Skin of Tattoos

By Christina Hoag

When your best friends are your worst enemies.
Cyco Lokos gang member Magdaleno (Mags) Argueta comes home to Los Angeles after serving prison time for a robbery, he wants nothing more than to start a new life. However, there's one obstacle he has to overcome first...his old life.
Mags tries to let go of his bitterness--he was framed by Rico, the new leader of the Cyco Lokos--and stay out of gang life for the sake of his Salvadoran immigrant family and his girlfriend Paloma, but trying to integrate into society after a stint in prison doesn't come easily. Faced with low job prospects and Rico's demands to help the Cyco Lokos make money, a broke and disillusioned Mags makes the only choice he can.
However, Mags soon discovers that loyalties have shifted, including his, and being a part of the Cyco Lokos with Rico in charge is far more dangerous and uncertain than it used to be. With his sister pregnant by a rival gang member and his own relationship with Paloma, his best friend's sister, a violation of gang code, Mags becomes caught in a web of secrets, revenge, lies, and murder that might ultimately cost him everything.
“Hoag is a talented writer, summoning Mags’ world on the page with remarkable empathy and detail...A well-crafted, engaging novel about an ex-con trying to break free...surprisingly nuanced and wholly enjoyable. Readers will become quickly invested.” -- Kirkus Reviews
Finalist for Silver Falchion 2017 Award, Suspense

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christina Hoag
• Release date: Jun 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781370413249

Christina Hoag

Christina Hoag is a former journalist who has had her laptop searched by Colombian guerrillas, phone tapped in Venezuela, was suspected of drug trafficking in Guyana, hid under a car to evade Guatemalan soldiers, and posed as a nun to report from inside a Caracas jail. She has interviewed gang members, bank robbers, thieves and thugs in prisons, shantytowns and slums, not to forget billionaires and presidents, some of whom fall into the previous categories. Now she writes about such characters in her fiction. Christina's most recent work is Law of the Jungle, a psychological thriller (Better Than Starbucks Press). Her noir crime novel Skin of Tattoos was a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award for suspense, while her novel Girl on the Brink was named one of Suspense Magazine's best for young adults. She co-authored the nonfiction Peace in the Hood: Working with Gang Members to End the Violence (Turner Publishing), used as a textbook at University of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California and other academic institutions. Her short stories and essays have won several awards and have been published in numerous anthologies and literary journals including Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Lunch Ticket, Shooter, Other Side of Hope and Toasted Cheese.Christina is a former staff writer for the Miami Herald and Associated Press and reported from fourteen countries around Latin America for Time, Business Week, New York Times, Financial Times, Sunday Times of London, Houston Chronicle and other news outlets. A graduate cum laude of Boston University, she won two prizes from the New Jersey Press Association in her newspaper career. Born in New Zealand, Christina grew up as an expat in seven countries, arriving in the United States as a teenager. She now lives in Los Angeles, where she has taught creative writing at a maximum-security prison and to at-risk teen girls. She is a regular speaker at women's conferences, writing conferences and organizations, book clubs and stores, and libraries. Sign up for her newsletter at https://christinahoag.com.