglesias was able to put into this book. Highly recommended.

Mario is driven to a job as a hitman to pay for his daughter's cancer treatment and support his family. He takes on a near impossible job that takes him into the depths of the cartels with the hopes of snagging $200,000 to start a better life.

This novel will grab you emotionally right from the start with Mario's story of tragedy and struggle and is full of emotion throughout. This sets up a deep investment that carries the reader through this gruesome violent tale. Really important social commentary is weaved in to the story, and supernatural elements are sprinkled in as well that will speak to the horror reader's heart. Iglesias uses the most beautiful dark metaphors effortlessly showcasing his incredible talent for writing the macabre.

If you are looking for an emotional ultra-violent horror/thriller that will take you to the darkest possibilities of what someone will do out of desperation, The Devil Takes You Home should be your number one choice.

I don’t entirely know how to write a review for a book that refuses to be categorized by a specific genre. Horror, thriller, mystery, literary fiction, magical realism…you name it; this book probably has it. Whatever you want to call it, this book is great and the writing is especially outstanding.

However, here’s a big PSA that this book is NOT for the faint of heart! 😳 TDTYH isn’t just “dark,” it’s gruesome… you’ve been warned. Beyond the violence, it’s also very dark in re: its heavy subject matter: pediatric cancer, racism, murder, and much more.

As a thriller gal who also loves fantasy, I appreciated and was fascinated by the magical elements in this book, albeit horrified by how the characters encountered them 👀

From the opening word of THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME author Gabino Iglesias kicks readers in the gut and then keeps on kicking. Setting an unrelentingly somber and brutal tone that permeates this tale of a man clinging to the end of his rope, who goes about making all the wrong decisions but with the best of intentions.

Mario’s young daughter is dying of cancer, his marriage is falling apart, and the looming medical bills cast an ever reaching shadow of debt that he cannot outrun. Desperate, and with no other options available, Mario does what he must for his family. Reluctantly turning to a life of crime in order to make enough cash to keep them afloat. When the opportunity for the score of a lifetime falls into his lap, Mario must decide how far he is willing to go for the chance at some semblance of reconciliation for what is left of his family that has already been shattered well beyond the breaking point.

A genre defying mashup of crime, noir, and supernatural horror, dubbed barrio noir by the author. For me it felt like Breaking Bad (my favorite TV show of all time) and From Dusk Till Dawn got together and birthed a mutant offspring. There are cartels, hitmen, drug smugglers, gun runners, and a few nightmarish creatures to be found along the gritty landscape of the U.S. - Mexico border. The real fabric holding the story together though are the interwoven themes of racism, poverty, religion, and violence. How they push and pull and tear at the characters, informing the decisions they make while also being responsible for the situations they find themselves in to begin with. Speaking of the violence, while not overly gory and grotesque, it is visceral, cruel, and savage. There is one scene in particular that is bound to make readers cringe (you’ll never look at bolt cutters the same way again).

Iglesias writes with such a natural authenticity you can feel that he is drawing upon his own personal experiences at times. From eating up the ashplant driving along empty stretches of highway to the lonely roadside diner serving greasy food with water spotted silverware to the longing for and fond memories of home, the sights, tastes, and smells of our childhood. These are small but I think powerful moments where the characters become more than just words on the page, they become relatable in ways that we the readers can make a tangible connection, see ourselves slipping, if ever briefly, into their shoes.

A bleak and haunting depiction of the “American Dream”. THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME by Gabino Iglesias is a modern day odyssey, not of Greek heroes and far away lands, but of desperate men seeking redemption, attempting to make amends and right wrongs the only way they know how, by spilling blood. An assault of loss, grief, strife, and near hopelessness Iglesias masterfully plucks away at the reader's raw heartstrings of emotion while delivering a passionately harrowing tale of revenge. This was my first read from Gabino but it will definitely not be my last. I have COYOTE SONGS burning a hole in my Kindle just waiting to be read.

Holy cats!! What an intense ride. This reminded me a lot of Razorblade Tears, in that we get a really gritty story with morally gray characters who do bad things in the name of their family. Reader beware- this one is super violent, but I appreciated the look at the cartel. Lots of Spanish language, which I loved, because I felt it added authenticity to the characters. Loved the genre mashup too- there's definitely horror elements here! I will seek out this author again.

First off I have to say I’m not even going to attempt to give a summary of The Devil Takes You Home because I know I can’t do a better job than the book’s blurb without posting some serious spoilers. But buckle up because this is an intense, fast-paced, and at times savage journey. Gabino Iglesias brings together multiple genres: complex family drama, crime thriller, supernatural/paranormal, and horror, blending them all together into an incredibly gritty and compelling tale. I’ll definitely be checking out Gabino’s previous books. Thanks so much to Mulholland Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an eARC of The Devil Takes You Home.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R30I1PVQ90WGBR/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

There will be conflict within with all the injustice dealt to Mario, with the demons of the past and the present to deal with all the complexities of loss, anger, belief, violence, revenge, vengeance and then fear and guilt and some bruja magic and then there is devil ever present in this concise potent unrelenting in immersive storytelling in for the ride till the deed is done and that something else running through the story that has its time to show.
If you loved to read Don Winslow and Joe Lonsdale stories and now you will love to read one penned by Gabino Iglesias.
A viscerally vivid tale told with crisp dialogue and clear cut meat of the story with wise social commentary and great sentences on what humans deal with wrapped in a pure barrio noir magic tale.
This is just waiting to be adapted into one helluva movie. I hear it is.

"Life is what happens between the things we think we know and the things we learn about too late to do anything about it"

Gabino Iglesias’ writing is hauntingly beautiful. The way he can portray feelings and set a tone - it is unmatched! This was my first experience with his writing and it left me feeling as though I have been missing out!

The Devil Takes you Home is genre-bending nightmare wrapped in the delusions of hope. MC Mario shows the reader how far one may be willing to go to save themselves from the depths of grief, poverty, heartbreak and overall feelings of despair.
Although I have heard this is more of a paranormal thriller/Crime novel - in my opinion, it is the epitome of horror..
There is not much that is more horrific than the immense loss that Mario experienced; a loss that continues to affect his life, internally and externally. A loss that leaves someone so desperate that they will turn to unspeakable crimes, among other things.
But aside from the horrors in this novel, there is also a story of love, of doing whatever you can for that love; of being human.

And just because it cannot be said enough times: the writing is beautiful! So many highlights and notes were done on this book. It really is one of a kind!

This is a dark book - don't expect a neatly tied up ending where everyone lives happily ever after (thankfully, because I never did like a book that was tied up a little too neat!).

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for honest feedback!

Oh! This book HURTS.

Each page full of pain and despair. Of the lengths people go through for their family even when all odds are against them.

It’s pitch black. It’s absolutely action packed. Heartbreaking. Powerful. Easily up there for favorites of the year.

Damn this is one hell of an achievement. This is my first book of Iglesias’s I’ve read but I’m bumping Coyote Songs up my TBR pile.

Thank you to @netgalley and @mulhollandbooks for an ARC of this book. The Devil Takes You Home comes out August 2nd.