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Published Nov 2020
272 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
An explosive debut featuring renowned diamond expert caught in a web of deception and malice while trying to uncover the secrets behind the most expensive diamond in the world.
When "The Russian Pink"—a stunningly large rose-hued diamond—makes a surprise appearance around the neck of Honey Li, the wife of surging presidential candidate Harry Nash, Alex Turner, an investigator for the Treasury Department's diamond division and former C.I.A. agent, finds himself spiraling down a seemingly endless rabbit hole. A diamond like that always carries secrets, but the web of mystery behind "The Pink" is more complex than Alex could ever image.
Starting with the trail of damage from botched sting operation, Alex wavers between legal and illegal tactics, friends, family, and foes to find out why a mysterious Russian double agent betrayed him and the diamond ended up on a potential path to the White House. For wherever the Russian Pink goes, secrecy, deception, and death surely follow.
With echos of both John Le Carre and Jason Matthews, The Russian Pink is a stylish and fresh page-turner that catapults the reader into the world of blood diamond trading, a world that Matthew Hart, the author of the critically acclaimed Diamond, navigates with authoritative authenticity and wit.
"[A] fast-paced debut novel filled with greed, violence, and politics...The author writes with skill, wit, and evident knowledge about the diamond industry—who knew there were such things as diamond pipes? Top-quality storytelling for thriller fans." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A rare gem, punning aside. The Russian Pink will enthrall fans for Jack Reacher and Jason Bourne, and leave them hoping for more Alex Turner." - Booklist (starred review)
"[A]n intriguing if convoluted spy thriller...The plethora of characters slows the action, and [Hart] tends to tell rather than show, with many of the major plot beats explained after the fact. The original premise and assured prose suggest he's capable of doing better next time." - Publishers Weekly
"The Russian Pink is a deft, fast-paced thriller that shines its light on a fascinating and dangerous world few of us know about: diamonds and how they get from dinosaur days to glistening around beautiful necks and promised fingers. Matthew Hart creates a saga that hurtles through mind-snapping twists at breakneck speed, with killers, con men, cops, and billionaires, all seeking to control a giant, ultra-rare pink diamond. If you want to know the real story that such treasures tell, this is the novel for you." - James Grady, New York Times bestselling author of Six Days of the Condor
"Already an authority on the ways blood diamonds are formed, bought, and sold, Matthew Hart's expertise shines in his first thriller, featuring a rose-colored heavyweight that lies around the neck of the presumptive First Lady. An exhilarating read, The Russian Pink has more facets than even the world's biggest diamond." - Mitch Silver, author of The Apollo Deception and The Bookworm
This information about The Russian Pink was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Matthew Hart has reported on gold and diamonds for Vanity Fair, the Atlantic Monthly, the Wall Street Journal, the London Times, and many other newspapers and magazines. He was a contributing editor of the New York trade journal Rapaport Diamond Report. His award-winning book Diamond: The History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair, was translated into six languages and made into a four-hour dramatic miniseries starring Sir Derek Jacobi and Judy Davis. His book Gold: The Race for the World's Most Seductive Metal, was adapted into a National Geographic TV special. He has travelled from the Arctic to Angola in pursuit of diamond stories, and The Russian Pink is his first thriller. He lives in New York City.
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