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On February 15, 2003, a group of thieves broke into an allegedly airtight vault in the international diamond capital of Antwerp, Belgium and mad... read full description
reviews
Mar 07, 2010
Lisa
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I got this eBook free via Barnes & Noble on Facebook! It's a good read so far -- has the feel of Ocean's 11, except it's a true story. I'm learning a lot of things that I didn't know about the Antwerp diamond district -- which I didn't even know existed.
Nov 21, 2011
Elisha
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This was certainly interesting, and entertaining. Leonardo Notarbartolo is a small time Italian crook and he, along with several crook buddies (who form an informal organization called the School of Turin) plan to rob a vault in Antwerp's Diamond District. Just like the cover says, it's all very "Ocean's Eleven". There's the electronics guy, the supply guy, the charismatic leader guy.
And they are so close to getting away with it when just a couple of bad coincidences More...
And they are so close to getting away with it when just a couple of bad coincidences More...
Feb 27, 2011
Converse
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The largest diamond theft so far occured in Antwerp, Belgium in February 2003. Antwerp is the center of the international diamond trade, in the sense that mined diamonds, their price controlled by the de Beers monopoly, end up in Antwerp to be traded amongst the firms in the industry and also in the sense that much of the polishing, cutting, and quality grading of the diamonds occurs there. The target of the theft was the vault of the Diamond Center. The Diamond Center is a large office
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Jan 29, 2011
Valerie
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The first two or three times I put this book on reserve at my library, it came in at a time when I didn't have time to read it because of school. When I did finally got a chance to read it, I was afraid the reality would not measure up to my anticipation of it. Thankfully, it was everything I anticipated and more!
I really enjoyed reading this book and reading about all the ingenious ideas and gadgets these men came up with in order to thwart the various security measures of the dia More...
I really enjoyed reading this book and reading about all the ingenious ideas and gadgets these men came up with in order to thwart the various security measures of the dia More...
Aug 24, 2010
Dave
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Selby documents a stunning multimillion dollar jewel heist in the middle of Antwerp’s high security diamond capital. The midnight theft was the real “Crime Of The Century.” Despite the sensation of the subject, Selby’s straight-forward writing was flat and stuffed with stiff descriptions like, “...an apparent victim of foul play.” Question: Who writes like that? Answer: A B-Level Crime TV Script Writer. Criticism aside, there is a special place in my heart for True Crime. The details of the gang
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Apr 26, 2010
Doug
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This true crime book could be the plot for Ocean's 11 or Mission impossible, and in fact the author mentions that the film rights have been sold for a version of this story, but probably not the true one.
It follows Leonardo Notarbartolo, who manages to rent an office at the Diamond Center in the Antwerp Diamond district and begins his surveillance of the building. He belongs to a group of criminals from Turin Italy, known as the School of Turin, and they follow a strict code of More...
It follows Leonardo Notarbartolo, who manages to rent an office at the Diamond Center in the Antwerp Diamond district and begins his surveillance of the building. He belongs to a group of criminals from Turin Italy, known as the School of Turin, and they follow a strict code of More...
Mar 08, 2010
Charles
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A cracking good read. One might even call it a safe-cracking good read (har har!). Even though half the book is set up, casing the Diamond Center in Antwerp and planning meetings in Turin, the pace never slows. The experience of reading this book reminded me of when I read The Great Train Robbery many years back. Some people call these books "page turners."
At one point the authors get to talking about how high end thieves view themselves. Not white collar criminals w More...
At one point the authors get to talking about how high end thieves view themselves. Not white collar criminals w More...
Mar 01, 2010
Debbie
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"Flawless" is an exciting and interesting true crime book. I love the eye-catching cover--the diamonds on the cover are iridescent.
The first part of the book set up the crime: who the criminals were, what their personalities were like, and the previous crimes they'd committed. It also explained the technology the criminals had to overcome, and a bit about how diamonds are processed (from digging them from the ground to selling the finished stones in the Diamond District) an More...
The first part of the book set up the crime: who the criminals were, what their personalities were like, and the previous crimes they'd committed. It also explained the technology the criminals had to overcome, and a bit about how diamonds are processed (from digging them from the ground to selling the finished stones in the Diamond District) an More...
Jun 15, 2010
Dave
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I am a sucker for all of the Ocean's 11 style movies that have the intelligent gentlemen thieves. The book tells of a diamond heist where life seems to have imitated art, where men from the 'School of Turin' made off with perhaps 1/2 a billion dollars from what appeared to be an absolutely impenetrable vault. Also of interest to me was Antwerp Diamond Center's almost total reliance on technology for security as a kind of parable for our times.
