Death Is An Illusion: A Luci De Foix Mystery by L. Lee Kane

Luci de Foix is an archeologist and artifact expert who travels extensively to country’s attempt to save their priceless treasures. On a trip to Greece, she discovers a clay shard with writings from an ancient society that disappeared during an earthquake on their island of Helike. When her best friend and adopted sister, Sarah, is kidnapped by a ruthless Russian oligarch determined to find the legendary treasure of Helike, they struggle to survive against terrifying odds, only to discover a secret that governments will kill for…even her own.

 

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Linda L. Kane


What was your path to becoming a writer? 

As a kid, I grew up in Inglewood, California, my mom worked as a waitress, my dad had left and we were very poor, so poor that the leftovers from others at the restaurant were given to us for food. It was a nice restaurant so we really did get pretty terrific food. This left me with my mom gone, hours to write. I was left alone most nights and for me, writing became an escape. I could be anyone, a wealthy person, an artist, or an actress. It was all in my imagination and I had big dreams.

 

Who has informed your writing the most over the years?

As a child, I read everything that my school library had in biographies. Women that were courageous, women of science, women who made a difference in other’s lives.

 

 Can you tell us a little about archeologist Luci De Foix? 

Luci de Foix was placed in an orphanage after her parent’s death. Little did she know that there was a group of men, The Order, that had been watching her family for hundreds of years, waiting for the opportunity to acquire a very important codex. 

 

What is the relationship like between Luci and Sarah? 

Luci met Sarah at the orphanage, two lonely little girls who found one another, helped each other, protected one another. Luci’s grandparents who lived in France, finally found Luci and came to take her home. They saw the friendship between Luci and Sarah and didn’t want to tear them away from each other, after many months, Sarah was adopted and came to live with Luci and her grandparents

 

What are they up against in Death Is an Illusion? 

Sarah became an expert in computer science and was on a scientific expedition in Greece where the group came across evidence of an island that had long been forgotten, Helike. Some of the people survived and made they’re way across oceans to South America carrying with them a very special plant that could heal the sick forever. Many people that were on that expedition told others, namely the Russians who were out to acquire that plant. Sarah flew home to have Luci come with her to Greece and read shards of pottery pinpointing the location of the lost tribe of the Helike’s.

 

What are some interesting facts you discovered in your research? 

Something I discovered in a BBC magazine was that there was an island, Helike that was destroyed by a volcano and a tsunami. Aristotle believed that this was Atlantis. Something that all of us know is that there are many plants in S America with healing properties, the land is being destroyed by loggers and others. Soon there will be no plants to help us as a people.

 

Have you ever been to Greece? 

I’ve never been to Greece, had a missed opportunity on a sailboat. Maybe one day, I’d like to see what they’ve found of Helike.

 

What’s next for you?

A continuation of the adventures of Luci de Foix. I wrote her first book, The Black Madonna: A Popes Deadly Obsession, and I would like her and her friends to find the book John Dees was writing about Angels. His delving into alchemy and gold. That should be a fun mix.


About L Lee Kane

Linda L. Kane MA in Education, PPS, School Psychologist, and Learning Disability Specialist, is the author of Death on the Vine, Chilled to the Bones, Death Among Us, Non-Fiction with Nina Amir, The Black Madonna, A Popes Deadly Obsession, The Sorceress, and Death is Only An Illusion. She has written several children’s books, including Clyde to the Rescue, Matty’s Adventures in Numberland, Cowboy Jack and Buddy Save Santa, Katerina Ballerina, and Witch Number is Which. She lives with her husband, two dogs, and eight horses in California.
Writers’ Associations: Sisters in Crime. The Open Book, A Novel Idea, 2nd Chance Romance, Make Mine Mystery, The Mystery Reader, Romance Writers, and Writer Unboxed.
Articles written: Kings River Life, Make Mine Mystery, Woodward Lake Magazine, Audere, Master University with Nina Amir, and Dark Rose.
Social Media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and Youtube.

www.lindaleekane.com

Author Steven Konkoly Discusses the new Ryan Decker Series

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Former CIA operative turned mercenary for hire Ryan Decker’s specialty is rescuing kidnap victims. Hired by an influential US senator to liberate his daughter from a human-trafficking ring, Decker never anticipated sabotage or that the assault could go so disastrously wrong. The hostage is dead. His team is wiped out, and so are their families, including Decker’s own wife and son—eliminated one by one by the Russian mafia. And he’s survived to take the fall.

