Thicker than water: The House of Order by John Paul Jaramillo

I like short stories, especially the ones that don’t really follow a certain formula or end with a sound resolution because these are the ones that can make you think and speculate about the story or the characters. Good short stories leave me dwelling on them long after I’ve read them. Most of the stories in The House of Order are no exception.

The House of Order, the first collection of composite stories by John Paul Jaramillo, presents a stark vision of American childhood and family, set in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Manito Ortiz sorts family truth from legend as broken as the steel industry and the rusting vehicles that line Spruce Street. The only access to his lost family’s story is his uncle, the unreliable Neto Ortiz.

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