My book reviews for The Ghost Tracks series by Celso Hurtado, including The Ghost Tracks and The Devil’s Promise. Please be aware that the review for the second book contains spoilers.
Published by Inkshares
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Demons, Ghosts, Diversity, Latinx Authors, Latinx Characters, Mental Health Representation, Magic Users, Mental Health, Physical Disabilities, Supernatural, Theological Horror, Urban Fantasy, Various Magic
Series: The Ghost Tracks #1
My Rating:
Published on: 2nd November 2021
Pages: 350
Disability Representation: Cancer, Mental Health
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
Add to Goodreads
A seventeen-year-old Texan from the wrong side of the tracks starts a supernatural detective agency―this is Fear Street for a diverse America.
Erasmo Cruz is from the wrong side of the tracks. His dad was a junkie who overdosed. His mom chose to run off rather than raise him. His only passion is the supernatural, and his only family is his grandmother, whose aches and pains, he soon learns, aren’t just from old age but from cancer.
Desperate to help his grandmother pay for treatment, Erasmo sets up shop as a paranormal investigator. After witnessing a series of inexplicable events, he must uncover the truth behind his clients' seemingly impossible claims. From hauntings to exorcisms, Erasmo soon finds that San Antonio is a much scarier place than even he knew.
This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!
Content Warnings:
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The Ghost Tracks Review
Forget believing in fairies, The Ghost Tracks asks whether you believe in the paranormal. Do ghosts really exist? What about demonic possession? Join Erasmo and his friend Rat as they seek to find out for real, and get more than they bargained for…
The Ghost Tracks is one of those books where you sit down to write about it and end up scratching your head. To try to put this book into words is difficult because it’s not a book; it’s an experience from start to finish. It reminds me of the TV show Preacher, where so many random things are happening all at once, many of which are so outlandish that a voice in the back of your mind is saying to you that this doesn’t work, it shouldn’t work. Yet somehow, the chaos and the mayhem do work. The utter ridiculousness of the situation borders on slapstick comedy with a dangerous edge of reality.
When Erasmo Cruz and his buddy Rat decide to become paranormal investigators, they expect the rude responses to their Craigslist ad. They even expected to get some weird ones. They thought they were prepared for everything, and of course, when you think that, you couldn’t be further from the truth. I don’t want to give any spoilers, so I’m just going to say that Erasmo and Rat end up going down a dangerous rabbit hole that shows the darker side of their city.
For most of the novel, I thought I had found yet another magical realism novel parading as a paranormal (or fantasy) novel. Minor spoiler: The Ghost Tracks is the real deal. It’s one of those books that you need to stick with all the way to the end, and you will not be disappointed. Along the way, Hurtado takes us on a journey of self-discovery that is unlike anything else you will find in a young adult novel. This isn’t a Bildungsroman because neither Erasmo nor Rat are children growing into young men; they have already been made to grow up too fast by events beyond their control.
These are two people who are trying to understand what has happened to them and how they are supposed to deal with the hand they have been dealt in life. It’s something that people two/three times their age struggle with, and Hurtado doesn’t shy away from the issues. He faces it head-on, and that is something that we need to see more of in young adult novels.
The Ghost Tracks is the perfect novel to crack open for Halloween. It’s full of mayhem, friendship, demons and ghosts. Are they real? You’ll just need to read and find out 😉
Published by Inkshares
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Christianity, Dark Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Demons, Ghosts, Latinx Authors, Latinx Characters, Mental Health Representation, Magic Users, Medical Scenes, Mental Health, Physical Disabilities, Supernatural, Theological Horror, Various Magic
Series: The Ghost Tracks #2
My Rating:
Published on: 3rd October 2023
Pages: 210
Disability Representation: Cancer, Drug Addiction, End of Life Care, Mental Health.
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Bookshop.org US / Waterstones
Add to Goodreads
San Antonio is full of secrets, and seventeen-year-old Erasmo Cruz investigates the strangest of them. After gaining renown for surviving the city's legendary Ghost Tracks, he has set up shop as a paranormal investigator. But helping exorcize other people’s demons doesn’t seem to relieve his own; his best friend Rat has abandoned him, his grandmother is nearing death, and his own health has taken a sudden decline.
None of these hardships can prepare Erasmo for the story his newest client brings him. Two decades after a strange ritual at a rural ranch, Bradley Erickson is being hunted by the Devil. In exchange for the life of his dreams, Bradley must surrender the blood of his child. The case hurls Erasmo into a dark web of cults, bargains, and broken pasts. Only one thing is certain: the Devil keeps his promises.
This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!
Content Warnings:
The Devil’s Promise Review
In the follow-up to his brilliant debut, The Ghost Tracks, Celso Hurtado returns with another thrilling tale of horror. Seventeen-year-old Erasmo Cruz is a paranormal investigator, taking cases to pay for his grandmother’s healthcare. He is doing it alone, his friend Rat having abandoned him. Erasmo’s latest case is unlike anything he’s ever come across, and at first, he’s tempted to pass on it. Bradley Erickson is convinced that his good fortune is due to a ritual he took part in during his youth in exchange for an undisclosed gift. Now the Devil wants his due; the blood of his child.
Not only does it sound too ludicrous to be true, but everything Bradley tells him doesn’t fit with Erasmo’s knowledge. It sounds as if Bradley has been taken for a ride. Things become more serious when Bradley’s son is kidnapped in front of Erasmo, an event that has him questioning everything he knows. Unable to walk away, he finds himself drawn into a dark conspiracy of satanic cults, demons and secrets as he hurries to save an innocent child.
All the while, his grandmother’s health is failing, her body losing its battle with cancer. Erasmo is struggling, not just with facing the loss of the only family he’s ever had, but his own health is a mess. He’s having blackouts, he’s feeling nauseous and fatigued all the time. All Erasmo can do is hope that he can hold it together long enough to find Bradley’s son.
Once again, Celso Hurtado has delivered a dark and intriguing tale of horror filled with twists and turns, seamlessly blending the fantastical and the everyday. As with the previous book, The Devil’s Promise keeps the reader guessing, providing as much evidence for the existence of the supernatural as for con artists. At the heart of this book about demons is a very human protagonist, and for the second time, I was blown away by Hurtado’s ability to harness the rawness of life. The Devil’s Promise includes difficult scenes portraying the harsh realities of end-of-life care, and I applaud Hurtado for including these in a young adult novel. It was something I appreciated as someone who had a grandparent who battled cancer during my teenage years and passed away when I was seventeen.
The end of The Devil’s Promise packs a punch, and if you can avoid spoilers for this book, then I suggest doing so. At this point, Hurtado has proven himself to be a master of surprise twists within twists, and the beauty of this one is that it is right in front of the reader the entire time. It is an extremely powerful moment in the book. With this second novel, Celso Hurtado has easily secured a spot as one of my favourite writers, and I am eagerly looking forward to the next book in The Ghost Tracks series.
About Celso Hurtado
Celso Hurtado was born and raised in San Antonio, TX. He has been a punk guitarist, worked in the political arena, and has played entirely too many hours of The Legend of Zelda. In his writing, he strives to surprise his readers, and make them think twice before investigating that creak in the hallway. The Ghost Tracks is his first novel.
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