Sometimes your best friends are your worst enemies. Magdaleno Argueta comes home from prison determined to get out of gang life, but his desire for revenge and respect gets him more deeply into la vida loca with disastrous consequences. The LA version of The Outsiders.

Mags comes home from prison and finds his homie Rico who set him up on a gun charge is now shotcaller of his clica, a position that should rightfully be his. He tries to shrug off his envy, but Rico rubs his face in his newfound power. Mags slowly finds himself getting back into gang life.

After a driveby shooting goes bad, Mags knows he must leave LA to leave his old life--he's got one more thing to do, but not before his final act of revenge on Rico for ruining his life.

A gritty, realistic, character-driven crime drama aimed at the growing Hispanic 18-34 demographic. The story centers on Mags and his five homeboys struggling to break out of urban poverty and find a place in the world through gang membership. Secondary characters focus on Mags's immigrant family from El Salvador and the challenges they face to make a new life. Think Sons of Anarchy for Latinos, a story that has not been done in television to date. The book does not glorify gang life. The novel was based on interviews with gang members in LA and San Salvador and was checked for verisimilitude by gang members incarcerated at Lancaster State Prison.

Author 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 get 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 noir crime novel Skin of Tattoos was a finalist for the 2017 Silver Falchion Award for suspense, while her YA novel Girl on the Brink was named one of Suspense Magazine’s Best of 2016 for young adults. She also co-authored the nonfiction book, Peace in the Hood: Working with Gang Members to End the Violence, which is used as a textbook at UCLA, USC and other universities. She's a former staff writer for the Miami Herald and Associated Press, and wrote from Latin America for Time, Business Week, New York Times, Financial Times, Sunday Times of London, Houston Chronicle and other news outlets. Born in New Zealand, Christina grew up as an expat around the world. She now lives in Santa Monica, where she has taught creative writing at a maximum-security prison and to at-risk teen girls. She is a regular speaker at at writing conferences and organizations, book clubs and stores, and libraries.

Overcoming Monster/Villain,

Main Character

Name: Magdaleno Argueta

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Role: Protagonist

Key Traits: Aspiring, Criminal, Masculine, Skillful, Aggressive, Power-hungry, Decisive, Empathetic, Honorable, Leader, Uneducated, Badass, Desperate, Strong Moral Code

Character 1

Name: Rico

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Role: Antagonist

Key Traits: Criminal, Manipulative, Power-hungry, Masculine, Unapologetic, Uneducated, Badass, Crazy, Greedy, Insecure, Leader, Villainous,Badass,Masculine,Villainous,Narcisstic,Greedy,Power Hungry,Crazy,Criminal

Character 2

Name: Paloma

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Role: Emotional

Key Traits: Beautiful, Faithful, Outspoken, Romantic, Sexy, Uneducated, Aspiring,Sexy,Faithful,Outspoken,Strong Moral Code,Blunt

Character 3

Name: Blueboy

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Role: Sidekick

Key Traits: Strong Moral Code, Underdog, Uneducated, Badass, Faithful, Funny, Masculine