Book Review: The Da Vinci Diamond by Jerry Guarino

    Da Vinci was an amazing inventor and painter. However, that is not all he had to offer. He was also in possession of one of the world's largest diamonds. After his death it went to the Italian museum where it was later stolen and lost to time. Now, in modern day California the diamond is in possession of a private collector who is sending it to a museum  to be enjoyed. When the diamond is stolen once more other interested parties step forward to acquire the priceless gem. Who will end up with this artifact? 

    I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

    We follow multiple characters in this book, so you can never be sure who will end up with the diamond or if any of them will. We follow two sisters, the diamonds owner, police, and an assassin while they travel across the united states and into other countries. 

    I can't say that I love the author's portrayal of men in this book. Almost every single man is very easily swayed to cheat on his wife with someone younger and more attractive. Sometimes not even that, just different than their person. This was my biggest drawback while reading this. If people kept it in their pants almost none of this book would have happened. I don't know if the author is justifying their own feelings of wanting to step out or if they think that most everyone doesn't get the concept of monogamy, but for me it was a major detractor while reading. 

    Other than this, figuring out who stole the diamond, who the assassin plays into everything, and where the diamond will end up was fun. The book was mostly well written aside from the above and as long as there aren't more tropes like that I'd happily read more by the author. 

    I felt like the police actually did a good job in this book, unlike how they are often portrayed in books. The amount of times I have questioned everything about the police in the book I am reading now for instance. But, you'll hear more about that one later!

    This book is available on Amazon for $3.99 by clicking here. 

Book Review: Gold! By Thomas Greenbank

     Two brothers inherited a gold mine from their father-literally. Intent on following in his footsteps they graduate with a mining degree and begin their dream. Although there are some female problems the brothers eventually work through them and go into business as planned. While there are profits to be had it is slow going and they are unable to buy the newer machines they would like. The younger brother, Malcolm, crafts a plan to create a "hand of God" nugget to be insured and stolen or sold to a private collector to give them the kickstart they need. 

    I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

    I genuinely hated Malcolm in this book. He was abusive, greedy, self-serving and so much more which you will find out within these pages. He deserved much more than the fate he met, I will say that much at least. 

    This book switches perspectives between multiple people within the Kincaid family as the story unfolds. Each offers more insight into the events going on at that time. Although the start of the book is about a chunk of gold that is not the main point of the story. Everything about this book is about the Kincaid family gold mining operations and how that plays out through two generations. Technically three if you count the bit of backstory we got of the boys father. 

    It took me forever to get into this book because of how much I hated one of the characters. Hating someone you love to hate is one thing, but when they're hated so much you no longer care about what happens in the story around them it makes things difficult. This book excels in characters you will hate. 

    That being said, the book was well written and I enjoyed those characters getting their just desserts. Side note. This book says it is book one in the Kincaid saga, although personally I don't see where the book could go from where it ended. I feel like things were completely resolved and I don't have any standing questions. 

    This book is available on Amazon for $16.99 as a paperback. I am not sure if it is anywhere as an eBook. If you would like the paperback you can get it here.