Heat of Passion
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4.5 • 22 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Win Liberte has it all. He prides himself on never having worked a day in his life. He has everything he wants - fast cars, beautiful women, a racing yacht, a penthouse in Manhattan. Orphaned at eleven, Win inherited an international diamond business that is managed by his uncle.
Then Win loses it all when his uncle commits suicide after investing all of Win's money in a scheme that fails. His single remaining asset is a bankrupt diamond mine in Angola, a steaming, war-ravaged country in equatorial Africa.
In the blood and muck of central Africa, Win experiences the "Diamond Curse" first hand. Battles over Angola's vast wealth in gems occur daily, and fights for control of the diamond industry have wiped out generations. Thriving on the challenge, Win founds an international diamond business that challenges a powerful cartel's stranglehold on the market.
Loved by two women - a movie goddess who sears men's souls and a dedicated UN worker who risks her life in Africa - Win doesn't find anything worth living for until he loses love.
From the tunnels of the diamond mine to the stage at the Academy Awards, from the beds of beautiful women to a battle with warlords, Win has to fight to get back everything he ever wanted.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Maybe next time around, Robbins's anonymous ghostwriter will get jacket credit he or she certainly deserves a little recognition for this latest posthumous production, a sprawling, sparkling international romp featuring the diamond industry. Win Liberte is the trust-fund playboy son of a prominent jeweler whose cash flow dries up when his late father's uncle gambles away the family fortune. After breaking off a relationship with his supermodel girlfriend, Liberte journeys to Africa to try to resurrect the last bit of his legacy, a foundering diamond mine in Angola. The Angola chapters are crisp and propulsive, as Liberte battles a corrupt mine manager and the local strongman in a war-torn country to restore the facility and discover why a supposedly dry mine has been put up for sale. The tail end of that subplot also features some cat-and-mouse chase scenes in which Liberte squares off against a Portuguese rival of his father's for possession of a priceless red diamond known as the "Heart of the World." The story loses momentum after Liberte returns to America to try to reestablish the family diamond house, but despite the slow stretches, this is first-rate Robbins from start to finish. Dashing if improbable adventures alternate with libido-laced sex scenes; in a romantic subplot, Liberte courts academic humanitarian Marni Jones, who is distributing food in Angola. The swashbuckling but self-effacing Liberte is a prototypical Robbins creation, and the details about the diamond industry give this novel more depth than usual; there is a chilling reference to a Saudi billionaire and potential diamond buyer named Osama bin Laden. Robbins's literary legacy remains very much alive, and his thousands of fans should experience a pleasant sense of d j vu as they race through this latest installment.
