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PART ONE »DIAMOND SANDS«

The fictional plot of this thriller is interwoven with historical, political and scientific facts. In the first part of the trilogy we meet young Tom Keller in 1990s New York, a highly talented mineralogist who, in the doctom era, has little chance of finding a good job in the USA. To make ends meet, he works as a waiter for a party service, and then a chance meeting lands him a position in a multinational corporation carrying out research on synthetic diamonds. His last assignment as a waiter takes him to the house of Jayata Humphreys, a millionaire as old as the hills. There,Tom sees mineralogical diagrams of her deceased husband, Robert von Wolf, revealing a breathtaking scientific thesis about diamonds that has never been confirmed.

We are then taken back in time to the wild 1920s of Berlin, Germany, and learn how the rich young American woman meets the penniless German Robert von Wolf. But their happiness is short-lived on account of this social class difference. After they split up, Robert von Wolf turns his back on civilization and heads off to the hostile environment of the Namib Desert as a prospector in a team of dedicated geologists. While searching for the legendary source of the largest and most valuable diamonds in southern Africa, he finds out that the desert is by far not his worst enemy.




 
 
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PART TWO »LONDON QUICKSAND«

The second part of the ”Shades of Brilliance” trilogy titled ”London Quicksand” is set in the run-up to World War II. At great risk, Robert von Wolf makes a small fortune in the diamond fields of the Namib Desert, purchases the farm Daribib with his young wife, withdraws from the active diamond business, and concentrates on his passion - mineralogy. Over the following ten years, when the Nazis are already in power in Germany, he gains decisive findings in the atomic structure of diamond and how it can be influenced by the new high-pressure high-temperature technology. He gets into the crosshairs of the German secret service for whom the production of synthetic diamonds would be a great advantage for their war industry.

The situation becomes critical when the powerful De Pass cartel hears about his research from their greedy informants. The Americans and the Russians find themselves in a similar situation as the Germans and want the diamond synthesis for their armament industry in order not to be dependent on the cartel. Robert attempts an escape in London and gets caught between the fronts.




 
 
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PART THREE »BLUE PHOENIX«

”Blue Phoenix”, the third and final part of the trilogy ”Shades of Brilliance”, takes us back to New York of 1995. Jayata gives Tom the notes and diagrams of her deceased husband, Robert von Wolf, together with a dull, brown diamond weighing 186 carats. Tom makes a spectacular discovery which could destabilize the world market for jewelry diamonds. He is overwhelmed and at the same time in doubt as to whether he should inform his employer, General Compounds, about this discovery. The decision is taken off his hands; he is laid off when reorganization within the listed company leads to job-cutting. The discovery remains a secret shared by few, until a weak-willed attorney slips the patent draft to a journalist who then lands a big scoop. Tom and his partners are about to lose their head start. Together with his friend Tyron, Tom flies to Africa to search for Robert von Wolf's collection of Type II diamonds for the commercialization of the discovery. However, criminals and terrorists are hot on their heels. The trail leads from Namibia to Angola, one of the most dangerous countries of the Dark Continent. Greed for the most concentrated form of carbon generates evil doings and more players enter the stage. Will Robert von Wolf's fate repeat itself?

The last part of the trilogy closes a circle of seventy years of diamond history.


 

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