The Jon Drago Adventures
chrisno1
LondonPosts: 3,601MI6 Agent
Jon Drago doesn't want to find trouble - trouble finds him!
From the Middle East to the Heel of Italy, from scorching Spain to South American rainforests, Drago encounters the good, the bad, the beautiful and the brutal in a heart pounding series of thrillers...
Crete: the Blue Lotus Hotel offers opulent, first class service. when Drago suddenly discovers a mutilated corpse, he realises there is more to the Blue Lotus than champagne and oysters. Together with Amy Porter, the hotel's alluring concierge, Drago uncovers a web of secrets and lies among the island's murky underbelly, a world of gangsters, drug runners and killer - the 'Old Families' of Crete...
Back to the Devil is my latest Jon Drago novel, a long project which I have finally realised over the last few months.
I published two ebooks in 2015 / 2016 and have struggled subsequently to continue my writings. I have now crossed that awkward bridge and the third Jon Drago novel will be available from tomorrow on Kindle ebooks with the paperback version to follow.
The link is below.
I don't write like Ian Fleming, but if you want a literary diversion for a few hours, read my work, leave a review and tell me what you think.
Cheap at the Kindle price...
Back to the Devil (The Jon Drago Adventures) eBook : John, Christoph: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
Comments
Your word is good enough for me, my friend, so I have downloaded your book.
Warning - it may take some time for me to get round to it for highly technical reasons (the Bride is reading one just now and I think she has the sequel to that one lined up).
That's grand. Feel free to post a review here, or on Amazon when you're done.
chris I never knew you were a novelist, thats excellent!
that explains why you have such a detailed critical eye when reviewing other peoples stories. You're always picking out the tiniest elements and declaring whether they help or hinder the story. But you have to think like that if you're writing your own stories.
I just don't see when you find the time for all your reviews here, let alone to write three novels
I just don't see when you find the time for all your reviews here, let alone to write three novels
Me neither 😄
JON DRAGO RETURNS !
Jon Drago doesn't want to find trouble - trouble finds him !
From the Middle east to the Heel of Italy, from scorching Spain to South American rain forests, Drago encounters the good, the bad and the brutal in this heart pounding series of thrillers.
The reissues of THE STEEL WOLF and GILGAMESH are available to purchase on Kindle and in paperback.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C7SYMZ71
THE STEEL WOLF - a nightmare of trafficked innocents, vile gangsters and vicious war criminals...
Murder and mayhem in Budapest...
Chaos on a train to Prague...
Death and destruction in Brno...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C7WB79KZ
GILGAMESH - terror and counter revolution in Iraq...
An international mystery of stolen Babylonian artworks...
A beautiful antiquities professor in Abu Dhabi...
A reclusive crazed monk in Tal Afar...
Violence and suspense erupts at every turn for Jon Drago...
Neither do I. @chrisno1's output is prolific. I can barely scramble a post together these days never mind write a novel or a long series of reviews or a Bond article for that matter. I'm working on it though...
Wishing you all the best with your novels, @chrisno1. I'll have to purchase these come payday!
Thanks, and let me know what you think. Reviews on Amzzon or Good Reads always appreciated 😄
Update with the next novel.
A long term project finally coming to fruition...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BZ1F8966?binding=kindle_edition&qid=1691149449&sr=1-3&ref=dbs_dp_awt_ser_img_widg_pc_tukn
I have had to take a difficult decision and delay the release of NIGHT OF THE TARANTA as it simply isn't ready yet.
A new date of 31st October 2023 has been submitted and I will guarantee the kindle book will be available on that date. The paperback also, I hope, but usually it comes a couple of days later.
Pre orders still available: Night of the Taranta (The Jon Drago Adventures) eBook : John, Christoph: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
NIGHT OF THE TARANTA
The Jon Drago Adventures continue...
Puglia, Italy.
Jon Drago, journalist and adventurer is in on holiday in Otranto. By accident he enters into the social circle of Marcelo Sabatini, an Albanian billionaire businessman, politician and philanthropist. The more Drago learns about Sabatini, the more he comes to realise there is a vicious and violent secret which the Albanian and his entourage keep secret. The local Mafia know of it. The local police inspector knows of it. And so too does Sabatini's mistress, the beautiful dancer Ariana.
As the Night of the Taranta festival draws near and one deadly situation leads to another, Drago is drawn inexorably into danger - but can he uncover the secret before a blood feud erupts along the sleepy shores of Otranto ?
Wherever Drago goes chaos, death and sudden fury will surely follow…
Night of the Taranta (The Jon Drago Adventures) - Kindle edition by John, Christoph. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
Amazon.com: Night of the Taranta (The Jon Drago Adventures): 9798864221334: John, Christoph: Books
Night of the Taranta (The Jon Drago Adventures) by Christoph John | Goodreads
Cheap at the price.
Still £2.99 on Kindle and £8.99 in paperback.
