The Diamond Eye

A Novel

De: Kate Quinn

Narrado por: Saskia Maarleveld

The New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code returns with an unforgettable World War II tale of a quiet librarian who becomes history’s deadliest female sniper. Based on a true story.

In the snowbound city of Kiev, wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son—but Hitler’s invasion of 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.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Kate Quinn (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Dynamic Duo

Kate Quinn has quickly become one of my favorite authors and Saskia Maarlaveld one of my favorite narrators. I only wish I had discovered Quinn later so I’d have a backlog of books to binge.

Interesting but it wasn’t a page turner for me

Interesting storyline and characters but a little too slow for me. I like books that keep me on the edge of my seat and make it hard to stop reading/listening. This book had too few moments like that for how long the book is. I enjoyed it, but probably wouldn’t have finished it had I been reading it; the audio book made it easier to get through. It was interesting to get a peak into the Russian perspective of WWII though.

I can’t put it down!

I’m not even finished with this book, but know it deserves every star and positive rating! Saskia is wonderful to listen to, regardless of which character she is portraying. Kate did an exceptional job writing this story and keeping the reader engaged the entire time.

So good !

This book had me going through all of the emotions. The writer does so well in capturing a character through different lenses making the reader fully invest in them.

Great read

This is a powerful story about an amazing woman . Well written and preformed. We need more strong women like her in the world today

Remarkable history of little know hero

Women get little credit for their determination and follow through. This is a story of a strong petite woman who played her part saving her homeland and going on the become an international diplomat to help end World War 2.
Great Read!

Well done 1st person account style

If you are going to write historical fiction check your facts. Laurence Olivier returned to England in 1940 and was enlisted as Sub-Lt in the Royal Navy. Apparently he managed to write off three planes in his efforts during that time. I would like to believe the plot like I did with Day of the Jackal but the Olivier error left me doubting. Teddy's ring was cute but trite. Keep up the good work but keep to the facts. As a fellow Boston U grad (1983) I applaud first efforts. Keep up the good work.

What a story

A nerdy little Russian student and single mom turned one of the deadliest snipers in Russian history - sign me up for THAT story. I was really impressed with all of the detail and the character development in this book - The fact that every one of these characters really existed makes it that much more interesting! Despite the fact that I didn't really care about the sub-plot (which is why it only got four stars, the book would have been great without it!)

This may have been a fictional telling of a true story but I can tell the author put a lot of effort into including as much factual detail as possible. The narrator made the story and the characters come to life. It was so well written I want to be a nerdy student myself and go research more about this amazing Russian girl student who was nicknamed Lady Death.

A Good Read

Kate Quinn, the author of The Diamond Eye, researched Mila Pavlichenko’s journals to build Mila’s life story. Ms. Quinn filled in the gaps with fiction to tell the story of the first female sniper in the Russian army. This World War ll story made me feel like I was in the trenches with Mila or in the White House with the Roosevelts. Very descriptive and well written. The narrator was an excellent performer using difficult accents to make the characters come alive.

Historical fiction delivers!

Fascinating look at the Russian point of view from a real person. Kate Quinn is so good at blending real life and some fiction to bring people to life and teach us something with feeling about others during a horrific time and yet let us have some sort of a good ending as well.