Featured Interview With John Reinhard Dizon

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Here’s my bio: John Reinhard Dizon was born and raised in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn, NY. He participated in local and high school sports at Bishop Loughlin MHS, and was a key figure on the Brooklyn rock scene during the Punk Revolution of the 70′s. Relocating to San Antonio TX in the 80′s, he moonlighted as a pro wrestler before pursuing a BA at UTSA and degrees in Korean martial arts during the 90′s. He currently lives in KC MO where he is studying for his MA in English at UMKC. Mr. Dizon has been studying and writing about American and European society and culture for over twenty-five years.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing dialogue for my stick figure cartoons when I first got out of diapers. My Mom caught me reading the newspapers when I was three years old, that’s true. It became a lifelong addiction.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I collected the entire James Bond anthology by Ian Fleming as a boy and the Conan the Barbarian series as a young man. They had a great influence on my technique. I went on to Shakespeare in University, and am currently studying Franz Kafka.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Here’s the blurb (coming in May 2014 from Assent Publishing)…

Transplant is a shocking tale of murder and mayhem that unfolds as a missing athlete turns up at a NYC brownstone described by police investigators as ‘an indescribable pit of hell’. A missing supermodel found in the streets of NYC leads the police to the residence, where four renowned neurosurgeons are trapped in a basement under siege by NBA superstar Jerome Browne and a victim of horrific experiments known as Combo. Victims of ghastly transplant operations rescued from the building lead police to believe that the doctors are responsible for the demonic experiments. Yet the doctors’ alibi proves airtight as they assign blame to a mysterious Dr. Cyclops who lured them to the brownstone and framed them for the frightening atrocities. Homicide Detectives Tommy Jackson and Orrin Rampersad are being pushed to their limits in solving the case, coming across ever greater abominations as the truth is gradually revealed. They are faced with the choice of indicting four doctors considered pioneers in their field, or a phantasmal surgeon no one can prove actually exists.

Culturally it’s a narrative on three social levels. The ‘Mad Doctors’ live in an upper-class environment, four yuppie Jewish doctors. Tommy and Orrin are trying to raise their families in Lower Manhattan’s middle-class sector. The underground lab is in the high-crime areas of East Harlem. The detectives are symbolically and literally establishing the link between the disparate societies that the Doctors are involved in.

Adam Rauch is the major antagonist, having sacrificed everything in pursuit of knowledge. He cuts a deal with drug lord Django Tamsulosin to have fresh subjects provided for his projects. Yet he sincerely believes that his bionic limbs and transgenetic skin grafts will revolutionize the medical industry. He personifies the ideal of ‘the ends justifying the means’.

Tommy and Orrin are a righteous version of HBO’s True Detective. Tommy is a two-fisted, hard-drinking cop, but would never cheat on his wife. Orrin is the laid-back voice of reason but is absolutely fearless. They would probably prefer a violent arrest but end up with time as their major enemy.

The part I enjoyed most about writing this one was the research that got me back in touch with Manhattan, where I spent half my life. The other part was working with Tommy and Orrin. Quite a pair of characters!

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