Flawless

Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History

By: Scott Selby, Greg Campbell

Narrated by: Don Hagen

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

On February 15, 2003, a group of thieves broke into an allegedly airtight vault in the international diamond capital of Antwerp, Belgium and made off with over $108 million dollars worth of diamonds and other valuables. They did so without tripping an alarm or injuring a single guard in the process.

Although the crime was perfect, the getaway was not. The police zeroed in on a band of professional thieves fronted by Leonardo Notarbartolo, a dapper Italian who had rented an office in the Diamond Center and clandestinely cased its vault for over two years. The who of the crime had been answered, but the how remained largely a mystery.

Enter Scott Andrew Selby, a Harvard Law grad and diamond expert, and Greg Campbell, author of Blood Diamonds, who undertook a global goose chase to uncover the true story behind the daring heist. Tracking the threads of the story throughout Europe from Belgium to Italy, in seedy cafes and sleek diamond offices, the authors sorted through an array of conflicting details, divergent opinions and incongruous theories to put together the puzzle of what actually happened that Valentines Day weekend.

This real-life Ocean's Eleven, a combination of diamond history, journalistic reportage, and riveting true-crime story, provides a thrilling in-depth study detailing the better-than-fiction heist of the century.

©2010 Scott Selby (P)2010 Gildan

Zzzz

I'm on chapter 5 and so far the book is a real snooze. I'm hoping from reading the other reviews that it will get more exciting. I feel like I'm being read an encyclopaedia description of the history of diamonds and Antwerp diamond trading. I guess I was expecting more of an Ocean's Eleven type story.

Interesting

I have a long time love affair with diamonds and found this detail ridden story interesting. Especially loved the narration about DeBeers. This seems to be a book with a narrow focus and unless you are interested in diamonds and "heists" I believe it would be as dull as watching the grass grow. But if this is an interest of yours don't miss Flawless.

Good look into the details of the heist

This isnt really a fast paced book. Doesnt have danger and daring exploits. But it is an interesting look into the crime and attempted getaway. Kids, dont try this at home! but its ok to listen to.

Fair to middlin'

What I thought was going to be an exciting thriller, advertised as "the largest diamond heist in history", was rather flat both in story and in the reading. The details of the planning and the heist itself were described as if our "school of Turin" was a crew of plumbers off to replace the fixtures in a customer's bathroom. And to have the apparently successful heist come undone within twenty-four hours because the masterminds were careless about their trash was disappointing. Even I know to be careful of my credit card receipts before they get tossed into the kitchen waste basket. The narrator's voice was pleasant enough, and he read clearly, but even he seemed a little bored by the mechanics of the operation. Interesting, to a point, but definitely not thrilling.

A true to life thriller - fantastic book!

During the time of the heist detailed in "Flawless", I was in the midst of moving/changing jobs, and most of the news was dominated by the run-up to the Iraq invasion. As a result, I knew and heard very little about this story when it happened. This book was a real treat for me. It is extremely well researched and written, providing as current and accurate an account as can be of a story that needs no embellishment. And as an audiobook, it's top-notch with an excellent job done by the narrator. You'll be captivated, even if you think you know all of the details about this daring heist.

Get this book!

Slightly flawed

This is an interesting story, and I liked learning about the background of the diamond trade. I think most of us enjoy a good heist yarn, especially if no one is injured. I only gave it four starts because of the narrator. It seemed that Don Hagen was on the verge of falling asleep throughout. A story as exciting as this needs a reader that provides some excitement and Hagen fell far short of that. Otherwise, a strong recommend.
Rick

Interesting, but drags at the end

I stopped listening once arrests were made; the last third of the book held no mystery, and so I lost interest.

The planning and execution of the heist was enthralling, though.

Great listen!

Didn't want to stop listening. Now I know the easiest way to make millions, steal diamonds in Belgium. In the off chance you get caught, spend a handful of years in a relatively decent prison.

Fascinating story, missing details

Any additional comments?

This is a fascinating true story, and I'd recommend reading about the events to anyone. For this particular telling, I have two complaints: 1) there's a fair amount of intro material about the various cities and state of the diamond industry and such at the time; it's not bad, but it's not directly necessary for the story; on the other hand, it's probably useful if one (like me) has no background or knowledge of that area at all; 2) it's lacking some answers at the end - now, it's a true story, and the world at large doesn't know what happened, so they couldn't have added it, but given how much was learned, it's somewhat disappointing not to get the whole story at the end. It seems they've given everything that's known, though. And the lack of that material is probably why there's more up-front material. Overall worth reading.

Interesting and informative

A few have stated that the first section about the history and process of diamonds was boring. Yes, it was not the most exciting part of the book but learning about the history is fascinating. The heist, trials, etc. were very interesting, I love non-fiction like this. I need to go watch Oceans 11 again. They are not the exact same story, but some of the "real" story was used in the movie.