Former Fox 2 anchor’s latest furthers story of CIA operative
There was an eight-year gap between Alan Lee's first and second novels. But there's a good reason why.
Life got in the way, the former Fox 2 Detroit news anchor explains.
After the publication of 2013's “Sandstorm” — which introduced ex-CIA operative Alex Koves — Lee and Sean Quisenberry Lee, his wife of 26 years, moved from Franklin to Orange County, Calif. Their eldest son went to the University of Southern California, and their youngest son began high school. Lee, a Chicago native and Purdue University alumnus who once played semiprofessional baseball, trained his youngest, who tried out for the freshman baseball team (which he made) before researching and writing “Ashes to Ashes.”
“It won't be eight years before the next one comes out, I guarantee you that one!” Lee promises with a laugh.
In “Ashes to Ashes,” Mossad agent Nathan Yadin — alias The Devil — learns of an operation to sabotage a key nuclear treaty, along with a plot to kill Koves and his exlover, Nora Mossa, a CIA operative. Alex and Nora must form an uneasy alliance with The Devil as they face a ruthless assassin named Erik Snow, who's never failed a single mission.
“‘Sandstorm' left a lot of questions unanswered,” Lee says. “I kept hearing from readers over the years: ‘What happens next?' ‘I can't wait for the next one.' ‘We have to find out what happens to Alex' … I felt before I could even move on to another standalone story involving Alex, I had to wrap up everything in ‘Sandstorm' that was left open.”
At the same time, Lee had to come up with a totally new story to move the characters forward. The Devil, who also debuted in “Sandstorm,” was an integral part of the book.
“He's almost like the second protagonist,” says Lee, who anchored the news on WJBKChannel 2 from 1996-2014.
“He and Alex play well off each other,” he says. “There's that tension between Nora and him, where she doesn't understand why Alex protects him so much and believes him until she actually finds out why. … I find him to be an intriguing character for his skill level and the amount of respect he commands not only in Mossad but around the world in the people who actually believe that he exists or just the myth of him.”