The Thieves of Legend by Richard Doetsch 

By John Rabb

Richard Doetsch is back with his next installment of his “Thieves” series November 27^th, THE THIEVES OF LEGEND. Richard came onto the thriller scene with THIEVES OF HEAVEN bringing the thriller world a new character Michael St. Pierre. Five books into the series Richard keeps the action coming, taking readers to all corners of the world with each novel. Richard is not only a very accomplished author, but also a musician, playing and composing for both the guitar and piano. He has scored the soundtracks for several independent short films and his music has been featured on MTV, VH1 and various television commercials. Richard’s first novel “Thieves of Heaven” has been purchased by 20^th Century Fox to possibly be made into a feature film. While it is very rare that an author explodes out of the gate like Richard, it is easy to see why he continues to rise up the ladder in the thriller ranks, with each novel amping up the action. Being a thrill seeker is nothing new to Richard, living life on the edge by being a skydiver, triathlete, expert skier, scuba diver, an erratic golfer and an extreme sport enthusiast who has jumped out of planes, off bridges, cliffs and cranes with rubber bands around his ankles, parachutes on his back and sometimes just enjoying a hundred-foot freefall into water. Bringing into his novels his real life adventures is what the reader will respect. Below you will see an exclusive interview with Richard, to pull back the curtain and see a little more inside the man behind the books.

In THE THIEVES OF LEGEND can you pick out one scene or sentence that you feel captures the essence of the book?

“Simon’s in town,” Michael said.

“Really? I didn’t know he was coming. How long will he be here?”

“A couple days.”

KC sat up suddenly. “What does he want?”

Michael stared at her, formulating an answer, knowing that he would have to phrase it just right; his face was a truth barometer that KC could read even in the darkness of the bedroom. “He’s just saying hello, had a few work questions.”

KC reached up and turned on the light. Michael sat up and stared at her. He always loved the way her blonde hair fell about her face after they made love.

“Don’t even think about it,” KC said.

“I’m not . . .” Michael laughed; he was already backpedaling.

“What does he really want?”

Michael stared at her a moment and then finally relented. He told her about Simon’s request regarding the simple theft of an envelope containing a three-page document and a puzzle box from a home in Italy.

“And you told him no, right?”

“Of course I told him no.”

“Michael, we made a vow, we both agreed—”

“That’s right, we both agreed,” Michael said as he gazed at her. “So when he asks you—I told him to not even think of asking you, but I know he will—when he asks you, you better give him the same answer.”

“You really think—”

“KC, I know you and forgive me for saying this, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you ran off and did this behind my back.”

KC smiled her get-out-of-jail-free smile that Michael always fell for.

But he wasn’t about to let her fall into danger.

“KC . . .”

“I made a vow to you, Michael, I gave you my word,” KC said, kissing him gently on the lips.

Of course they both break their vows, are black mailed, and end up on opposite sides of China battling governments, ancient triads, and an unseen enemy as they are forced into a race to steal two ancient artifacts to save each other’s lives.

Your character Michael St. Pierre is sitting in front of you, what would you like to ask him?

What were you doing before you met your first wife, Mary? Those missing ten years before you met Simon Bellatori, before you met Paul Busch what happened and why don’t you speak of those years? What theft shaped you the most?

Do you find it more difficult to keep the pace up with each thriller book you write?

I think what’s hardest for me is not keeping up the pace, pacing coming natural for me , it’s throwing every idea into one book. I constantly have ideas floating in my head to the point where I can’t wait to get them down on paper.  I write a brief story every day, just a few paragraphs, three acts that I’ll pull out later to evaluate. With so many ideas I can usually refine the best ones (and sometimes combine them) so they germinate into a new tale for a unique stand-alone book, a movie, or a Thieves’ novel.

I want to always try something new, I want to trick myself, thrill myself, bring myself back to the page every day for more and if I can accomplish that for me, I will accomplish that for the reader.

How has social media helped you with the fans?

Social media is terrific in that it allows you to interact with your readers on so many levels, something that use to be confined only to book signings that only served a fraction of the reader base. Social media allows the reader to get to know his favorite authors’ beyond the two sentence bio on the back flap and to see where the ideas come from all the while keeping them abreast of what new books are coming their way. In my case–beyond the Facebook, Bebo, Goodreads, etc–I use Twitter on a daily basis throwing out thoughts and bon motes on hope, lunacy, writing, and life (though you will never hear me write about how I like my toast or what I had for lunch) that helps me stay constantly engaged in the cyber-book-movie-life-world.

For fans just finding out about your work, what is the one thing you hope they take away from your writing?

That they had a good time. While I write to please myself, I always hope I’m surprising, pleasing, and imparting some unknown facts or history to my readers. Most of all I hope I’m sending them off with an appetite for the next book.

Finish this sentence: When I’m not writing a new novel between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm you can find me ____________?

Jumping out of a plane, scuba diving, or training for an adventure race. While I’m always having fun, it’s always research. Making memories, having adventures, seeing the world are the most important things to me and I’m so lucky because it all feeds the writing, it all feeds my imagination, it all feeds the stories I write.

*****

Richard is the international bestselling author of HALF PAST DAWN, THE THIEVES OF DARKNESS, THE 13TH HOUR along with a few other books & movies. He is an adventure racer and extreme athlete who travels the world in search of adrenaline and inspiration.

To learn more about Richard, please visit his website.