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Gemstone Thriller #2
A Fistful of Diamonds
Fast-talking gem expert Lonny Cushman encounters the dangerous and malevolent world of the African gem industry as he accompanies a young female seminarian from New York to Rwanda in search of her missing father. Once they reach Africa, Lonny chases a collection of flawless green diamonds through the killing fields of the Congo. Their survival depends upon negotiating the bloody network of the conflict-ridden African diamond trade, including Islamic jihadists, corrupt military officers, Israeli agents, Ukrainian arms dealers, and a whole host of con men. Can Lonny save himself and the young seminarian from a tragic demise?
- GenresMystery ThrillerAfrica
196 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 16, 2009
Lonny Cushman is on the hunt for the rarest of diamonds, natural green diamonds, and his ticket into war torn Rwanda is a nineteen year old seminary student who is looking for her father. Right away their welcome is put to the test as they are literally thrown out into the street by the Episcopalian Church and are forced into shady deals with the CIA. Lonny navigates his way through the people and the country, heading ever closer to his green diamonds, praying that he and his cover, Ms. Alice Carpenter, will somehow manage to come out ahead against a country gone insane. Its only when he has his hands on them that he has to acknowledge the incredible power these diamonds bestow upon the owner. In a world turned upside down with hate and injustice, Lonny is forced to make choices that may haunt him forever.
Wow. This book had me right from the beginning. I loved it. I didn't love Alice, however. In fact, she darned near ruined this book for me. I hated her. Stupid, hypocritical, self righteous little %$@!&. At one point she started spouting off quotes from the Bible during the Worst. Moment. Possible. I was frothing at the mouth just waiting for someone to kick her out of the car and leave her to God's tender mercy out there in the middle of the Rwandan killing fields. Totally unChristian of me, but there you go.
Lonny Cushman was an incredibly complex character and reading his story was what I enjoyed so much about this book. He veered from coldly practical, to hotly emotional and throughout it all he had a fierce desire to survive that one cannot help but admire. Love him or hate him, "the will to survive is as universal and destructive as death itself" and it must be respected. I refuse to judge this man for his actions, for doing what he had to do. When he was was able to fight back, he did so decisively, without thought for personal safety, and when his back was to the wall, he still did what he had to do and I respect that.
But it doesn't mean my respect for Lonny Cushman has no bounds. His love affair with Alice Carpenter was one of the most nasty things I've ever read. The sex between them was just awful. Eye gougingly bad. First off, he's thirty years old with light years more experience that her, while she was a scared nineteen year old who was probably banking on the hope that the use of her body would keep Lonny around to help her. I'm hardpressed not to call her a whore and a stupid one at that. Normally I would applaud any woman for using her God given ability to bend the male species to her will, but she was one of the most irritating females I've ever read about.
While I wished Lonny Cushman could have ditched the damsel in distress, Alice still wasn't enough to kill this book for me. The pacing, the vivid environment, and the haunting portrayals of genocide, followed by equally horrific scenes of counter genocide all came together and made one incredible and exciting book. Plus, there was a great character in Jean-Batiste, Lonny's driver, bodyguard, and interpreter.
This short book, only 196 pages, is actually the second story involving Lonny Cushman, and the second book in John B. Robinson's Gemstone Thriller series. But regardless of being book 2 of a series, this book was capable of standing on its own two feet as a standalone novel. The author gave enough backstory that I was able to follow along smoothly whenever events from the previous book were mentioned. For a book I randomly picked from the Amazon Vine program this was was an excellent find, one that succeeded in grabbing my attention and dragging me into a world I hope to never find myself in.
Wow. This book had me right from the beginning. I loved it. I didn't love Alice, however. In fact, she darned near ruined this book for me. I hated her. Stupid, hypocritical, self righteous little %$@!&. At one point she started spouting off quotes from the Bible during the Worst. Moment. Possible. I was frothing at the mouth just waiting for someone to kick her out of the car and leave her to God's tender mercy out there in the middle of the Rwandan killing fields. Totally unChristian of me, but there you go.
