The Black Madonna by Linda Lee Kane is a fast paced page turner that involves a conspiracy within the Catholic Church. Luci de Foix loses her parents in a suspicious car accident and ends up in an orphanage. She is later adopted by her maternal grandparents, who also both perish in a fire. Switching between the 1100s and the present time, the novel also tells the story of Esclamonde. A diary, which hides a codex written by Thomas, one of the apostles of Jesus, is given to Luci by a mysterious young man. When a monk leaps to his death as he tries to get the manuscript from Luci, she decides to decode the secret of Esclamonde’s diary herself. And as she discovers her true identity, a conspiracy also unravels that touches the heart of the Vatican.

The Black Madonna is a fast paced thriller that provides an informative and entertaining escape as the reader goes through a mix of religious and historical elements dating back to the height of the conflict between the Catholic Church and the Cathars in the 1100s. That the main plot itself happens in contemporary time adds a unique twist to the story. Young and vulnerable, there is something about Luci that is easy to like as she unwittingly puts her life in danger to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Esclamonde’s diary. As the plot thickens, Luci finds herself in the center of a conspiracy where she cannot trust anyone, not even the only living person on earth that is closest to her. The Black Madonna is certainly a book that will keep your night lamp burning.

In an interesting and intriguing new work by author Linda Lee Kane, The Black Madonna is a story that will keep readers turning the pages from the start straight through until the very end! Follow the story of Luci de Foix, a young woman who was orphaned at the age of nine when her parents were killed in a car accident. But the more Luci researches, the more she realizes that there might not have been an "accident" at all. A mysterious group called The Order has been keeping watch over her family line for hundreds of years, and has been waiting for the day when a secret diary will be delivered to them, unlocking a codex that The Order desperately wants. And when just such a diary is delivered to Luci when she is twenty-nine years old, she realizes that it might be the only way to learn her true family history and the key to her own future. Will Luci be able to figure out the codex in time to save herself and avenge her family? You'll need to read this excellent book to find out!

I so enjoyed The Black Madonna. Author Linda Lee Kane has provided her readers with an exciting and adventurous read, as well as a complex and fascinating main character in Luci, that will leave them wanting more. This story line has something of The Da Vinci Code feel to it, but in the very best of ways! Any reader that loves mysteries, adventures, thrillers, or books with a great deal of history thrown in should definitely read The Black Madonna. I highly recommend this book, and I look forward to reading more from author Linda Lee Kane as soon as I possibly can!