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The bestselling author of The Rose Code returns with an unforgettable World War II tale of a quiet bookworm who becomes history's deadliest female sniper. Based on a true story.
In 1937 in the snowbound city of Kyiv, wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son—but Hitler's invasion of Ukraine and Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper—a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.
Still reeling from war wounds and devastated by loss, Mila finds herself isolated and lonely in the glittering world of Washington, DC—until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a silent fellow sniper offer the possibility of happiness.
But when an old enemy from Mila's past joins forces with a deadly new foe lurking in the shadows, Lady Death finds herself battling her own demons and enemy bullets in the deadliest duel of her life.
Based on a true story, The Diamond Eye is a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, of a woman who found her place in the world and changed the course of history forever.
"[A] thrilling novel. WWII heroines are having a moment, and this is a stellar example. Recommend it to all lovers of smart historical fiction [and] her inspiration for the hero of this powerful WWII tale, a librarian-turned-military-sniper, will appeal to an even greater audience." —Booklist (starred review)
"Remarkable…Kate Quinn is a master at crafting an intoxicating, well-balanced blend of immersive period details and deft character work.…The Diamond Eye is a remarkable combination of immersive wartime storytelling, rich detailing and wonderful pacing. What really makes The Diamond Eye land, though, goes beyond Quinn's mastery of her chosen genre. This is, first and foremost, an exceptional character piece, a study of a woman who is a killer, a mother, a lover and, above all else, a survivor." —BookPage (starred review)
"Quinn (The Rose Code) specializes in centering strong women; each of her books exceeds expectations set by the previous title… Readers looking for a new and unique viewpoint of World War II with a mystery to solve and a light touch of romance will dive deep into this story." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Kate Quinn has excelled in previous novels at transforming real-life historical biography into page-turning fiction. The Diamond Eye—combat novel, wartime love story, assassination thriller—in prose that shifts from lyrical to melodramatic as events demand, sets up and pulls off a double-barreled surprise-ending worthy of its larger-than-life inspiration." —Wall Street Journal
"Exciting…Historical fiction fans will be riveted." —Publishers Weekly
"Kate Quinn amazes me. With each new book she reaches new heights in her craft as a writer of page-turning plots and prose. The Diamond Eye is a remarkable story filled with heart, intrigue, breathtaking drama and, perhaps best of all, meticulously researched details that prove that history provides the absolute best raw material for storytelling. Like her sniper subject Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Kate Quinn has brilliantly hit her mark—this is a stunning novel about a singular historical heroine." —Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post
"The Diamond Eye is sharply observed, multi-faceted and brilliantly alive—historical fiction at its best!" —Christine Wells, author of Sisters of the Resistance
This information about The Diamond Eye 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.
Eva Nyika
Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of Southern California, she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in classical voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, and The Diamond Eye. All have been translated into multiple languages. She and her husband now live in California with three black rescue dogs.
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