Lonny Cushman was an incredibly complex character and reading his story was what I enjoyed so much about this book. He veered from coldly practical, to hotly emotional and throughout it all he had a fierce desire to survive that one cannot help but admire. Love him or hate him, "the will to survive is as universal and destructive as death itself" and it must be respected. I refuse to judge this man for his actions, for doing what he had to do. When he was was able to fight back, he did so decisively, without thought for personal safety, and when his back was to the wall, he still did what he had to do and I respect that.
But it doesn't mean my respect for Lonny Cushman has no bounds. His love affair with Alice Carpenter was one of the most nasty things I've ever read. The sex between them was just awful. Eye gougingly bad. First off, he's thirty years old with light years more experience that her, while she was a scared nineteen year old who was probably banking on the hope that the use of her body would keep Lonny around to help her. I'm hardpressed not to call her a whore and a stupid one at that. Normally I would applaud any woman for using her God given ability to bend the male species to her will, but she was one of the most irritating females I've ever read about.
While I wished Lonny Cushman could have ditched the damsel in distress, Alice still wasn't enough to kill this book for me. The pacing, the vivid environment, and the haunting portrayals of genocide, followed by equally horrific scenes of counter genocide all came together and made one incredible and exciting book. Plus, there was a great character in Jean-Batiste, Lonny's driver, bodyguard, and interpreter.
This short book, only 196 pages, is actually the second story involving Lonny Cushman, and the second book in John B. Robinson's Gemstone Thriller series. But regardless of being book 2 of a series, this book was capable of standing on its own two feet as a standalone novel. The author gave enough backstory that I was able to follow along smoothly whenever events from the previous book were mentioned. For a book I randomly picked from the Amazon Vine program this was was an excellent find, one that succeeded in grabbing my attention and dragging me into a world I hope to never find myself in.
August 14, 2026
Okay book, entertaining story but very choppy. One minute the female is childlike and naive the next a mature seductress. The scenes of central Africa were horrific and gruesome. If the scenes of genocide were even close to the truth, then it is mind numbing as to how these tragedies were ignored. However, the story was good, not great. The book would have benefited from more character development a clear explanations of events.
August 4, 2011
Gem dealer and an expert in gems since he was a child, Lonny Cushman has been enjoying his post-divorce life in Manhattan, helping raise his eight-year-old daughter. Trips to dangerous, dark corners of the world are all part of Lonny’s stock in trade, though, so he doesn’t flinch when a church to which he contributes heavily asks him to accompany a young female deacon to Rwanda to find her missing father, especially when he hears rumors of a priceless suite of natural green diamonds. Even after barely escaping Madagascar with his life only six months earlier, Lonny cannot resist the lure of Africa any more than the rare diamonds, and he and 19-year-old Alice Carpenter are soon on their way there.
The story takes place in the year 2000, just a handful of years after the genocide that swept Rwanda when the Hutus murdered the Tutsis by the million. When Lonny and Alice arrive, the Tutsis are in power and the country is far from at peace. He and the young deacon also do not receive a warm welcome from the bishop there, so Lonny checks them into a hotel and goes about the business of searching for Alice’s father and the green diamonds. Because Carpenter shanghaied $250,000 of Lonny’s donation to the church to finance his dubious African venture, which Lonny believes is also to go after the green diamonds, Lonny is inextricably drawn in. As part of their cover, Lonny and Alice trek to the mountains to see Dian Fossey’s famous gorillas, which also happen to be near the front lines of the conflict raging between Rwanda and Uganda. They are drawn further into danger when Tom Carpenter calls to beg for help. They must travel into the very heart of danger to save him, which is also where Lonny manages to find his diamonds.
This book is much more than an African diamond-buying adventure with a rescue thrown in for a dash of danger. A vital part of Lonny Cushman’s character is his love and understanding of Africa itself, even while its heartless violence repels him. This time, Lonny is not merely trying to escape corrupt officials with a priceless stone, he is in the middle of a war zone where human life has no value, in a country that built a tourism industry on its genocide sites. Not only does the author paint a vivid picture of the current ravages, he digs deep into the utter hopelessness of the verdant green jungle, going as far back as the days of slave trading and ivory hunts. This is the same Africa of the movies “Blood Diamond” and “Hotel Rwanda” with an extra expose on local politics thrown in.
