The Diamond Eye: the brand new WW2 historical novel based on a gripping true story from the #1 bestselling author

Thought it would be too long, but no just flowed and so interesting. Gave me an opportunity to understand more why the Russians are so patriotic.

Mila was barely 15, meeting friends, and studying for her exams. She was a normal student who dreamt of university and becoming an historian - until she met Alexei Pavlichenko. Nine months later, she’s a mother and very soon estranged from her new uncaring and self-obsessed husband.Tired of being belittled by him, Mila sets out to prove herself worthy of being both her son’s mother and father. She does this by taking the unorthodox route of training to be a marksman and very soon discovers she has a rare gift.Following news that Germany has invaded her country, Mila joins the Russian army and becomes quite possibly the first soldier to take her dissertation to war. And in the unforgiving lands of the Black Sea steppes, she learns to kill.However, this isn’t just a female sniper’s story of blood and black earth during the Second World War, it’s also about compassion. For every life Mila takes, she knows she’s saving others and there are poignant moments when humanity shines through the despair and stench of death.The author’s description of life fighting on the Odessa and Sevastopol fronts is so detailed, vivid, and engrossing that it’s difficult to believe this isn’t an autobiography. The use of first person gets you right into the head and heart of Mila as she and her comrades deal with conditions and situations more harrowing than a person who wasn’t there could possibly imagine.You’re only reminded this is a work of fiction when Mila becomes part of a delegation touring the US to encourage support for Russian troops. She’s followed by an assassin hired to kill the President, who wants to use Mila as a patsy because of her close relationship with the First Lady. This culminates in a dual to the death in a Washington park but there’s an additional threat and it’s not just the assassin Mila needs to defeat.The Diamond Eye is a great read providing an entertaining insight in to the challenges women faced fighting on the Russian front line during WWII. However, this is semi-autobiographical and largely based on historical fact, so despite the author’s best efforts, there’s little jeopardy If you know much about American presidents.

‘The Diamond Eye’ by Kate Quinn is another well researched work of historical fiction based on a true story.I had been impressed last year by Quinn’s WWII novel, ‘The Rose Code’ and how well she had blended real life events and historical figures into the narrative.In ‘The Diamond Eye’ she focuses her story around the life of Mila Pavlichenko, an aspiring historian who in 1937 was living in Kyiv (Kiev), Soviet Union. Her life revolves around her academic work and her young son until Hitler’s invasion of Russia changes everything.Mila had already acquired an Advanced Marksman Certificate before the invasion. She quickly signs up and is assigned to an elite sniper unit. There her gifts are honed to perfection. She gains a reputation and acquires the name Lady Death.In 1942 Mila is selected to be part of a Soviet delegation to the USA. Their mission is to convince President Roosevelt to commit resources to the war in Europe and specifically to the Soviet Union. Mila is perceived as an oddity though finds an unexpected ally in First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Yet she is unaware that she is being closely observed by a man only identified to us as the Marksman. He appears to have nefarious plans.Quinn moves between Mila’s harrowing experiences on the Eastern Front and her being feted around the United States. On occasion there are Notes by the First Lady as well as brief extracts from Mila’s official and unofficial memoirs. I found Mila an accessible protagonist and especially appreciated her frustration at the way she was treated in the States: “I wish they’d stop calling me the girl sniper,” the marksman heard her mutter in Russian … “Only in America can you be a soldier and twenty-six, and still be a girl.”Quinn’s Author’s Note provides details of how she first encountered Mila Pavlichenko when researching an earlier novel and felt that her extraordinary life story warranted its own novel. Quinn includes a bibliography, internet resources, and even film references. There is also a section of historical photographs.Overall, I found this an excellent work of historical fiction with elements of a political thriller woven into the story. It’s climax certainly proved nail-biting.Highly recommended.

What an amazing book, I enjoyed every page. Was up all night reading it as I just couldn't put it down. Well done Kate Quinn. Thank you so much.

I like this author very much especially ‘The Alice Network’.This book, whose story line is based around a real person, was excellent up until the end which I found very disappointing and not as credible as the first 85%.I know it is fiction based upon a real person, but sorry, for me, the ending was far fetched and could have been better handled. I still love this author and will read more by her but Kate you could have delivered a more credible ending to the USA part of the story.

A story that is part truth & part fiction. I enjoyed how the story of a real person was woven together with a story of what might have happened. Bloodthirsty in places, war is bloodthirsty but worth persevering with. An exciting story that had me on the edge of my seat at times, the loss of some of the characters was difficult but the last few chapters had me galloping along dying to find out what happened. A great book. I look forward to hearing what the rest of my book club members think of it.

