A review by offtheshelfreads_sam
The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

dark sad tense medium-paced

3.0

My introduction to barrio noir! I liked the premise and how Mario remained sympathetic despite his questionable actions. The writing felt a bit heavy-handed though and the repetitive scenes of Mario checking his ex's Facebook and dwelling on the same disturbing memories, without anything new coming of it, seemed excessive. The supernatural elements and the idea of hijacking a cartel felt more plausible to me than Mario thinking $200k could cover his daughter's medical debt, outstanding bills, and a house in the Northeast US, but desperation does cloud judgment so I may have missed the point at the time. Despite these issues, there were standout moments in the writing, like the line encapsulating the book's title: "Sometimes God is your copilot, but it’s the Devil who takes you home." 

Before reading: A good chunk of the book is in Spanish. Mine was from BOTM, which came with a translation guide, but the constant stopping to translate took me out of the story so at some point I just started skimming those parts. I'm sure I missed a lot because of that. That's a me problem though since I only speak English, but just a heads up for other English only readers!  Also, check the content warnings. This is a relentlessly grim book.