Character Spotlight ~ Noel Hynd's Alex LaDuca

Today the spotlight shines on...........................Alex LaDuca

Noel Hynd's latest series winds up with Countdown in Cairo as Alex LaDuca, seeks to stay alive and catch the bad guys. Noel certainly knows how to writer an intriguing story of espionage and suspense!

Check out the background behind Alex, below ~ over to you, Noel

Brief physical description

Everyone should be so lucky: Alex is 30, or just turns 30 in Countdown in Cairo. She's about 5' 7”, athletic, dark haired, maybe a little too pretty for her line of work. The artists who did the covers for Midnight in Madrid and Countdown in Cairo got it right.

Actor/famous person

Well, any A-list big-bucks actor who might wish to play Alex in film or tv would resemble her very nicely. ;-)

Rel:~ My pick is Catherine Zeta Jones

Strengths and weaknesses

She's devout, ethical and a hard worker. She can get physically tough, due to her training, From her background, she speaks 6 languages reasonably well, which is why she's been hired by the US Treasury to work in an international anti fraud division. I received a couple of letters from readers who thought she seemed “too perfect.” But really, as the story line of these novels progresses, we see that she's far from it. Life has dealt her some severe setbacks, romantically and professionally, in the first book (Conspiracy in Kiev) and the underpinnings of the continuing story is how she persists and keeps going under some very adverse and trying circumstances. She's given now to some dark fits of introspection and a sense of cynicism. She hits the bottle more than some people would find acceptable. But she's in law enforcement and sees some horrendous things day to day. The pressure becomes overwhelming and she has lost the most important other adult in her life. (Anti-spolier there.) So how does she use her strengths and her Christian faith to keep going? How does it change her? Can she practice forgiveness under the extreme pressures that are before her? How does a woman recover from an ideal romance that ended in catastrophe. How does one learn to love and trust again? That's the key to the story.

Quirk (if any)

Against her better and more rational judgment, she is drawn to action and can't stand sitting on the sidelines or being at a desk too long. Also, as the series continues, she's drawn to the wrong men, but just can't help it.

Your inspiration for the character

Alex is modelled on many sources. I struggle to be able to handle a second (French) and third (Spanish) language, so Alex has become my alter ego, being a whiz at both. To give it a shorthand, if you think of Alex as a female Jason Bourne of The Bourne Identity series, you'd get it.

Background to the story

The story zips around the globe, much the way we'd all like to. Or at least I would. One day Alex is in Paris or Madrid or Rome and the next day she's in Caracas or Havana. That's the upside. The downside is that she's always involved in something dangerous and there's always someone around who feels the world would be a better place if Alex got killed.

Thanks for sharing Alex with us, Noel!

On Thursday, the spotlight shines on Tricia Goyer & Ocieanna Fliess' Julia Cavanaugh & Isaac Shepherd from Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana.

Relz Reviewz Extra

Reviews of Conspiracy in Kiev and Midnight in Madrid

Interview with Noel

Buy Noel's book at Amazon or Koorong