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The Pirate Devlin #3
Blood Diamond
Pirate captain Devlin is invited to London by the Prince of Wales and offered an amnesty if he will carry out a daring crime. Devlin is tasked with going to Paris to steal the biggest, most valuable diamond ever found: the Pitt Diamond, now in the possession of the French Prince Regent.
353 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
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98 people want to read
About the author
Mark Keating
19 books23 followersMark Keating is a new author of historical fiction, whose debut novel THE PIRATE DEVLIN was published by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK in February 2010 and by Grand Central Publishing in the US in July 2010. It draws on the wealth of tales from the Golden Age of Caribbean piracy with the emphasis on adventure and accuracy. No monsters, romance or romantic monsters. He was born in Enfield, North London and now lives in Windsor, Berkshire.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 26, 2021
**Should Read as 4.5 Stars!**
Read this book in 2012, and its the 3rd part of the very enjoyable "Pirate Devlin" series.
This tale is set mostly in Europe, when Devlin is invited to London by the Prince of Wales, and is offered an amnesty but only if he dares to commit himself to a daring crime.
Accepting this offer of amnesty, Devlin must somehow steal the most valuable diamond ever found, the Pitt Diamond, but at the moment is in the possession of the French Prince Regent.
As you can imagine that once in the possession of that Diamond, Devlin will get pursued all over the place, from the English Channel, to the filthy streets and glamorous Palaces of London.
What is to follow is an intriguing Pirate adventure, in which plenty of action and suspense will take place for this Pitt Diamond, and in which Devlin will have to deal with corruption at court and a naval battle before he can finally conclude his mission.
Very much recommended, for this is another very fine addition to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Very Exciting Pirate Tale"!
Read this book in 2012, and its the 3rd part of the very enjoyable "Pirate Devlin" series.
This tale is set mostly in Europe, when Devlin is invited to London by the Prince of Wales, and is offered an amnesty but only if he dares to commit himself to a daring crime.
Accepting this offer of amnesty, Devlin must somehow steal the most valuable diamond ever found, the Pitt Diamond, but at the moment is in the possession of the French Prince Regent.
As you can imagine that once in the possession of that Diamond, Devlin will get pursued all over the place, from the English Channel, to the filthy streets and glamorous Palaces of London.
What is to follow is an intriguing Pirate adventure, in which plenty of action and suspense will take place for this Pitt Diamond, and in which Devlin will have to deal with corruption at court and a naval battle before he can finally conclude his mission.
Very much recommended, for this is another very fine addition to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Very Exciting Pirate Tale"!
November 28, 2014
What a fun read this was! I bought it while I was on annual leave but then put it away because I wasn’t in a mood for a swashbuckling book after all and started reading something else instead. And so the Pirate Devlin lay forgotten in a pile of new books until two weeks ago I was looking for something to pass the time on the daily train ride to work and stumbled across him once more.
While I’ve always enjoyed watching films of that particular genre, I’ve found it hard to read the books because let’s face it… the nautical ‘lingo’ is not really my specialty. I got through most of the Hornblower books but gave up on the Aubrey/Maturin series because of the technicalities. (But I will try again.) This one here even a landlubber such as myself can understand because, well, it doesn’t take place at sea but in London and Paris and it’s less about hoisting the sails and what have you, but more about handling a ‘mission impossible’-case the pirate way.
There’s not too much in terms of character development and in-depth character studies, it’s a quick and colourful – and believable – sketch of people of different social standings and how they interact with each other now that they’re forced to work together. The characterisations are brief but precise and gave me just the right amount of details to let all of them come alive in my imagination.
The book delivered exactly what I had expected: a fun read. Not deep but far from shallow. Entertaining, good pacing, believable characters and a quest (the background of which could have been taken from these days’ newspapers – guess some things never change). It’s part of a series but can easily be read as a stand-alone, but I’ve put the other books on my Kindle wishlist
While I’ve always enjoyed watching films of that particular genre, I’ve found it hard to read the books because let’s face it… the nautical ‘lingo’ is not really my specialty. I got through most of the Hornblower books but gave up on the Aubrey/Maturin series because of the technicalities. (But I will try again.) This one here even a landlubber such as myself can understand because, well, it doesn’t take place at sea but in London and Paris and it’s less about hoisting the sails and what have you, but more about handling a ‘mission impossible’-case the pirate way.