Interesting book based on a real life character. Nowhere near in the same league as "The Huntress" and felt at times it got a little static. However, overall another good read.

... After The Rose Code, The Alice Network, The Huntress and having just read and completed the final page on/of The Diamond Eye... Kate Quinn... is my new Favorit Author. Next : The Empress of Rome Series...Here is hoping for more absorbing characters, background and action - who needs TV.....?

Having previously seen the Russian movie, "The Battle for Sevastopol" after being mesmerized by Polina Gagarina's powerful rendition of the Kino song, "Kukushka", I just had to read Kate Quinn's novel, "The Diamond Eye". Based on the life of Mila Pavilchenko, the most deadliest female sniper, who fought for the Soviet Union in WWII, the book does not disappoint. In spite of all the hardships in her life and the injuries that she suffered from battle, Mila Pavilchenko was a brave, determined patriot, who did everything she could to help her country and the Allies during some of the darkest times in our recent world history.

Kate Quinn se supera a cada livro! Quem já conhece a autora, sabe que ela é uma excelente autora de romances históricos baseados na época das Grandes Guerras (1ª e 2ª), abordando a perspectiva inglesa, francesa e russa do conflito. Mas nesse livro a Kate faz algo um pouco diferente dos anteriores, o que reafirma a sua magia de contar histórias duras e verdadeiras de forma magistral. Nesse livro ela não apenas traz a perspectiva russa da Segunda Guerra em uma personagem 100% real (inclusive tendo o Memoir da Mila como principal bibliografia), como nos leva da Russia aos Estados Unidos e à Casa Branca para conhecermos o Presidente Roosevelt e a primeira dama Eleanor. Kate merece todo o hype que recebe!