The subject matter is right up my alley More...
The subject matter is right up my alley More...
Apr 12, 2010
Karen
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This book was very fascinating read for the largest diamond heist in history. It begins in 2003 where a group of men robbed one of the most ultra-secure vaults in the diamond district in Antwerp, but was it really? You know from the very beginning of the book that at least one thief was apprehended, but you don't find out the fate of the others till closer to the end. Along the way you learn a great deal about diamonds and the diamond trade, along with safes, locks, vaults, security measures, An
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Aug 07, 2011
Marshall
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Excellent book, engrossing, highly recommended. I had seen this one in the store a few times. I used my iPhone to photograph the cover, which is how I keep track of books I see in stores and want to read these days. (Later, I check to see whether I can get a Kindle version, to save space in my cramped flat. But sometimes I just buy the books.) I haven't read much true-crime writing and should read more, if this is indicative. Vivid characterization, outstanding job with the settings in Antwerp a
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Jan 09, 2011
Jenny
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While I found Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History a bit slow going for the first 50 pages or so, once the aforementioned heist gets underway (this is nonfiction), it quickly becomes a page turner. While it is never a secret that the criminals managed to pull off the biggest robbery in history, making off with well over 100 million dollars worth of diamonds, gold, jewelry and cash, how they might have done it and where they hid the goods makes up the intervening pages. Given tha
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Jul 31, 2010
Chad
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jun 23, 2010
Joanne
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This is a great true story about, as it says, the largest diamond heist ever. Sort of like Oceans Eleven without the witty banter. Although it's obvious that Selby and Campbell have done their homework about the heist, they let the detail get in the way of the story. It takes a very long time for them to set the stage, talking about diamonds, the diamond district, security in the diamond district, each one of the criminals' backgrounds and expertise, and so on. The crime itself doesn't take
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Mar 10, 2010
Jennifer
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Great nonfiction detailing the biggest take from a heist in the history of the world. The estimate stolen was the equivalent of $100 million to $400 million; the most any of the 5 criminals did in prison was 6 years and one of them was never caught or even identified. None of the loot was ever recovered by the police, so these guys were rich when they got out of jail.
The author writes this book in such a way as to make something so boring as a robbery into something interesting and educ More...
The author writes this book in such a way as to make something so boring as a robbery into something interesting and educ More...
Apr 08, 2010
Eliza
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I was very disappointed by this book. I had high hopes, but I really didn't enjoy reading it. I felt it was unnecessarily wordy. Simple facts were repeated throughout when they needn't have been. There were lengthy descriptions of the tools the robbers used when a simple diagram would have done the job more effectively (and left me with a better idea what we were talking about). Instead of just telling the story as best they could, the author's were heavy-handed with constructions such as "
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Mar 09, 2010
Bridget
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A group of thieves pulled off a perfect robbery in 2003. The alarms didn't trip and no one was injured. Making it out with over one hundred million dollars in diamonds and jewels. The police were able to find out who the culprits were but they were baffled by how the heist went so smoothly. The big dog of the group was an Italian man named Leonardo who worked out of a Diamond Center office. Scott, a law graduate and Greg, an author, teamed up to find out what really happened during one of the mo
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Jan 10, 2012
Jennifer
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From my blog...[return][return][return]Flawless is a fast-paced, insightful look into the world's largest diamond heist in history. Through extensive research and interviews, the authors put together the story of how the Diamond District, know as the Diamond Square Mile, as heavily fortified as Fort Knox and known worldwide as one of the most secured miles in the world, could not only be robbed, but done without tripping one alarm or injuring a single person. The authors weave together the histo
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Jul 14, 2010
Carin
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It's rare that a true story, even of a crime, could be so exciting. Normally these kinds of books get bogged down in the details. Flawless does not. Which is not to say that they skip the details, but the details enhance rather than obscure the plot.
A group of Italians spent 2 years extensively plotting and researching an audacious theft of safety deposit boxes in Antwerp, Belgium in the Diamond District. More diamonds flow through Antwerp than anywhere else in the world. The main pe More...
A group of Italians spent 2 years extensively plotting and researching an audacious theft of safety deposit boxes in Antwerp, Belgium in the Diamond District. More diamonds flow through Antwerp than anywhere else in the world. The main pe More...