There’s not too much in terms of character development and in-depth character studies, it’s a quick and colourful – and believable – sketch of people of different social standings and how they interact with each other now that they’re forced to work together. The characterisations are brief but precise and gave me just the right amount of details to let all of them come alive in my imagination.
The book delivered exactly what I had expected: a fun read. Not deep but far from shallow. Entertaining, good pacing, believable characters and a quest (the background of which could have been taken from these days’ newspapers – guess some things never change). It’s part of a series but can easily be read as a stand-alone, but I’ve put the other books on my Kindle wishlist
August 19, 2012
Its got Pirates...A fantastic amazingly intricate book full of action adventure...and did i mention Pirates?
As usual Devlin is his charming roguish devilish self. I have to say that before Devlin i had never fund an author who could pull it off. The pirates seemed false, to nice, to OTT etc. But Mark Keating walks the perfect line giving the character a real personality (makes me wonder if some of it is himself...in which case I'd love to meet him)
When he mixes this very rounded real character with the amazingly vivid and well researched historical settings you end up with a mix that's exciting, action packed and will literally grab you by the nuts and drag you from chapter to chapter until exhaustion or the conclusion finishes you off. I personally polished blood diamond in a single day, i just could not put it down.
Very much recommended
(Parm)
Book description:
Each Devlin novel is a standalone adventure. In BLOOD DIAMOND the fearless pirate captain Devlin is invited to London by the Prince of Wales, no less, and offered an amnesty if he will carry out a daring crime. Devlin is tasked with going to Paris to steal the biggest, most valuable diamond ever found - the Pitt Diamond - now in the possession of the French Prince Regent. Set against the unsure frenzy of speculation known as the South Sea Bubble, with action and suspense on the filthy streets and great palaces of London and Paris, not to mention an epic confrontation with the French navy in the English Channel, BLOOD DIAMOND is the most exciting novel yet in the Devlin series.
As usual Devlin is his charming roguish devilish self. I have to say that before Devlin i had never fund an author who could pull it off. The pirates seemed false, to nice, to OTT etc. But Mark Keating walks the perfect line giving the character a real personality (makes me wonder if some of it is himself...in which case I'd love to meet him)
When he mixes this very rounded real character with the amazingly vivid and well researched historical settings you end up with a mix that's exciting, action packed and will literally grab you by the nuts and drag you from chapter to chapter until exhaustion or the conclusion finishes you off. I personally polished blood diamond in a single day, i just could not put it down.
Very much recommended
(Parm)
Book description:
Each Devlin novel is a standalone adventure. In BLOOD DIAMOND the fearless pirate captain Devlin is invited to London by the Prince of Wales, no less, and offered an amnesty if he will carry out a daring crime. Devlin is tasked with going to Paris to steal the biggest, most valuable diamond ever found - the Pitt Diamond - now in the possession of the French Prince Regent. Set against the unsure frenzy of speculation known as the South Sea Bubble, with action and suspense on the filthy streets and great palaces of London and Paris, not to mention an epic confrontation with the French navy in the English Channel, BLOOD DIAMOND is the most exciting novel yet in the Devlin series.
April 20, 2013
First book I've read of the series and liked the characters so will read the rest. Good book with a historical reference. My favourite
January 13, 2014
In the 1700s a pirate is tasked with stealing a diamond by the Prince of Wales.
Not a bad story, but I found the constant ‘back story’ asides distracted from the narrative.
Not a bad story, but I found the constant ‘back story’ asides distracted from the narrative.
November 26, 2016
3 1/2 stars. Not as good as the last book, but still a good read. I have enjoyed this series so far and am looking forward to the next book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews