What do you think?
Rate this book
The Lost Reflection #1
The Lost Reflection: Unleashing the Darkest Legend of New Orleans
“‘What the hell?’, I uttered softly. The faint vision I witnessed rocked the foundation of my beliefs to the core; the chills running up my spine were undeniable. Instantly, the gray area between fact and fiction blurred into one. I was waste deep in a river of shit.”
Brian Denman, a retired CIA agent and lethal mercenary turned private investigator, unearths the scum and scandals among the politically powerful. When his friend Phillip Wilder, owner and editor of Urban Legends tabloid, recruits him to gather information for a blockbuster story, Brian cascades into a series of unexpected events. Sent to New Orleans, Brian probes into the centuries old myth of what the Vatican conceals on the third floor of the Ursuline Convent. As he delves deeper into the mystery, Brian is hurled into New Orleans’s dark and dangerous underworld, a labyrinth culminating in an epic battle of destiny and revenge.
Upon his first visit to The Big Easy in 2004, Bruce Jones’s fascination with the legend of the Ursuline Convent inspired this debut novel. With additional research trips and a love for classic horror films, Bruce crafts a captivating and disturbing tale, creating an amalgamation of fact and fiction. Visit www.thelostreflection.com for details about Bruce, the New Orleans experience, and many novel extras.
Brian Denman, a retired CIA agent and lethal mercenary turned private investigator, unearths the scum and scandals among the politically powerful. When his friend Phillip Wilder, owner and editor of Urban Legends tabloid, recruits him to gather information for a blockbuster story, Brian cascades into a series of unexpected events. Sent to New Orleans, Brian probes into the centuries old myth of what the Vatican conceals on the third floor of the Ursuline Convent. As he delves deeper into the mystery, Brian is hurled into New Orleans’s dark and dangerous underworld, a labyrinth culminating in an epic battle of destiny and revenge.
Upon his first visit to The Big Easy in 2004, Bruce Jones’s fascination with the legend of the Ursuline Convent inspired this debut novel. With additional research trips and a love for classic horror films, Bruce crafts a captivating and disturbing tale, creating an amalgamation of fact and fiction. Visit www.thelostreflection.com for details about Bruce, the New Orleans experience, and many novel extras.
- GenresVampires
258 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
6 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Bruce T. Jones
4 books9 followersWhy vampires some ask. I’ve always held a fascination, all the way back to the days of Bela Lugosi for classic horror. So it wasn’t a huge surprise anytime my subconscious reeled off some fantastic tale of the undead. This story was certainly not the first, and most likely will not be the last of its kind.
But my brain has always told me bedtime stories, at all hours of the day, all the way back to my elementary school classrooms. Unfortunately, nobody ever told me I was supposed to be writing these down. It wasn’t until I stumbled across the legend of the Casket Girls of the Old Ursuline Convent in New Orleans, that I was moved enough to actually write my musings. Never believing I would become a writer, the story resided on my laptop for almost nine years. Things have changed.
Now I write. Not as often as I would like, but my day job has the tendency to restrict my writing, just a bit. What kind of day job? I am a master optician and own a small optical boutique, Studio Optix, in Virginia Beach. Before that, a ship fitter at Norfolk Shipbuilding and Dry Dock. Not really the classical foundation of a writer, but stranger things have happened.
I hope you will enjoy my work. Please, never mistake the opinions of my characters for my own, and enjoy each tale for what it is intended to do, entertain. I look forward to sharing many tales of suspense, romance and humor over the upcoming years.
But my brain has always told me bedtime stories, at all hours of the day, all the way back to my elementary school classrooms. Unfortunately, nobody ever told me I was supposed to be writing these down. It wasn’t until I stumbled across the legend of the Casket Girls of the Old Ursuline Convent in New Orleans, that I was moved enough to actually write my musings. Never believing I would become a writer, the story resided on my laptop for almost nine years. Things have changed.
Now I write. Not as often as I would like, but my day job has the tendency to restrict my writing, just a bit. What kind of day job? I am a master optician and own a small optical boutique, Studio Optix, in Virginia Beach. Before that, a ship fitter at Norfolk Shipbuilding and Dry Dock. Not really the classical foundation of a writer, but stranger things have happened.
