Diamond Eye

The United States Postal Inspection Service is the oldest federal law enforcement agency, but also the least known. The public rarely if ever hears of it while postal employees mostly figure fat bald trolls in suits watching from the ceiling insure they do not steal a first class stamp. That is a function of the department, but the USPIS also investigates "external" crimes like mail fraud and letter bombs.Max Diamond is one of the USPIS finest working in Southern Florida. Currently Max has picked up a case from a recently killed in action peer. Max watches tapes of kiddie porn sent illegally through the mail in hopes of finding the distributor until he sees the life of a female participant is snuffed out on a tape. His boss Wacona Smith insists it is an amateur production not a murder, but Max proves otherwise with additional snuff films that he tracks back to a South American connection. He believes that Miami's crime boss O'Burke is behind the deadly videos; Max investigates although he could become the star of his own picture filmed in a Little Havana post office.DIAMOND EYE is a terrific Southern Florida law enforcement tale starring a warm, witty fortyish unique investigator. The story line is fast-paced as Max makes his inquiries. The support cast either is antagonists or enable the audience to see what motivates Max although the latter is a duel edged sword as prime secondary characters fall off the pages without regard. Still fans will appreciate dedicated Max of the USPIS as he struggles with a deadly case and in his relationships with his grandma, his boss, and his "Phayled" love life.Harriet Klausner

Good writing, a different kind of detective and brave plotting make this a keeper. A pleasure to find something new.

After looking in every bookstore in town and learning they were all out-of-stock, I finally decided to order from here. It was a long wait (and more than I wanted to pay for an author I'd never read), so I was sure this would be a disappointment. I even considered giving it away as a gift after I had read it.That said, this book has a permanent place on my bookshelf. I read it in the space of one day, unable to stay away from the tale of Maximillian Diamond for more than a few moments. Well worth the price, the wait and everything else it took to get this book in my hands. Can't wait for "A Cure To Gravity" to get here!!

Nothing about this mystery novel is expected, from the great care the writer takes to come up with memorable character names -Phayle, Sea Chunny, Mozart - to the use of a U.S postal inspector as the centerpiece of what promises to be a series. Postal inspector? That's got to be a first among mystery novels. The hero has a pet tortoise, drives an exotic motorcycle, practices a Zen lifestyle, is bald, and went to Yale. Name another novel in the detective genre with those traits. Combine originality of detail, if not plot, with a far above average literary style and you have a read that is hard to put down. Great writing. More, more!

Postal Inspector Max Diamond discovers child porn/snuff film copy mixed into standard videos and sets out on a one-man crusade to eliminate this terrible and emotionally disturbing evil. Along the way he deals with the local Cuban Mafia of Miami, Peruvian terrorists, malingering postal workers, and two apparently accidental deaths of lawyers who went to college with Diamond.Arthur Rosenfeld does a good job creating a powerful motivation for Diamond to disregard his orders and continue his investigation against all odds. Diamond himself is a fully drawn character and his interest in t'ai chi and philosophy give him added depth. The book is hard to put down.Although I found DIAMOND EYE compelling, several serious flaws prevented it from being the great novel it could have been. First, Diamond badly mistreats his ex-girlfriend. After a sexual encounter, he ignores her calls, refuses to meet with her, and generally treats her like a subhuman. Second, the string of coincidences that author Arthur Rosenfeld uses to pull together just about everything that happens to Diamond goes beyond novelistic license to the implausible. DIAMOND EYE is a powerful and well written book. The scene where Diamond and his boss rescue a postal worker from a nasty customer is a small gem. Enjoy it and try not to think too much about how unlikely all the coincidences really are.