Jun 23, 2010
Lydia
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This is a meticulously written book about a meticulously planned robbery. The scene of the crime is Antwerp's diamond exchange. The group that pulled off the stunning heist is called the School of Turin, a band of Italian master thieves. The authors were able to methodically piece together how this gang of four and, maybe more, were able to penetrate the exchange's security system -- a system that many thought was impenetrable -- by making themselves a part of the diamond exchange community.
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Jul 04, 2011
Tony
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I'm not particularly a fan of the "true crime" genre, but I do like crime fiction and every so often, something from the nonfiction side catches my eye and I am intrigued enough to pick it up. And as someone who always enjoys a good heist movie, I couldn't resist this book about the biggest heist in history (a crime I'd not previously heard of). The book and heist revolve around Leonardo Notarbartolo, a small-time Turinese jeweler/thief, who does the fieldwork in Antwerp that allows a
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Aug 05, 2010
Josh
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jul 11, 2010
Priscilla
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What a cool book! Its a story about a group of men who successfully broke in the Antwerp Diamond Center in 2003. It was a supposedly impossible thing to do, but the men spent almost 2 years doing research to accomplish their task. Although four of the men got caught and spent a few years in jail, they got away with millions and millions of dollars in diamonds. This is a very interesting book and I learned quite a bit about the diamond business and the art of stealing.
Sep 08, 2011
Seamus
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Great fun. I love a good heist story and this is a great one, doubly so because it's true. The heart of the book is the preparation for and execution of the heist -- and learning how these thieves managed to rob a vault in the heart of one of the most security conscious neighborhoods in the world (Antwerp's diamond district) is fascinating reading -- but Selby's detours into the history of locks, diamond mining, the Belgian legal system, the culture of Turin, Italy and diamonds themselves a More...
Mar 21, 2010
Terry
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Awesome. I'm a sucker for a good caper-book. I couldn't put it down...I loved the blow by blow description of how the indomitable thieves methodically evaluated and then overcame EVERY SINGLE SECURITY obstacle, from 24/7 cameras everywhere to seismic, magnetic, and motion detectors... and more.
You're not going to love these perpetrators...you won't hate them either.
Approximately $500 Million in diamonds disappeared with none recovered to date. Wow.
You're not going to love these perpetrators...you won't hate them either.
Approximately $500 Million in diamonds disappeared with none recovered to date. Wow.
May 29, 2011
Lynn
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Interesting true story of deception -- I do enjoy deception and deviousness in a book. The stealing of a huge haul from a supposedly ultra-secure safe deposit room in a diamond center in Antwerp. Tells of the planning by the "School of Torino," a group of Italian crooks and the unraveling of much of the scheme after the theft because of a single ill-thought-out incident. (Don't want to be a spoiler here.)
The reader had a calm, dispassionate voice that squashed any sense of More...
The reader had a calm, dispassionate voice that squashed any sense of More...
Nov 15, 2010
Rachel
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I've been infected to really appreciate a good caper and this definitely fit the bill. Along with that, the story of the detective work to solve the crime was great. The story dragged at times and flew at others. The Epilogue where Notarbartolo reinvented to the story in quest for the almighty dollar was a bit of a disappointment; he had been such a good villain until then. Very entertaining read.
Mar 20, 2011
Jonathan
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No vault, however secure, is impregnable. No criminal scheme, however cunning, is foolproof.
Well-constructed heist stories exploit the tension between these simple truths to produce a grand clash of vigilance and nerve, pitting a fortune’s defenders against its would-be usurpers. Such forces animated Steven Soderbergh’s glittering 2001 Rat Pack homage "Ocean’s Eleven." And the formula is deployed with equal skill - and somewhat greater plausibility - in the new true-crime c More...
Well-constructed heist stories exploit the tension between these simple truths to produce a grand clash of vigilance and nerve, pitting a fortune’s defenders against its would-be usurpers. Such forces animated Steven Soderbergh’s glittering 2001 Rat Pack homage "Ocean’s Eleven." And the formula is deployed with equal skill - and somewhat greater plausibility - in the new true-crime c More...
Jan 02, 2012
Brian
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Rather interesting reading about the largest jewelry heist in history in Belgium The author barely had enough information to write the book due to the difficulty of getting information. The jewelry heist was interesting and the breakdown of security ingenious; but the members of the heist and the getting the combination lock remained basically unknown.
Sep 20, 2011
Aaron
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First non fiction book I have read that was entertaining all the way through. The story flows well and it is nearly unbelievable that this truly happened. Quite a view into the criminal mind. End of the book gets a little weird as the authors basically call out another documentarian that didn't agree with them, but you can just skip that part.