I hope you will enjoy my work. Please, never mistake the opinions of my characters for my own, and enjoy each tale for what it is intended to do, entertain. I look forward to sharing many tales of suspense, romance and humor over the upcoming years.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 4, 2017
A fortune hunter is tasked with finding out what's hidden on the third floor of the Old Ursuline Convent in New Orleans. He thinks he's going to discover secrets on a par with the Da Vinci Code, but instead discovers vampires locked away from the eighteenth century. An action packed thrill-ride of a novel infused with settings from around New Orleans' French Quarter, particularly in the neighborhood of Bourbon Street.
February 26, 2018
Okay first off this book needs some help in the writing department. Some words and phrases do not make sense sometimes. I kept getting lost here and there. The dialogue of the story was not good it has a lot of grammar errors.
April 8, 2022
NOLA Casket Girls origin
I always gravitate to anything supernatural in New Orleans. But am often disappointed. Not this time. It is obvious that Mr Jones did his homework on the background & location of the story.
There is a legend about a school/convent in the French Quarter. This tales rounds out the legend & the protagonist releases the terror in the perennial party town. Now he must undo what he has done. But can he? I am happily on to the next book in the trilogy. Enjoy the read!
I always gravitate to anything supernatural in New Orleans. But am often disappointed. Not this time. It is obvious that Mr Jones did his homework on the background & location of the story.
There is a legend about a school/convent in the French Quarter. This tales rounds out the legend & the protagonist releases the terror in the perennial party town. Now he must undo what he has done. But can he? I am happily on to the next book in the trilogy. Enjoy the read!
June 20, 2017
I like it.
June 23, 2019
The ending was so unfair!! But a great story on the way.
June 25, 2013
I would have given this book a two star rating but added a third for the simple fact that I am nostalgic of my New Orleans vacation. The editor for this book, if there is one, missed a slew of mistakes and the characters spoke like robots. I'm not one for crime novels, so maybe that's my fault for reading this and expecting to enjoy it more than I did, but this certainly was, in my eyes, a "crime" novel with a splash of romance and a dash of vampires. In fact, the vampires and crime were only discussion points for the first half of the novel which seemed to be focusing on the romance portion. Then, when the vampires truly took a role, I was left wondering "but what happened" with the romantic perusals.
Some of the descriptions of the city were pretty spot on while many other portions of the book, pertaining to the history and city details, were incorrect. Again, maybe my own knowledge is lacking as I am not a New Orleans resident but a visitor. However, I spent a good deal of times on historic tours, learning about the construction of the city and homes, in addition to hearing about the vampire legends - and that was just for when I was in the city! This isn't counting what information I was able to gather on my own before and after I visited. So I was disappointed in that and felt that the author might have never visited the place to begin with. That maybe he wrote this based off of google map searches and guess work.
And yet, a shop-keep suggested the book to me and praised it. Maybe it was a selling point to reach a certain daily goal, but I had expected more. The plot is interesting but the writing style, and certainly the editing, make the book sag under the weight of poor execution.
Some of the descriptions of the city were pretty spot on while many other portions of the book, pertaining to the history and city details, were incorrect. Again, maybe my own knowledge is lacking as I am not a New Orleans resident but a visitor. However, I spent a good deal of times on historic tours, learning about the construction of the city and homes, in addition to hearing about the vampire legends - and that was just for when I was in the city! This isn't counting what information I was able to gather on my own before and after I visited. So I was disappointed in that and felt that the author might have never visited the place to begin with. That maybe he wrote this based off of google map searches and guess work.
And yet, a shop-keep suggested the book to me and praised it. Maybe it was a selling point to reach a certain daily goal, but I had expected more. The plot is interesting but the writing style, and certainly the editing, make the book sag under the weight of poor execution.