‘Odds are you’ve never heard of Lyudmila Pavlichenko’ – the author’s note to ‘The Diamond Eye’ reads. I might be one of the few people outside of the former USSR countries who, in fact did know.I found out that Lyudmila Pavlichenko existed because of a song. It was a movie soundtrack I found while mindlessly scrolling in YouTube. The song was in Russian, at the time I could barely get what it was about, but it turned out that the video was a movie trailer. I watched over and over the short video about a woman who is shipped off to war and decided ‘why not dig the movie out?’. If anyone likes to hear the song, it is named ‘Kukushka’ (cuckoo in Russian) and the singer is Polina Gagarina, whom I found out to be a famous Russian singer later on, but at the time I knew nothing of.So, there I was, trying to find the movie and I spent the whole evening of International women’s day (8th of March) watching a Russian WWII movie adaptation. The name of the movie is ‘The Battle for Sevastopol’ and I probably missed like half of the military terminology BUT I laughed, cried and cheered with the main character. At the time I didn’t even know that Lyudmila was not a fictional character, it looked too out of place for WWII to have a woman with so many deaths on her account. A woman sniper, right? Well, nope, I didn't believe that.So I Googled her and there I was, in March 2019, when I first found out who Lyudmila Pavlichenko was. I found out she wrote a memoir and I wanted to read it but I didn’t trust my Russian with that. The book wasn’t translated to Bulgarian and I somehow doubted it had an English version (and was too lazy to look it up), so I guessed that it would be too difficult for me, hence decided to wait a bit. The story went to the back of my mind as one of those weird historical facts I know, but nothing more. I hoped one day to be able to find the memoir and read it, but this was nothing sort of urgent.Until Lyudmila looked me in the eye from the shelves of a bookstore just across the office where I work. I was in there on my lunch break and saw her memoir, translated in Bulgarian. First row of books, newly published and translated for the first time because of the WWII anniversary that was coming next year.Do I need to mention I snagged the moment I got my paycheck? I spent the next three nights (I was at work during the day) reading the thin, but filled with facts book and just fell through time. It was in 2019, so some of the sniper specifics are out of my head now, but it was an interesting insight into the life of an extraordinary lady who documented the events with all the enthusiasm and responsibility of a historian. She somehow knew those events will matter and documented them. How the notes she wrote survived is something that still amazes me, but they did. I read that all and instantly started admiring that woman who overcame all odds and beat the men at their own game. I even researched a bit more and it turned out her memoir was censored before publication (not that it surprised me) and probably it was a little bit less filled with political propaganda (which was there).When Kate announced she is writing Lyudmila’s story, I was over the moon. I so much wanted to read her interpretation of the story! I had already seen one in the movie I watched, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the book. I eagerly waited until the book came out and ordered on launch day. Then couldn’t wait to have it delivered. Then I vowed to have the book and read it in one go. I couldn’t, for one reason or another BUT the book keep finding time for me. One page turned easily to 50 or 100 at a go, because Kate tells stories the way you simply NEED to keep reading!So much so, that this book kept me until 3 a.m. a few times because you cannot simply read ‘just a chapter’ of it. It wouldn’t leave you and the story just plunges you in war-torn Ukrainian USSR. You just see and feel what the character does and love and hate and cry with her. You cheer for her and hate her enemies. And that is said by a person who has read the original memoir and knows most of things in the book are supposed to be! I even found myself comparing the two in my mind and I like Kate's book better (I'll tell you why below). The book kept me on edge, entertained and crying for the ones Mila loses in the story and in real life. There are quite a few, but the man she meets on the battlefield is probably the most tragic one of all, full of what-ifs and would-bes...There is still something new to discover, a new angle of the story. The real Lyudmila is cold, distant and factual most of the time, her memoir zigzagging between the real horror story and tragedy she lived through, the dark humour of frontline life and the sweeping Soviet propaganda on almost every page (yep, I am not making this up, propaganda is almost everywhere, but the memoir is surprisingly readable and not at all boring).Lyudmila in Kate’s book is much more than the distinguished woman from the momoir. She loves, hates and has almost all vice and virtue a woman of 24 could have at the time (and even some surprisingly modern, but absolutely believable ones, if you know the real historical figure). She has some very clear motives for joining the war (which I love, as the memoir is vague on that) and some even clearer opinions on how the war went. I absolutely love how Kate filled in the gaps in the timeline and the facts that were missing in the memoir. If you read the memoir, you are left with bitterness as you see a woman who has been put behind the desk as a trainer with body and mind wrecked by the war and whose heart is empty cold as the tundra. She had served her country and sacrificed her life for it.Not in ‘The Diamond Eye’! I love the ending, it was a surprise, it gives resolution and peace to a soul that had very much earned it. I really hope that real-life Lyudmila got this kind of an ending – a peaceful happy life with her loved ones (and I know, I am spoiling the ending for you BUT I’m not gonna tell you how she gets to that point, read the book!).I keep comparing the book to the memoir, but I couldn’t help it, as I see two Lyudmila’s. The one in the memoir is a cut-out from a propaganda poster, the text heavily edited to suit its purpose. Trust me, anyone who has lived in a totalitarian state can tell this – I may not have seen those times in Bulgaria, but can spot a text that went through a thousand cuts for the sake of the Motherland. Where the cuts have missed, you could see the real Lyudmila smiling from across the decades and this is the image you will see in ‘The Diamond Eye’. Not a blind idealist, but a mother hell-bent on defending her son, sense of justice and land.Speaking of the facts, the fiction is way less than you think – trust me, I still remember the memoir I read back in 2019 – so most of the things you would find in the book are hard truth, told to us by Lyudmila herself. Where there IS fiction, it is so logical to be there and fits the story so well, that you can’t help but wonder ‘what if this was also true and the propaganda machine simply had cut it out from the original tale’.This book is one of those you want to start reading all over again once you turn the last page. It just such an immersing read, so well-written (and I am saying that as a non-native speaker to English who stumbles on odd military terms here and there) that you just forget it’s just a book and you feel part of the action. You are there in the sniper’s nest or at the press conference, you see the world through the eyes of the characters and… OK, I could keep on like that, but I will spoil the whole book for you, so my advice here is to simply go and read :)

There are some "based on a true story" books which only hold your attention because of they're based on a true story - otherwise they'd be lousy. This is NOT one of those books. Reading it I did not even care how much was true or not. It's a great story well told. The description of the war and what a sniper's life was like is incredible. And the thriller storyline set after the war is really gripping.

Brilliant book from start to finish, 5 stars. However, author's note, especially from page 430-431 is what puts me off from ever reading another book by Kate Quinn. The author clearly tries to virtue signal her unwavering support for Ukraine in this current conflict. She spills some verbal diarrhoea pledging her MSM narrative of ever lasting support to one side in this war. Then she goes on even further with her neo-liberal illusion, stating that she's sure that Lady Death would of fought the Russian "invaders".The author doesn't stop there, she continues her bs by stating Mila fought the Nazi scum exclusively in Ukraine, defending Ukrainian cities of Odessa and Sevastopol. I urge the author to look at the historical facts and reconsider. The facts are, Mila was born in USSSR, her parents were Russian, who just happened to live in Kiyev. Cities of Odessa and Sevastopol are and have been historically Russian, no matter current western propaganda and pro Ukraine euphoria.And yes, the author is correct to say that if Mila Pavlichenko was alive today she would of fought the invaders and defended Ukraine. The Hero of Russia would of fought and defended the country from Ukranian Nazis and their western globalist masters, and not with them as author so wishes.