When he’s inexplicably freed soon into a ten-year sentence in federal prison, Decker suspects another setup. And private investigator Harlow Mackenzie knows he’s right. She has evidence that a power greater than the Russian mob was behind the raid that ruined Decker’s life.

The next move in a nationwide cat-and-mouse game of high-level sedition is up to them. Fueled by revenge and an obsession to clear his name, Decker has only one mission: to destroy a growing conspiracy before it’s too late.

 

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Interview with Steven Konkoly

 

What kind of person is Ryan Decker?

Ryan Decker is the quiet professional type. Cautious, meticulous and constantly evaluating his circumstances/situation. He’s a dedicated family guy (or was, before what happened to his family), humorous in a dry and sarcastic way and loyal.

 

 

What kind of skills does he bring to the table that make him a hostage rescue operator?

Decker was a former U.S. Marine Corps field intelligence officer, who served overseas in various hot spots and conflicts. After the Marine Corps, he spent a few years in the CIA’s Global Response Staff (GRS), protecting overseas CIA assets, guarding sensitive CIA run facilities and participating in highly classified CIA missions. He got the idea to form the World Recovery Group (his VIP hostage rescue/recovery firm) while working for GRS. He met Brad Pierce, his main partner at WRG, and one of the main collaborators/recurring characters in the Decker books, in GRS.

 

 

 

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Who is the US Senator who hires Decker and what role does she play in the story?

Senator Margaret Steele is a long standing senator from Maryland, whose daughter is kidnapped (backstory for book 1) and vanished. Another senator recommends that she hire Ryan Decker’s firm to find his daughter…and the rescue attempt goes terribly wrong.

 

 

What are Decker’s strongest traits that will help him survive the odds against him?

While Decker is a meticulous planner, he’s also an excellent improviser, constantly assessing and adjusting his plan. This saves him in a number of situations. He’s a good judge of character and accepts help when he needs it. He’s not above leaning on associates and friends to get a job done or survive a situation. He’s also a quick decision maker, which allows him to maintain a quick tempo during missions…his enemies have a hard time keeping up.

 

 

What did you enjoy most about writing this story?

I thoroughly enjoyed the revenge aspect of the story, and rebuilding Decker from scratch. At the start of the story, he’s lost everything…building him up again was one of the most satisfying aspects of the story. Equally as fun…assembling a new crew around Decker. He’s clearly up against nearly insurmountable odds from the outset of the book, which required him to accept help and seek help from the most unlikely people.

 

 

What was the most challenging?

Building the relationship between Ryan Decker and Harlow Mackenzie. Getting that right and not rushing their relationship took some rewrites.

 

 

What’s next?

Book 2, THE RAID. Release date is October 5. THE RAID will bring the team back together to unravel another conspiracy and tie up some loose ends from Book 1.

 

 

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Steven is the bestselling author of ten novels and several novellas, including a commissioned trilogy of novellas based on the popular Wayward Pines series. His canon of work includes the popular Black Flagged Series, a gritty, no-holds barred covert operations and espionage saga; The Perseid Collapse series, a post-apocalyptic thriller epic chronicling the events surrounding an inconceivable attack on the United States; and The Fractured State series, a near future, dystopian thriller trilogy set in the drought ravaged southwest

You can contact Steven directly by email (stevekonkoly@striblingmedia.com) or through his blog

(www.stevenkonkoly.com).

 

 

 

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