The Diamond Conspiracy - Softcover

Kublicki, Nicolas M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1402202261 ISBN 13: 9781402202261

Publisher: Sourcebooks Inc Landmark, 2003

Synopsis

The last thing Department of Justice lawyer Patrick Carlton wanted was this case-a minor antitrust suit over a small diamond mine in Arkansas, forced on him by a vindictive boss. Settle it and be done with it, he’s told, and he goes about doing just that-until he finds out what lurks beneath the surface. The conspiracy he uncovers, beginning with an obscure 1920 geological survey and leading all the way to South Africa, Siberia, Rome and the White House, revolves around one obsession: diamonds.

Carlton lands the case of his life, and it will be his last if he can’t locate a hidden Russian diamond stockpile, bring a corrupt White House chief of staff to justice and break up a diamond monopoly controlled by the nefarious Waterboer Mining Co.

Carlton, an unlikely and reluctant hero, finds help from a disparate group, including a beguiling female coworker, a CIA desk-jockey and a flamboyant millionaire-entrepreneur. Lined against them is an array of factions looking to use the diamonds to further their own agendas. Carlton’s quest to find the diamonds-and save his own skin-takes him across the Atlantic and into the Barents Sea, to the Vatican and inside the White House. Forced to confront one foe after another, Carlton finally gets Waterboer in the place he can hurt them most-a courtroom. A compelling page-turner from beginning to end, Kublicki delivers the goods with the legal and military realism of Grisham and Clancy.

"Tom Clancy for the legal set."-Kirkus Reviews

"Kublicki builds an impressively complex plot in this well-crafted, exciting political thriller...[he] shows more than enough of the right stuff to make this a readable, engaging debut."-Publishers Weekly

"Tightly written and fast paced a la Tom Clancy’s thrillers....Recommended for most popular fiction collections."-Library Journal

"This is an enormous novel for first-timer Kublicki, and though vast in scope, its intense drama keeps the pages turning at a quick pace. Look forward to his next work."-Booklist

About this title

About the Author

Nicolas M. Kublicki is a lawyer who spent much of his career with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. This is his first book. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

From Publishers Weekly

Using the monopolistic practices of the diamond industry as his blueprint, Kublicki builds an impressively complex plot in this well-crafted, exciting political thriller. It begins innocuously enough when a suave billionaire named Max MacLean buys the site of a former diamond mine in Arkansas. His attempt to develop the old mine triggers a series of threats from various governmental groups; then MacLean's lawyer is murdered after completing the transaction. Patrick Carlton, a hard-nosed attorney from the Justice Department, takes on the case, and he and his attractive younger colleague, Erika Wassenaar, soon find themselves being chased by a series of would-be assassins. The investigative trail eventually leads to a powerful, corrupt South African diamond conglomerate, Waterboer, which is trying to purchase a reserve of Russian diamonds in an attempt to maintain control of the world supply. Assisted by MacLean and a CIA agent named Pink, Carlton and Wassenaar head off to Murmansk to try to get to the stash first in an adventurous subplot that features plenty of unexpected twists and turns. Kublicki's background as a Justice Department attorney helps him authenticate the details of a conspiracy that stretches to the highest levels of the White House, and he keeps the tight, riveting plot clipping along despite several characters who are one-dimensional and cartoonish. The pace slows toward the end, as Carlton journeys to Italy to enlist the aid of the Vatican and then a Mafioso to try to bring down the diamond cartel, but Kublicki shows more than enough of the right stuff to make this a readable, engaging debut.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Sourcebooks Inc Landmark
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1402202261
• ISBN 13: 9781402202261
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 528