The Diamond Hunters

An action-packed thriller of family, business and betrayal - perfect for fans of Succession - by global sensation Wilbur Smith. 'A master storyteller' - Sunday Times 'Wilbur Smith is one of those benchmarks against whom others are compared' - The Times 'No one does adventure quite like Smith' - Daily Mirror Some people will never have enough . . . Johnny Lance was taken in by the Van Der Byls when he was an orphaned boy, and his life has been dedicated to making his adoptive father proud. But his efforts have been in vain, his father loathes him and, in his dying breath, makes one final demand of his biological son, the jealous and vengeful Benedict: to destroy his half-brother. When Johnny is tricked by Benedict into losing his entire fortune to the Van Der Byls company, he becomes a laughingstock. Benedict's sister, the smart and beautiful Tracey, loves Johnny and buys him a concession in the diamond rich seabeds of the South-West African Coast. But the obsessive Benedict has been shaped at his father's hand and will do anything to finish what he started. Even if it means destroying everything . . .

During the 1870s diamond rush in southern Africa, Clementine is left to be raised by her destitute father following the death of her mother. Her care falls largely to their companion, Joseph, and the two form an unbreakable bond. When the two men uncover a large, flawless diamond, a dark bargain is struck to ensure Clementine's return to a respectable life in northern England. Her father believes he has finally secured their future, but the discovery of the gem comes at a considerable cost. Years later, Clementine must confront long-buried memories of her childhood to solve the mystery of what happened to her loved ones all those years ago. Can she find the justice she seeks?

A brand-new illustrated edition of the bestselling adventure novel by author Winter Morgan with 75 full-color illustrations. Perfect for every boy and girl who loves Minecraft! Steve lives on a wheat farm. He has everything he needs to live in the Minecraft world: a bed, a house, and food. Steve likes to spend his mornings in the NPC village and trade his wheat for emeralds, armor, books, swords, and food. One morning, he finds that Zombies have attacked the villagers. The Zombies have also turned the village blacksmith into a Zombie, leaving Steve without a place to get swords. To protect himself and the few villagers that remain, Steve goes on a quest to mine for forty diamonds, which are the most powerful mineral in the Overworld. He wants to craft these diamonds into a diamond sword to shield him and the villagers from the Zombies. Far from his home, with night about to set in, Steve fears for his life. Nighttime is when users are most vulnerable in Minecraft. As he looks for shelter in a temple, he meets a trio of treasure hunters, Max, Lucy, and Henry, who are trying to unearth the treasure under the temple. Steve tells them of his master plan to mine for the most powerful mineral in the Overworld—the diamond. The treasure hunters are eager to join him. Facing treacherous mining conditions, a thunderstorm, and attacks from hostile mobs, these four friends’ question if it’s better to be a single player than a multiplayer, as they try to watch out for each other and chase Steve’s dream at the same time. Will Steve find the diamonds? Will his friends help or hinder the search? Should he trust his new treasure hunter friends? And will Steve get back in time to save the villagers?

An action-packed thriller of family, business and betrayal – perfect for fans of Succession – by international bestselling author, Wilbur Smith. Some people will never have enough . . . Johnny Lance was taken in by the Van Der Byls when he was an orphaned boy, and his life has been dedicated to making his adoptive father proud. But his efforts have been in vain, his father loathes him and, in his dying breath, makes one final demand of his biological son, the jealous and vengeful Benedict: to destroy his half-brother. After being tricked into giving his entire fortune to the Van Der Byls Diamond company, Johnny realizes he only needs two things in life, and one of them is Benedict’s sister, the smart and beautiful Tracey. But the obsessive Benedict has been shaped at his father's hand and will stop at nothing to finish what he started. Even if it means destroying everything . . .

A standalone thriller from Wilbur Smith A gendarme snatched up his rifle from where it lay at his feet; Bruce saw him elbow his way towards the side of the truck to begin firing; he was working the slide to lever a round into the breech. "Mwembe!" Bruce shouted the gendarme's name, but his voice could not penetrate the uproar. In two seconds the whole situation would dissolve into a pandemonium of tracer and bazooka fire.' Hired to kill. Fighting to live. Captain Bruce Murray has a simple enough mission or so he thinks: lead his mercenary soldiers to rescue a town cut off by rebel fighting in the Belgian Congo. It soon becomes clear that the town's diamond supplies are the real focus of the mission she's been sent on. Although Murray soon finds something more valuable than diamonds, and will do anything to protect it. But there's one thing Murray hadn't counted on -- that his most deadly enemies may not be the ones he's facing down the barrel of a gun, but the ones who are right beside him...

True Story of Charles Fipke, the mining exploration geologist who discovered diamonds in Canada. Fire Into Ice follows Charles Fipke in his exotic travels through the fast-paced, cutthroat world of mineral exploration - from the jungles of New Guinea to the savannas of South Africa to the rain-forests of the Amazon to the Arctic tundra. This amazing true story culminates in Fipke's staking of the Etaki diamond claim in Canada's Northwest Territories.

“Unforgettable. . . . An outstanding adventure in its lyrical, utterly compelling, and heartbreaking investigations of the world of diamond smuggling.” —Aimee Nezhukumatathil For nearly eighty years, a huge portion of coastal South Africa was closed off to the public. With many of its pits now deemed “overmined” and abandoned, American journalist Matthew Gavin Frank sets out across the infamous Diamond Coast to investigate an illicit trade that supplies a global market. Immediately, he became intrigued by the ingenious methods used in facilitating smuggling particularly, the illegal act of sneaking carrier pigeons onto mine property, affixing diamonds to their feet, and sending them into the air. Entering Die Sperrgebiet (“The Forbidden Zone”) is like entering an eerie ghost town, but Frank is surprised by the number of people willing—even eager—to talk with him. Soon he meets Msizi, a young diamond digger, and his pigeon, Bartholomew, who helps him steal diamonds. It’s a deadly game: pigeons are shot on sight by mine security, and Msizi knows of smugglers who have disappeared because of their crimes. For this, Msizi blames “Mr. Lester,” an evil tall-tale figure of mythic proportions. From the mining towns of Alexander Bay and Port Nolloth, through the “halfway” desert, to Kleinzee’s shores littered with shipwrecks, Frank investigates a long overlooked story. Weaving interviews with local diamond miners who raise pigeons in secret with harrowing anecdotes from former heads of security, environmental managers, and vigilante pigeon hunters, Frank reveals how these feathered bandits became outlaws in every mining town. Interwoven throughout this obsessive quest are epic legends in which pigeons and diamonds intersect, such as that of Krishna’s famed diamond Koh-i-Noor, the Mountain of Light, and that of the Cherokee serpent Uktena. In these strange connections, where truth forever tangles with the lore of centuries past, Frank is able to contextualize the personal grief that sent him, with his wife Louisa in the passenger seat, on this enlightening journey across parched lands. Blending elements of reportage, memoir, and incantation, Flight of the Diamond Smugglers is a rare and remarkable portrait of exploitation and greed in one of the most dangerous areas of coastal South Africa. With his sovereign prose and insatiable curiosity, Matthew Gavin Frank “reminds us that the world is a place of wonder if only we look” (Toby Muse).

When the outrageously wealthy Duke of Castleford is bequeathed a small piece of property that houses a modest flower shop, he encounters its owner, the mysterious Daphne Joyes-a budding rose who quickly becomes the object of his seduction.