Percy Guzmán Montero is a Costa Rican author and researcher based in the United States. He has worked in Costa Rica, at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI), and currently at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute, where he combines scientific inquiry with literary craft.

His debut historical novel, The Scent of a Bullet: The History of Don Pepe, explores the Costa Rican Civil War and the life of President José “Don Pepe” Figueres, shedding light on lesser-known dimensions of the country’s democratic transformation. He is also the author of its sequel, Forgotten Heroes (Héroes Olvidados: La Historia de Don Pepe), which foregrounds the resilience and sacrifices of the men and women who fought alongside Figueres, adding human depth to Costa Rica’s path toward democracy.

He has recently completed the final draft of The Last Shadow of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a literary work that blends historical precision, medical insight, and restrained poetic language to portray the final hours of the U.S. president, intertwining corporeal decline with memory, power, and silence. The Shirtmaker of Missouri is a standalone literary essay—originally conceived as part of the Roosevelt project but ultimately set aside—that offers a symbolic and introspective exploration of President Harry S. Truman, his moral ascent, and the burden of the atomic decision.

Percy is currently developing a new literary project centered on the crucifixion of Jesus, approached through a symbolic, physiological, and existential lens that examines the limits of the body, language, and will. His work seeks to merge science, memory, and literature in order to recover voices and experiences often neglected by history.