The story clipped along with Lonny meeting a handful of colorful, well-drawn characters. Even the bratty and self-obsessed Alice Carpenter had some depth, though I hope Robinson’s next book will star a woman with some desirable qualities. So far, his female characters have been Lonny’s greedy and shallow ex-wife, the snit-having deacon, and the scant presence of Lonny’s eight-year-old daughter. I would hate to see him fall into a pattern of only ugly women characters sweetened by the presence of a nice little girl. Lonny needs to come across a feisty woman with some wits and skills in some capacity, even if he’s traveling in a man’s world. I would also like to see further development of Annie’s character as she grows up with her very unique father in future books.
Though not quite the book its predecessor was, this is an excellent adventure thriller full of very real danger and harrowing escapes, nicely rounded out by an intimate knowledge of the setting, and starring very well-drawn characters. I impatiently await the next novel from this fine writer.
The story takes place in the year 2000, just a handful of years after the genocide that swept Rwanda when the Hutus murdered the Tutsis by the million. When Lonny and Alice arrive, the Tutsis are in power and the country is far from at peace. He and the young deacon also do not receive a warm welcome from the bishop there, so Lonny checks them into a hotel and goes about the business of searching for Alice’s father and the green diamonds. Because Carpenter shanghaied $250,000 of Lonny’s donation to the church to finance his dubious African venture, which Lonny believes is also to go after the green diamonds, Lonny is inextricably drawn in. As part of their cover, Lonny and Alice trek to the mountains to see Dian Fossey’s famous gorillas, which also happen to be near the front lines of the conflict raging between Rwanda and Uganda. They are drawn further into danger when Tom Carpenter calls to beg for help. They must travel into the very heart of danger to save him, which is also where Lonny manages to find his diamonds.
This book is much more than an African diamond-buying adventure with a rescue thrown in for a dash of danger. A vital part of Lonny Cushman’s character is his love and understanding of Africa itself, even while its heartless violence repels him. This time, Lonny is not merely trying to escape corrupt officials with a priceless stone, he is in the middle of a war zone where human life has no value, in a country that built a tourism industry on its genocide sites. Not only does the author paint a vivid picture of the current ravages, he digs deep into the utter hopelessness of the verdant green jungle, going as far back as the days of slave trading and ivory hunts. This is the same Africa of the movies “Blood Diamond” and “Hotel Rwanda” with an extra expose on local politics thrown in.
The story clipped along with Lonny meeting a handful of colorful, well-drawn characters. Even the bratty and self-obsessed Alice Carpenter had some depth, though I hope Robinson’s next book will star a woman with some desirable qualities. So far, his female characters have been Lonny’s greedy and shallow ex-wife, the snit-having deacon, and the scant presence of Lonny’s eight-year-old daughter. I would hate to see him fall into a pattern of only ugly women characters sweetened by the presence of a nice little girl. Lonny needs to come across a feisty woman with some wits and skills in some capacity, even if he’s traveling in a man’s world. I would also like to see further development of Annie’s character as she grows up with her very unique father in future books.
Though not quite the book its predecessor was, this is an excellent adventure thriller full of very real danger and harrowing escapes, nicely rounded out by an intimate knowledge of the setting, and starring very well-drawn characters. I impatiently await the next novel from this fine writer.
October 21, 2008
Leonard Cushman, a gem expert, is asked to accompany a 19-year-old seminarian to Africa to search for her father. The weak characterization in the beginning is soon shadowed by the backdrop of the carnage in Africa. Cushman's character no sooner meets the seminarian then he starts hitting on her. And the 19-year-old who can recite the Bible verbatim obviously missed the part about morals. But all is forgiven with the author's gripping depiction of the trail to the Congo, past skull pyramids and body parts, the remnants of ethnic cleansing, and the site of boys with lust in their eyes as they murder randomly. While Cushman's real reason for the trip is to acquire green diamonds, there is also more to the supposed disappearance of the seminarian's father.
January 1, 2011
ARC received from LibraryThing Early Reviewers in 2008! This was the second in the 'gemstone thriller' series and I haven't read the first one, which is highly unusual for me. The book was less than 200 pages, and the plot moved very quickly. Lots of gore, so not one for the easily grossed out! Probably will not go back and read the first one, or the next one in the series, it just didn't grab me
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May 31, 2008The is the sequel to Sapphire Sea. It is due out in November 2008.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews