Hey, it's NPR's book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. I don't know if you've ever gotten a call

from a debt collector, but it's really scary. You know, they call once, twice, and it just becomes

this thing hanging over you, possibly lurking behind every unknown caller. Today's book takes

that fear seriously and blends it with some actual ghosts.

It's Raul Palma's A Hailea Gardens,

and he talked to NPR Scott Simon about how debts, of all kinds,

you know, financial, personal, have a way of creeping into every empty pocket in your life.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

On our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

When Rall Palma's novel, a haunting in Hia Gardens opens, Hugo Contreras feels his life is shrunk.

He lives in a small bare cell of a Miami apartment

after his beloved wife, Melly has died. He cringes under medical debt with only enough

discretionary income to indulge in a single cafetito each week. One day he gets another call

from a debt collector, Alexei Ramirez, and is about to hang up when he learns he needs his help.

Hugo is a Babelow.

He spiritually cleanses haunted houses.

And if he can banish spirits from Alexi's house, the collector will banish Hugo's debt.

Raul Palmer, born and raised in Miami, is now on the fiction faculty at Ithaca College,

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