The Devil's Stone
Omar Ash Raff is a man of honor. He lives in Sierra Leone, a country rife with diamond smugglers. Omar knows what diamonds can do to a man. He’s chased that dream all his life. He safeguards Okra Hill – the most valuable piece of diamond-rich, real-estate the country possesses from being pillaged by rebels, diamond conglomerates and the corrupt government that will sell it to the highest bidder.
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Relentless, Mike checks out new property markers along the path only to be confronted by Walker and a shotgun. A heated argument develops. Walker pulls the trigger and kills Mike.
Devastated, Eydie attends the preliminary hearing only to have the case dismissed on grounds that Mike died accidentally. Horrified that Walker now roams around a free man, she sets out on a quest to find out the truth behind her husband’s death and becomes the laughingstock of the town, enduring humiliation from neighbors, friends, and family.
Eydie then puts her own life in danger when upon discovering Mike’s diary, she pieces together a jigsaw puzzle that proves a land scam in the town with a prominent local figure as the ringleader and Walker as his accomplice.
Walker quickly finds out Eydie is not a push over and urges her arrest for interfering in the plan. When Eydie, with evidence in hand, heads out to prove Mike’s death was murder, a violent storm causes the river to burst its banks, leaving the road impassable. The only way out is by boat. But there’s only one, hers, and it’s across the divided path.
The battles continue, until one day Mike comes home to find Walker waiting under a tree, aiming a gun at him. Terrified, Mike calls the police. They point out to Mike how many times Walker has complained about him, then take a conflicting statement from Walker, who tells them he acted in self-defense. Suspicious of the way the incident is handled, Mike sets out to form a river committee against Walker and his belligerence. Eydie, furious with Mike for continually goading Walker, accuses her husband of starting a war against their neighbor, insisting that he’s the problem, not Walker.
Along the Allegheny River in the small town of Starbrick, Pennsylvania, Mike and Eydie Rossi return from fishing, mooring their boat at the end of a stretch of houses lining the riverbank. The Rossi’s house is situated fifty yards across an easement that skirts the bottom of the property belonging to neighbor, Chad Walker. As the Rossi’s walk to their house, Walker, a grumpy, retired attorney, accosts Mike and threatens to shoot him for trespassing on his land. Sick and tired of Walker harassing him, Mike explodes, insisting that he won’t drive five miles around the houses to the boat marina when his house is just fifty yards across the path. He tells Walker that the piece of land is public access. And like the others on the stretch of river he’ll park his boat as close to his house as possible. Chad, furious, argues back, while Eydie tries to stop Mike from making a fool of himself by having a shouting match with an old man.
THE KEY TO HEAVEN is the story of Mona Lisa Fabula, a young trendy Londoner deeply in debt and Brogan Brood, a young but old-fashioned curator who specializes in Medieval antiquities. A fortune is Mona Lisa’s for the taking if she can unravel the riddle of a star-shaped ring left to her by her grandfather or forfeit her fortune to a distant cousin.
The family lawyer gives Mona-Lisa an old scroll and warns her to guard the ring with her life, as people will try to kill her for it. He suggests she takes the scroll and the ring to a museum to have it valued.
Which is where she meets Brogan. He discovers the ring dates back to the 4th century B.C. and is referred to in an ancient text as THE KEY TO HEAVEN. Brogan deciphers the scroll is a set of instructions and that the ring is a key to a vault containing a priceless scepter and shield. But legend has it that somebody must hang before the treasure can be found.
In this exciting action-adventure story through long-lost castles, foggy moors and magnificent rugged scenery, Mona Lisa and Brogan travel the stormy coast of Northeast England finding clues and trouble along the way. They are opposed by their own personality flaws as well as Cane Parker, gang leader of a band of motorcycle thugs and distant cousin of Mona-Lisa. Cane stands to receive Mona Lisa’s fortune should she die. He’ll stop at nothing to make sure she is the one who hangs.
An impetuous heart can be deadly for romantic dreamer, Crystal Laine. With her head in the clouds, Crystal, a young English woman, falls wildly in love with Jax Raád, a Lebanese businessman in London seeking investment capital for a diamond mining venture in Sierra Leone. Captivated by this exotic man, Crystal willingly trades her uneventful, tour-guide existence for the promise of adventure and travels to Freetown.
As her love for this man and this foreign land become inexorably tangled, she discovers Jax has a high-voltage temper along with addictions: drugs and gambling. Still, her life in Sierra Leone completely rules her heart, one moment stunning her with unimaginable beauty, the next horrifying her with relentless cruelty.
