The House Always Wins

by Benjamin Lilly, Merril Seidl (Illustrator)

351 pages, Hardcover

Published May 11, 2025

Reviews

[Tom Gase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably closer to a four-star rating for me, but to be honest I don't have many friends that are authors and I'm trying to help him out a little with the five-star nod. That being said, this is a very well written book of 13 short stories (one of them pretty long at nearly 100 pages that is my favorite) that have great characters and very good dialogue. The author uses the term "grits teeth" a little too much, but other than that, it's basically flawless writing. You find yourself rooting, sobbing and cheering for some of the characters and then are surprised when some that you thought might be gone, return in another story that makes the previous one even more likeable with added background knowledge. Of the 13 stories, there was only one or two that I thought were good, but didn't blend with the other ones, but still held up very much on their own. Overall, the book kind of has a Stand by Me vibe, with elements of Mystic River, Goonies and Stranger Things. Good stuff and I expect great things on the horizon for this talented writer.

[Debra Lilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Full disclosure: The author of this book is my son.]
The House Always Wins is a collection of linked short stories that explores the weird and mysterious town of San Raquel. It is, in no particular order: laugh-out-loud funny, poetic, complicated, super-creepy, and delightful. [Again, possibly a biased perspective.]
If you enjoy just-off-from-reality writing - the kind of story where something moves out of the corner of your eye, but there's nothing there - you will enjoy this book.