The Diamond Eye

The brand-new historical novel based on a true story from the bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Alice Network

*Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee: Best Historical Fiction 2022*

In the snowbound city of Kiev, aspiring historian Mila Pavlichenko’s life revolves around her young son – until Hitler’s invasion of Russia changes everything. Suddenly, she and her friends must take up arms to save their country from the Fuhrer’s destruction.

Handed a rifle, Mila discovers a gift – and months of blood, sweat and tears turn the young woman into a deadly sniper: the most lethal hunter of Nazis.

Yet success is bittersweet. Mila is torn from the battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America while the war still rages. There, she finds an unexpected ally in First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and an unexpected promise of a different future.

But when an old enemy from Mila’s past joins forces with a terrifying new foe, she finds herself in the deadliest duel of her life.

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.

Praise for The Diamond Eye

‘The Diamond Eye – combat novel, wartime love story, assassination thriller – sets up and pulls off a double-barrelled surprise-ending worthy of its larger-than-life inspiration’ The Wall Street Journal

‘Mila’s was an incredible life and Quinn does it justice in this fast-paced novel’ The Times

‘This timely and earth-shattering tale of heroism will leave you breathless’ Woman’s Own

‘An extraordinary novel, based on a true story’ WI Life

‘Kate Quinn’s skill is in developing characters and relationships, adding tension, suspense and smart plotting’ Choice

‘Equal parts historical fiction and riveting thriller, Quinn’s latest novel celebrating heroic women is a highly cinematic action novel’ The Washington Post

About the author

Kate Quinn is a native of southern California. She attended Boston University, where she earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Classical Voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance detailing the early years of the infamous Borgia clan. All have been translated into multiple languages. She and her husband now live in Maryland with two black dogs named Caesar and Calpurnia.