Jax successfully gathers the capital for his mining expedition, and the two head off to Mendeland. But nothing in her tour-guide experience could have prepared Crystal for living in the bush.
In a land of voodoo, devils, and secret societies, she’s cursed by a jealous female river spirit, believed to be the keeper of stones. To appease this river spirit and find diamonds, Crystal must go through a ritual called “sacrificing your heart” that changes her life forever. The river does spit out a stone, The Angel Stone, worth millions and sure to be another curse. Jax warns her not to tell anybody about the rare, fancy diamond, as they’ll be hunted down and killed for it.
The country is in political upheaval as the first democratic election in thirty years is about to take place. Rebel factions oppose a civilian government, boycotting the elections by burning those alive who oppose their tyranny. Her lover's betrayals have put both their lives in jeopardy.
She knows she must leave, but before she does, she must find a way to save the man responsible for bringing her to this magical, albeit dangerous land. Her way of life in Africa, the friends she’s made, the lessons she’s learned, and her own internal awakenings all come together to help her with the biggest challenge of her life.
As for The Angel Stone…? Diamond smugglers are shot—common knowledge. Rebels are about to enter the city. An air, sea, and land lock is enforced. Time has run out.
With no way to leave the country, Crystal must decide what action to take, but only The Angel Stone can help her now.
Along the Allegheny River in the small town of Starbrick, Pennsylvania, Mike and Eydie Rossi return from fishing, mooring their boat at the end of a stretch of houses lining the riverbank. The Rossi’s house is situated fifty yards across an easement that skirts the bottom of the property belonging to neighbor, Chad Walker. As the Rossi’s walk to their house, Walker, a grumpy, retired attorney, accosts Mike and threatens to shoot him for trespassing on his land. Sick and tired of Walker harassing him, Mike explodes, insisting that he won’t drive five miles around the houses to the boat marina when his house is just fifty yards across the path. He tells Walker that the piece of land is public access. And like the others on the stretch of river he’ll park his boat as close to his house as possible. Chad, furious, argues back, while Eydie tries to stop Mike from making a fool of himself by having a shouting match with an old man.
The battles continue, until one day Mike comes home to find Walker waiting under a tree, aiming a gun at him. Terrified, Mike calls the police. They point out to Mike how many times Walker has complained about him, then take a conflicting statement from Walker, who tells them he acted in self-defense. Suspicious of the way the incident is handled, Mike sets out to form a river committee against Walker and his belligerence. Eydie, furious with Mike for continually goading Walker, accuses her husband of starting a war against their neighbor, insisting that he’s the problem, not Walker.
Relentless, Mike checks out new property markers along the path only to be confronted by Walker and a shotgun. A heated argument develops. Walker pulls the trigger and kills Mike.
Devastated, Eydie attends the preliminary hearing only to have the case dismissed on grounds that Mike died accidentally. Horrified that Walker now roams around a free man, she sets out on a quest to find out the truth behind her husband’s death and becomes the laughingstock of the town, enduring humiliation from neighbors, friends, and family.
Eydie then puts her own life in danger when upon discovering Mike’s diary, she pieces together a jigsaw puzzle that proves a land scam in the town with a prominent local figure as the ringleader and Walker as his accomplice.
Walker quickly finds out Eydie is not a push over and urges her arrest for interfering in the plan. When Eydie, with evidence in hand, heads out to prove Mike’s death was murder, a violent storm causes the river to burst its banks, leaving the road impassable. The only way out is by boat. But there’s only one, hers, and it’s across the divided path.
THE KEY TO HEAVEN is the story of Mona Lisa Fabula, a young trendy Londoner deeply in debt and Brogan Brood, a young but old-fashioned curator who specializes in Medieval antiquities. A fortune is Mona Lisa’s for the taking if she can unravel the riddle of a star-shaped ring left to her by her grandfather or forfeit her fortune to a distant cousin.
The family lawyer gives Mona-Lisa an old scroll and warns her to guard the ring with her life, as people will try to kill her for it. He suggests she takes the scroll and the ring to a museum to have it valued.
Which is where she meets Brogan. He discovers the ring dates back to the 4th century B.C. and is referred to in an ancient text as THE KEY TO HEAVEN. Brogan deciphers the scroll is a set of instructions and that the ring is a key to a vault containing a priceless scepter and shield. But legend has it that somebody must hang before the treasure can be found.