Reviews much appreciated.
Go on, treat yourself before Christmas...
Just received this fantastic review from Dick Woodgate - who is one of our members here - regarding BACK TO THE DEVIL.
Dick is a fellow self-published writer who is working on his second 1960s set thriller called RED MOON.
You can visit BACK TO THE DEVIL's webpage on Amazon or Good Reads to see it, and it is also on Dick's own website, which is worth a look. However, I thought I would reproduce it here.
Back to the Devil (The Jon Drago Adventures) by Christoph John | Goodreads
Back to the Devil (The Jon Drago Adventures) - Kindle edition by John, Christoph. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
Blog 1 — dickwoodgate.com
From the first page, the writing is immediately good, very good. The description is top-notch with an abundance of beautiful, poetic phrasing. A villa overlooking the Cretan coastline is described as ‘staring out over the oil slick darkness of Mirabello. The neon seafront cast glittering sinful colours on the black bay’. It offers ‘a spectacular view of temptation.’ The language is at times sublime. Instead of just wearing them, John’s character’s feet are ‘wrapped in sandals’. It’s a tiny detail but an example of how well the writer attends to them. A character, smoking, speaks ‘through a window in the fumes’, and the spread of a garden is restricted by it eventually being ‘eaten by the wilderness’. I could go on quoting more examples. I won’t though; it might spoil it for you because you really need to read this book for yourself.
A sense of something sinister lurking amongst the packaged holiday façade is subtly conveyed before it pounces, suddenly brutal. Great writing already and this is only the first chapter. The set-up in Crete presents some excellent characterisation with very good natural dialogue. There is really good scene setting here; I could sense the dazzling brightness of the Mediterranean sunshine and the oppressive heat is superbly conveyed in the writing, simply by a table fan ‘which shovelled the hot air around’.
The main female character’s lack of height is described by her lover-to-be as being made up for by her possessing ‘poise and authority and tits.’ The language here is knowingly crude – and extremely effective. A simmering sexiness is latent in her character, and a well-presented disharmony develops later between her and the other key female character in this story.
Some early scenes stood out for me: the nightclub is very good, both well rendered and populated. The scene setting here is particularly good and feels very real. Drago’s trip to Sitia is also well told, and I enjoyed the rich descriptive writing of an underwater snorkeling excursion, reminiscent of Fleming’s ‘The Hildebrand Rarity’ or ‘Octopussy’. The author’s uniquely creative style provides gems such as a police captain’s facial features being described from the point of view of a bead of sweat progressing from his hairline, down over his face. Forget using mirrors, it’s an inventive and highly original way in which to build a picture of a character.
Violence is well handled in this book, and the transitions to it from something else are carried out masterfully. The angles the author takes in the description of both violence and sex are uniquely creative. The action scenes too, are accomplished. The plot is revealed in a measured way, but the writing is so enjoyable it almost doesn’t need one. The descriptive writing is that good. In all, this is highly accomplished writing – high praise but due.
The mistreatment of women which was so boldly addressed in Steel Wolf is again present here. These scenes are handled very well with a young female innocence carefully portrayed, and male desire being presented objectively and without judgment through John’s beautiful, signature poetic writing. What stands out here again is the author’s bravery to focus on the pleasure of the act, rather than allowing revulsion to simply ignore or dismiss it – and instead get caught up only with issues of morality, wrong-doing, and the damage left behind. It’s a precarious line to take and it’s admirable to dare to approach a sensitive subject with such candour.
The narrative is presented in a non-linear fashion and this style works well to help build a sense of mystery. At times it can feel a little overdone but I get why it’s employed: the technique allows for key scenes to be revealed only towards the end where they achieve a greater dramatic impact. I also like the way some scenes are introduced, with a scene starting near the end, and then the narrative quickly backtracking to the beginning to follow the story forward again to where that scene had started. It’s an effective method that draws the reader in.
The central character, Jon Drago is a writer, and halfway through this story he describes his novel writing as being semi-autobiographical, ‘The elaborated truth. That’s what I write. You get a good impression of my life from my books.’ This line feels personal and I wonder how much of Drago’s adventures and character are based upon the excursions and the personality of the real author behind this book series. It’s evident from the level of detail in Back to the Devil that the author has spent some time in Crete. Every author draws on their personal experience and certainly, John has done so at least a bit, but maybe it’s more than that. Might Drago represent the author’s alter ego?
This is the third novel I’ve read in the John Drago series and I’ve enjoyed them all tremendously. A writer, caught up in dangerous situations, unflinchingly choosing to pursue a mystery or to seek out the cause of wrongdoing, Drago makes for an interesting protagonist. His character has been continually developed and deepened across the books. From this strong central pillar, the author has strung credible and engaging stories, ever populated with a believable cast of fresh supporting characters.
I look forward to reading and reviewing John’s latest release, Night of the Taranta, this time set in Puglia, Italy.