FORGOTTEN TOMES
THE OTHER TROJAN HORSE by J . H . Bográn ( TopShelf Columnist )
Twitter @ JHBogran | jhbogran @ gmail . com
Spanish author Juan José Benitez took the world by surprise in 1984 when he published the novel Caballo de Troya or Trojan Horse .
The book is a rarity in many ways . Narrated in first person in the form of a diary , the first part is nobody else but the same author who ’ s a character in the story and recounts the circumstances in which he acquired the memoirs from a Major who participated in a secret experiment with the United States Army .
The experiment , of course , is time travel .
The second part are said memoirs , and the Major explains how he first got involved with the project . Of particular note is the scene where the Major and the rest of the team discuss where , and when , they should travel first . After a prolonged and arduous debate , they settle to visit Jerusalem in the days leading to the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth .
The rest , as the saying goes , is history . Except it is not the history you know , or that you think you know . The author goes to great lengths explaining many of the situations depicted in the four gospels . For example , when Jesus sends his disciples to find a place for the Last Supper He instructs them to
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follow a man carrying a jar of water until he enters a house . ( Luke 22:7-38 ). In Trojan Horse , it ’ s explained that this worked out well because the previous day Jesus had sent a boy with the instructions of where and when to expect the disciples to show up . Yes , it has a lot of cloak and dagger .
As you can imagine , the story started ripples that echoed all the way to the Vatican and about twenty years before the Da Vinci Code became a phenomenon . Later studies speculate the book was based on The Urantia Book , which is a philosophical book that aims at uniting religion and science .
It ’ s an understatement to say the book leaves a huge impact in the reader . For instance , after I read it I became so inflamed that I spoke to everybody and anybody who ’ d listen why the book was not to be taken seriously . I ended my tirade abruptly when my lovely wife pointed out I ’ d been talking about a book I hated for over six months with no signs of slowing down . “ Good or bad , it struck a chord !” she said .
In the same vain as the original Star Wars , the novel was later renamed Trojan Horse : Jerusalem . The book has columns
spawn seven sequels so far and has gain international recognition to the author . Each novel depicts a different trip destination , and they include Masada , Nazareth , Jordan , Canaan , and so forth . The last one , book 9 , was released in 2013 , and to date , the series has sold over five million copies in several languages .
The first book was translated into English , but copies are hard to come by . So if you find one in your shelves , dust it off and bring to the center front . It ’ s worth it .
J . H . Bográn , born and raised in Honduras , is the son of a journalist ; however , he ironically prefers to write fiction . José ’ s genre of choice is thrillers , but he enjoys to throw in a twist of romance on occasion . He has published three acclaimed novels and is a member of The Crime Writers Association , the Short Fiction Writers Guild , and the International Thriller Writers where he also serves as the Thriller Roundtable Coordinator and contributor editor for their official e-zine The Big Thrill .
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