The Big Thrill featured Poisoned Tears

The Big Thrill featured an article for POISONED TEARS in their March edition.

http://www.thebigthrill.org/2017/02/poisoned-tears-by-j-h-bogran/

Enjoyable interview, and they even asked me to share some pictures from the time I visited New Orleans for the research.

Author Spotlight shining on JH Bográn

Thanks to author Lisa Towles, there is a new interview where I discuss about my new release, Poisoned Tears, but also about my writing choices, and why I write in two languages.

Here's the link. Don't forget to leave a comment.

https://digitalraconteur.wordpress.com/2017/02/24/author-spotlight-j-h-bogran/


Also, here's a direct link to the book available for pre-order.

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Poisoned-Tears-J-H-Bogr%C3%A1n-ebook/dp/B01MTDV2D5

Barnes & Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/poisoned-tears-jh-bogran/1125784661?ean=2940154010204

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/703341

About The Lost City of the Monkey God

I was familiar with Douglas Preston’s work in thrillers, but when I found out he’d write a non-fiction book about Ciudad Blanca, I added the title to my reading list. 

As a Honduran I’ve heard legends of a white city in the region of La Mosquitia, located in the eastern tip of Honduras, so when a story broke out back in 2012 about a discovery I became curious and excited because the possibilities for this discover were endless. Would it turn out to be our Pyramids of Cairo, or our Machu Pichu? In 2015 Nat Geo released a documentary; I must have watched it over 10 times, partly because I played it for my advanced-English students in the university.

I’m sharing here a few thoughts on The Lost City of the Monkey God. It’s a fascinating tale that deals with an ancient mystery in Honduras.

The opening chapter where the author recalls the warnings, and the dangers of what they would be encountering during their excursion into the jungle, made me realize my own jungle adventures as a boy scout were a walk in the park by comparison.

The book covers the several years of effort, frustration, trial and error, and finally, the exploration of a civilization what established and flourished over five centuries ago in La Mosquitia. It has a loose format structure that comprises several sections; among them, Preston’s meeting with Steve Elkins—the driving force behind the quest—, a summary of the several tales surrounding the White City and previous searches for the city, then it goes into a detailed explanation of Honduras’ current status as the most dangerous country in the world. But Preston digs deeper and brings the situation into perspective of the tumultuous history, the stint as a banana republic, and the recent use of the territory as pit stop for the drug trade.

But the clincher was the use of space-age technology to map the area from the air that happened in 2012 and where after analyzing the data they could share their information with the world. It would take another three years before they could organize an in-site dig that finally occurred in January 2015. I particularly enjoyed the semi-diary Preston used for that section as I felt I was in the jungle with them.

The team went into unfamiliar territory for their love of solving a mystery; however, a few weeks after their return, they realized that although they had not removed any relic from the site, they did bring something back with them. This information would later become an important part to solve the puzzle, and to my inexpert opinion, they nailed it.

Get your copy of this new Best-Seller here:
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-City-Monkey-God-Story/dp/1455540005

Rogue One, and the "disneyfication" of Star Wars

First off, I’ll admit to having enjoyed the movie. This opinion/review will not concentrate on the merits of the film per se, but rather take a swing at the broader picture—pun definitely intended.

The truth is Rogue One is a well-acted, slightly better plotted than other entries, and with acceptable special effects. Okay, that star destroyer did look like made out of white Lego plastic, and I wasn’t impressed with CGI Tarkin or Leia; but other than it was fun to watch. Darth Vader is a scene stealer, and that last confrontation in the dark hallway alone is worth the price of admission.

As an individual film, Rogue One could not stay on its own. It is the eternal curse of the spin-offs being dependent on the audience being familiar with the original story from where they come. Still, as part of a larger franchise it is somewhat of a departure from the canon Episode movies. First off, the cast includes some popular and familiar authors. Okay, they are not power-superstars with a $20 Million paycheck, but Diego Luna, Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen and Forest Whitaker are hardly the unknown cast that Mark Hamill, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Daisy Ridley or John Boyega were before their Episodes hit the screens. Also, the flick is somewhat of a throwback to the old kind of moviemaking, focusing more in the story rather than the special effects. When the original episodes were released in 70’s and 80’s, the effects did dazzle, but they only served the purpose of telling the story; whereas Episodes I through III suffered from the vision of man who just wanted to show off what the new technology could do, and thus Rogue One falls closer to the original mark.

Although an entertaining movie, I question its reason for existence. The story tells nothing new, but expands on details of things we’ve already learned. This experiment was not really necessary, just like the now common practice of splitting the last book of a franchise into two movies just so we could pay double the amount of tickets and have to buy two videos instead of one. This sad tradition started with Harry Potter and the Deadly Hollows and will not stop until people stop making those flicks blockbusters. Law of offer and demand, remember?

This movie is the result of what I like to call the “Disney Treatment.” A few years ago when Disney bought Marvel, we got so many different TV series, movies, cartoons, and games even before the ink had dried off. Because of tricky licensing deals they couldn’t put all the characters into one film, but nothing stopped them from making it happen in a cartoon series for Disney Channel.

I had a bad feeling about this. I feared something similar would happen to Star Wars, a franchise that featured a movie every three years, then take a 20-year holiday in between. Now that Disney owns Lucasfilm we can see Star Wars literally everywhere, from the Rebel series on TV, to the standard Episodes, but wait, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet! New movies in the form of “A Star Wars story” are lined up, I understand there are plans for more spin-offs, like from a young Han Solo, etc. Disney will continue to commercialize the franchise by inundating the market with products that would appeal to all ages, genres and even tastes. As long as they continue to create quality products the trend will stay healthy for years to come.

Well, I’m curious to find out how they plan to resurrect the most popular character despite its short screen time: Bobba Fettt. Now, that’s a ticket I’d buy.

PS: A mourning note as I just learned of Carrie Fisher's death. May the Force be with her.

The Thrill List, and Suspense Magazine

A brief description of The Thrill List

Catherine Lea and Brakelight Press are thrilled to bring together New York Times and USA Today Bestsellers Russell Blake and Diane Capri, Amazon #1 Bestseller Joe Konrath, Edgar nominee and Mystery Booksellers Association Bestseller Austin Camacho, short story award-winning author Arthur Kerns, plus Cat Connor, J.H. Bogran, Mark Bastable, Helen Hanson, Jerry Hatchett and Ken Isaacson in a collection of riveting thriller crime reads.


My short story "Stealing the Band." Set in the early 70’s, a deep-cover operative used to gather intel from the Soviet Union is tasked with a new mission that is way out of his league: steal a piece of equipment that could tip the balance of the Cold War.

And to close the year with a bang, Suspense Magazine included The Thrill List in their "Best of 2016 Anthology."

The anthology is currently FREE at several venues. Here is the link to Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Thrill-List-Anthology-Crime-Thriller-ebook/dp/B01LI5L0HM