Studded with facts about black market diamond trading, this fictional thriller has adrenaline rushes, villainous plotters, and glamorous gems galore.
People, much like crows, are attracted to bright and shiny objects. The difference between the two is that the crow won’t hurt you to get at a pretty bauble. People?
Well, the characters in Matthew Hart’s new thriller “The Russian Pink” will lie, cheat, and kill to get their hands on precious gems, proving, as Hart warns, that “All diamonds are blood diamonds.”
The story begins in Angola, when a large, grapefruit-sized, pink diamond – the eponymous gem – is pulled from the ocean floor. Murder quickly ensues, then a little fleecing by a diamond merchant before the real trouble hits: The diamond descends on the world market.
As soon as the Russian Pink goes up for sale, it draws the attention of a U.S. Treasury agent named Alex Turner, a man who used to (double-) deal in precious gems as a young man.
Now firmly planted in early middle age, Turner has an ex-wife and a teenage daughter that make him vulnerable to threats from agents, counter-agents, and determined politicians. And then there is Slav Lily.
For the rest of this article: https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2020/1117/The-Russian-Pink-offers-jewels-thrills-and-sneaky-characters