Pursuit of the Deadly Diamonds by J.J Fortune

SYNOPSIS

This is an investigation novel. There are two characters that actually stand out most. It is Stephen, a teenager and his Uncle Richard was a soldier and now he became a spy or special agent. Stephen knows his uncle's secret and always join him in a mission together. Stephen is still a student but he has the skill that a spy needed taught by his uncles. Stephen's parent introduced a woman to his uncle but his uncle knew the woman, Michelle very well. She is a theft that are pursued by the French police.She is a dear friend of Richard.

Michelle told him that she was involved in a big crime. Michelle purpose to join in this event because she wanted to find the mastermind behind this operation and clean herself from the crime records. Richards want to help, but Michelle insisted that he was not supposed to involve in this event but Richard also insisted that he will help her and finally she give up because she knows that Richard is the only one that can help him.

Once Michelle in Nice, France, she telephoned Richard while speaking using hint word. Of course as an expert they both know there is another meaning in the word she spoke. Then, they both flew to Nice where Michelle at. They went to meet Michelle, but she was so surprised that they really showed up.

Finally, she explained that she is currently involved in a operation to steal a "lucky diamonds" worn by the Duchess of Wentworth, who always participated in gambling that held once a year in Monte Carlo casino.
The plan expect to be done in the casino. Michelle's role is to disguise as the wife and wearing the fake diamonds. Richard and Stephen went to meet Inspector Duval for assist. He explained that this should be done in secret. Inspector Duval agrees to help while it may risk him his career.

During this investigation, Stephen and his uncle has been hunted by the organization. They want them to be dead so they will not interrupt their big plan but they manage to survive due to their skills. They manage to fake their death.

Then. the organization begins their operation. Unexpectedly, the police prefect Monsieur Bonaparte was there to watch the event to make sure there are no problem occurs. Stephen's uncle disguised as a rich gambler and compete with the duke. Suddenly, when he is winning, two shots have released and Richard pretends to be shot, but then there is another shot released by the Monsieur Bonaparte. He was aiming the gunman and it hit. The gunman was actually aiming for the card dealer. Michelle appears then she explained that she handed the diamonds to the card dealer but when they search it, there is no diamonds at all.

Monsieur Bonaparte does not know what is currently happening and asked for further explaination from Inspector Duval. Inspector Duval asked her men to search everybody for the diamonds. Monsieur Bonaparte was  furious as they cannot find the diamonds. He ordered Inspector Duval to arrest Stephen, his uncle and Michelle. Suddenly, Richard asked Inspector Duval to search Monsieur Bonaparte. Known his crime has been discovered and yet he is the mastermind, he escaped and took Stephen as the hostage.He was caught while he was escaping.

NEW WORDS FOUND IN THE NOVEL

vintage - vintage wine is a good quality wine made in a particular year

recluse - someone who chooses to live alone, and does not like seeing or talking to other people

hunk - a thick piece of something, especially food that has been takken from a bigger piece

croissant - a piece of bread, shaped in a curve and usually eaten for breakfast

COMMENT

This novel has a very understandable story telling. It is very clear eventhough there are some French words because the event occurs in Nice, France, but we still manage to understand because we they also state the meaning in English. From what we have read, we actually find it is easy to understand because we can expect the plot but the culprit was unexpected because he is the police prefect. He should be the good example for everyone yet he is the mastermind of one of the biggest diamond stealer organization. We also found that Stephen's uncle, Richard really enjoys this kind of life. It thrills him and I think Stephen is very proud to be his uncle apprentice eventhough it is a dangerous line of work. Thanks to this it makes Stephen more mature because he has been through this kind of life while other teenagers maybe currently studying for their future. We think a spy or an agent would be Stephen's future job as we find he really loves what he is doing now. We also think his uncle set a good example to him and Stephen takes his uncles as his idol.

MORAL VALUES

1. Do not judge the book by its cover.
2. Sometimes we cannot expect what others do to earn a living.
3. Find something that we love to do and have fun with it.
4. Wealth sometimes may invite danger.
5. Some people would do anything to be rich.