In this exciting action-adventure story through long-lost castles, foggy moors and magnificent rugged scenery, Mona Lisa and Brogan travel the stormy coast of Northeast England finding clues and trouble along the way. They are opposed by their own personality flaws as well as Cane Parker, gang leader of a band of motorcycle thugs and distant cousin of Mona-Lisa. Cane stands to receive Mona Lisa’s fortune should she die. He’ll stop at nothing to make sure she is the one who hangs.
An impetuous heart can be deadly for romantic dreamer, Crystal Laine. With her head in the clouds, Crystal, a young English woman, falls wildly in love with Jax Raád, a Lebanese businessman in London seeking investment capital for a diamond mining venture in Sierra Leone. Captivated by this exotic man, Crystal willingly trades her uneventful, tour-guide existence for the promise of adventure and travels to Freetown.
As her love for this man and this foreign land become inexorably tangled, she discovers Jax has a high-voltage temper along with addictions: drugs and gambling. Still, her life in Sierra Leone completely rules her heart, one moment stunning her with unimaginable beauty, the next horrifying her with relentless cruelty.
Jax successfully gathers the capital for his mining expedition, and the two head off to Mendeland. But nothing in her tour-guide experience could have prepared Crystal for living in the bush.
In a land of voodoo, devils, and secret societies, she’s cursed by a jealous female river spirit, believed to be the keeper of stones. To appease this river spirit and find diamonds, Crystal must go through a ritual called “sacrificing your heart” that changes her life forever. The river does spit out a stone, The Angel Stone, worth millions and sure to be another curse. Jax warns her not to tell anybody about the rare, fancy diamond, as they’ll be hunted down and killed for it.
The country is in political upheaval as the first democratic election in thirty years is about to take place. Rebel factions oppose a civilian government, boycotting the elections by burning those alive who oppose their tyranny. Her lover's betrayals have put both their lives in jeopardy.
She knows she must leave, but before she does, she must find a way to save the man responsible for bringing her to this magical, albeit dangerous land. Her way of life in Africa, the friends she’s made, the lessons she’s learned, and her own internal awakenings all come together to help her with the biggest challenge of her life.
As for The Angel Stone…? Diamond smugglers are shot—common knowledge. Rebels are about to enter the city. An air, sea, and land lock is enforced. Time has run out.
With no way to leave the country, Crystal must decide what action to take, but only The Angel Stone can help her now.
Reader's Reviews
5 star reviews from our book readers
An exciting, thought-provoking novel that explores the greed and power struggles surrounding Sierra Leone’s diamond wealth. The central trio of Omar, Dawn, and young Bingo are characters you root for, and their journey to find the Devil’s Stone is filled with tension, danger, and emotional depth. The backdrop of voodoo and superstition adds intrigue, while the theme of fighting for what’s right gives the story a powerful moral core. A fantastic, multi-layered read.
A compelling story set against the turbulent backdrop of Sierra Leone’s diamond smuggling world. Omar’s fight to protect Okra Hill and his evolving relationship with Dawn and Bingo make this book a true page-turner. The mythical allure of the Devil’s Stone adds a layer of suspense, and the moral dilemmas faced by the characters are thought-provoking. It’s a perfect blend of action, emotion, and deep character arcs.
The Devil’s Stone is a smart and stylish thriller set against the diamond trade in Sierra Leone, Africa. Reindorp knows the country and this dark business from the inside out. Fast-paced and cleverly plotted, The Devil’s Stone is a wonderful debut.
Marie Reindorp does an excellent job weaving action and colorful descriptions into The Devil s Stone. I enjoyed her writing and found her story to be fast-paced and timely. I look forward to her next novel.
I hope they make The Devil's Stone into a movie! Incredible story!!! The Devil's Stone, by Marie Reindorp, is one of the best books I ever read. It's a historical adventure novel with amazing insight into the diamond mining in Sierra Leone. Marie Reindorp captures all the elements a great story should have...adventure, romance, excitement and lot's of unexpected twists. I hope they make this book into a movie! The Devil's Stone is a definite must read!
This author captures your attention from the beginning with authentic character names and places. I feel like I have personally been to Sierra Leone. The author is very descriptive and uses words well. The theme is tragic in many ways but also shows how love for ones fellow man wins out. A touch of romance lightens the heaviness of the subject of war and greed.
Wonderful story, captivating right till the end. I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an exiting and well written read.
For a first novel this book is brilliant, it's the kind of book once you start you will not want to put it down, you are never sure what is going to happen next. Based in the trouble strewn Sierra Leone it has you rooting for the good guys and gives a great insight into the underlying issues and challenges in the grey market of "blood diamonds". A great read, good twists and turns.