June 26, 2014
The city of New Orleans – home of Mardi Gras, beads, high octane beverages a place where you can party close to 24/7. New Orleans also has a few dark secrets, ghosts, voodoo and vampires. If you have the chance to go to New Orleans do it! It is an experience of a lifetime. While you’re there make time to take one of the Vampire Tours. You will be amazed at the history of these creatures in the Big Easy. This story plays with one of the best kept secrets there. The Ursuline Convent more specifically what is kept on the third floor and why no one is allowed up there. It isn’t the Ark of the Covenant but something darker more forbidden/evil.
Bruce T Jones has given us an adventure that brings the rumors to life. He takes us to the dark side of the Big Easy. If you haven’t been to New Orleans you will still enjoy this story, Bruce has given us just the right amount of back story to become captivated with the characters and events. He paints a good picture of what the city looks like and the people who live and play there. That is not to say he hasn’t taken some artistic leeway to give us the excitement this particular folklore requires. As one of the people who have seen the Ursuline Convent and heard the stories I found this story to be a page turner.
Bruce T Jones has given us an adventure that brings the rumors to life. He takes us to the dark side of the Big Easy. If you haven’t been to New Orleans you will still enjoy this story, Bruce has given us just the right amount of back story to become captivated with the characters and events. He paints a good picture of what the city looks like and the people who live and play there. That is not to say he hasn’t taken some artistic leeway to give us the excitement this particular folklore requires. As one of the people who have seen the Ursuline Convent and heard the stories I found this story to be a page turner.
October 13, 2021
This book was a fast read, and involved Vampires. Brian is a former CIA operative that now works in the private section. He still does dangerous and slightly (??) illegal missions, just for the private sector.
On his latest mission, he is called to get a story for the publisher of Urban Legends in New Orleans. The writer has a good grasp on the scene in New Orleans and mentions many streets that exist in reality in the city...along with knowing cross streets. He has done his research about New Orleans, and the existence of a vampire community here in the city.
He also found out about the rumors about the Old Ursuline Convent on the third floor.
White his knowledge of the city, and its legends of ghosts, vampires and such is right on, somehow this novel didn't grab me enough for me to give it more than a 3 out of 5. It was an easy read, but not that enthralling or exciting for me. But then Vampire stories are a minor obsession for me, and there are just too many others that I find more entertaining.
Reading it the second time, I noticed that a lot of the language was more flowery than I usually like, but still enjoyed it.
On his latest mission, he is called to get a story for the publisher of Urban Legends in New Orleans. The writer has a good grasp on the scene in New Orleans and mentions many streets that exist in reality in the city...along with knowing cross streets. He has done his research about New Orleans, and the existence of a vampire community here in the city.
He also found out about the rumors about the Old Ursuline Convent on the third floor.
White his knowledge of the city, and its legends of ghosts, vampires and such is right on, somehow this novel didn't grab me enough for me to give it more than a 3 out of 5. It was an easy read, but not that enthralling or exciting for me. But then Vampire stories are a minor obsession for me, and there are just too many others that I find more entertaining.
Reading it the second time, I noticed that a lot of the language was more flowery than I usually like, but still enjoyed it.
January 24, 2016
I'm afraid that, for me, this was more of a Lost Opportunity. Although the concept, of an ex-CIA spook hired to investigate a legend, was intriguing and the depiction of New Orleans atmospheric and intense, the telling of the tale was compromised by poor characterisation. Those masculine constantly demonstrated the kind of machismo that makes the prudent leave the bar, while those female were scarcely characters. Even once the relationship between Angelique and Brian became the focus of the narrative, her agency and motivation were constantly undercut, to the great detriment of his development. It is a shame, because this could have been a memorable journey of self-discovery by one of the truly damned.
February 1, 2015
Took me a while to get into this book, but once I did I found myself enjoying it. I would have given it a higher rating but, unfortunately, it doesn't really end. It leaves you hoping you'll find the answers in the sequel. Assuming there is another book. But it did pick up speed and it does have a decent plot. I really hope other books follow this as the story seriously needs to be rounded out a bit more.
March 23, 2015
Started out great. Really was enjoying it. I had a publisher's cut though and some type-os and incorrect word phrasing was bothering me. Then at pone point it appeared an entire chapter was missing. UGH! Again, let's attribute it to the publisher's pre-release version. But then the ending. really? Hated the ending. Is there a sequel?
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews