Member Reviews

When an ex-escort worker investigates a missing young Vietnamese call girl, she unveils 'Corrupt cops, Russian pimps, and international sex trafficking'!

Was this review helpful?

Headline: A gripping, fictional view into unseen but real scourges of humanity.

Book Review: Diamond Cut by Thomas B. Cavanagh
Published by Oceanview Publishing, July 2, 2024

★★★★★ (4.5 Stars rounded up!)

Diamond Cut (2024)
Chapter One

// "I used to have sex for a living.
Now, on a strictly part-time basis, I get paid not to..."
- "Diamond" a/k/a Sandy Corrigan, private investigator //

Thus it begins, the tale of a former Central Florida escort.

-----

Orlando, Florida

It wasn't that long ago. Sandy Corrigan got out of her former life in dramatic fashion. A near-death experience.

She now holds a Florida Class "CC" Private Investigator Intern License and works under the aegis of her brother's PI agency. Along with Tyler, her precocious 6-year-old, and Laura, a friend who takes care of the toddler, she lives a relatively quiet existence in her new abode, a little 1940's craftsman bungalow in downtown Orlando.

A relatively quiet existence.

Until that day.

That day, when Sandy Corrigan, private detective, gets a phone call from a person looking for someone called "Diamond".

That day, when she reluctantly gets drawn back into the fringes of her past, to help search for a missing Asian teenager, a very young prostitute, at the desperate behest of former acquaintances.

Drawn back to an involvement with the lives of trafficked, extorted, coerced women, some still in their teens. Drawn back to the violence, sordid misery and inhumane realities of modern slavery.

Drawn back, even as she finds herself and loved ones perilously in the crosshairs of organized crime and their network of bent cops, pimps, snitches and ruthless hardened thugs and killers, many of whom are heard speaking with Slavic accents.

All a clear and present danger to the general public.

But personal, very personal to "Diamond".

And this time around, Sandy Corrigan is a different kind of woman....!

-----

Author Thomas B. Cavanagh, award-winning fiction writer, introduces his strong female protagonist and takes his readers on a griping wild ride into the dark side, a finessed fictional view into unseen but real scourges of humanity - human trafficking and sex exploitation, one almost synonymous with the other, even as the author masterfully delivers the narrative without resorting to blood and gore and gratuitous sex, quite a feat considering the issues on hand.

Cavanagh notes at the end of his evidently well-researched novel, which per se, reads like a mark of his own advocacy, that, out in the real world in this day and age, 40.3 million people are hopelessly trapped in modern slavery, including 4.8 million being sexually exploited. (Source: UN ILO 2016)

He then cites a number of organizations prominent on the front lines of the war against human trafficking including the National Human Trafficking Hotline, the Polaris Project and the Coalition to Abolish Slavery.

Simply, a must-read!

Review based on an advanced reading copy courtesy of Oceanview Publishing and NetGalley.

Was this review helpful?

A fast-paced story with plenty of intrigue and anticipation for what happens next. It was very well written and flowed perfectly. I enjoyed reading this book.

Was this review helpful?

Here's a problem with a really slow start, with a lot of unnecessary descriptions and repetitions. However, if you manage to get to the last half of the book, it gets interesting with a twist and some action. The plot is OK, and characters are good.

Was this review helpful?

This was a crazy paced, twisty turny detective story, but not your average PI. Sandy is a former prostitute, now a single mom, and she helps out a friend from her past to solve the mystery of a missing person. It handles a lot of really scary subjects, really well. It definitely had some moments where I didn’t want to put it down!

Was this review helpful?

A fast paced read on the sadly topical issue of human trafficking. The underlying plot elements (trafficking, corruption) might seem all too familiar but Sandy, escort turned PI, makes this fresh. She's a good character- a woman who has changed her life and is living quietly, working for her brother and raising her so but who is willing to step up to help other women. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I'd like to see more with Sandy.

Was this review helpful?

American author, Thomas B. Cavanagh’s Diamond Cut (2024) features Sandy Corrigan, a Private Detective. Sandy with a six-year-old son, who she fiercely protects. When a former colleague contacts her to find a missing girl, Sandy is once again caught up in the sex industry and its dark underside. The story has murder and human trafficking, making it a difficult read at times, but nonetheless, is a story with heart and an authentic feel. With its resilient and strong protagonist, nicely tension-building narrative, humour and twists make this a three and a half stars read rating. With thanks to Oceanview Publishing and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without inducement.

Was this review helpful?

This novel has a very simple cover to go with a simple name, and that is what drew me to the book in the first place. This novel revolves around Sandy, a retired escort turned PI. Sandy is one of those characters who you just want to succeed, and you just keep cheering for. Sandy has gone from a bad place to a good (or decent) place in a way that's realistic and believable.
This is a fantastic book that I highly recommend.

Was this review helpful?

I think I was hoping for more effective social commentary here but I thought it maybe bought into stereotypes a bit. It’s tough because I probably went in wanting something else.

Was this review helpful?

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I had to keep readingto find out what happens with Diamond! Three stars.

Was this review helpful?

I read the blurb, and I thought I knew what this story was going to be about, but I wrong. Not completely wrong, but at least a little bit wrong about certain things. It does include the themes of prostitution/forced prostitution, human trafficking and is a dark read, but I don’t think it was overly graphic in its descriptions. I don’t think people realise how ‘common’ these issues are today, and think more big picture/international gangs, rather than a more homegrown viewpoint.

There were parts I enjoyed about this book: the storyline, the characters, the mystery, the writing of the POVs and the pace, but there were other parts which I found to be grating, for example the way the FMC made so many mistakes and seemed to just get lucky, which, to be honest, is maybe exactly what happens to PI’s, I don’t know. Her decision-making abilities irked me though. She did show some strength and sensitivity.

I was entertained and invested in the story enough to read until the end and thought I could definitely see it playing out on a screen.

Was this review helpful?

To find a missing girl, Sandy must return to the insidious places she once worked tirelessly to escape

Sandy Corrigan used to be called Diamond. She used to live in an apartment with other girls like her, though she rarely slept there, instead spending her evenings in hotel rooms around Orlando with lonely, unfaithful men. That is, until the incident.

Was this review helpful?

this was a great book, had me on the edge of my seat, a real page turner, happy ending though, so many surprises, like the bent cops!

Was this review helpful?

Private Investigator Sandy Corrigan knows all about life in Orlando, Florida. Sandy’s past makes her particularly adept at navigating the underworld that springs up around the tourism mecca. But she’s left that life behind, the life where she was known as Diamond and where she spent her nights in the hotel rooms of paying clients. She escaped it all after a brush with death that left her scarred but grateful to be alive. Now she works for her brother and is raising her young son, Tyler.
When a young girl goes missing, and an old friend asks for Sandy’s help, she finds herself back in the thick of her old life, and among some old enemies. Before she knows it, she is risking everything to find out what happened to the girl and to right some decisions she made years before that she regrets.
This book goes deep into the scourge of human trafficking and does so with sensitivity, avoiding the traps that often come along with similar subject matter. Sandy is a strong, resourceful heroine who I enjoyed rooting for. Thomas B. Cavanagh weaves a thrilling and believable tale in DIAMOND CUT. I couldn’t put it down!
Thank you to NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for the opportunity to read this advanced review copy.

Was this review helpful?

This was such a great book, full of plot twists, which I was unable to predict. An absolute page turner, that was very difficult to put down.
Loved the main character, Sandy.
This was my first book by Thomas B Cavanagh, and it certainly won’t be the last.
The author clearly did extensive research into particular issues, and at the end of the book has information on the issues

Was this review helpful?

Liked this storyline, a bit slow at times and too much detail at time
Overall I would read more from this author

Was this review helpful?

This was a great read. I’m glad I got to read it. The author did a great job with character development and the plot. Also, I didn’t see the twists coming.

Was this review helpful?

If you love thrillers with a strong female lead you are sure to love Thomas B. Cavanagh's, Diamond Cut. Sandy Corrigan, aka, Diamond, a prior private investigator who was a sex worker in a previous life gets pulled back into her prior life in search of a missing girl, Naomi Nguyen.

Full of intrigue, crooked and corrupt cops and even Russian mafia this one never lets off the throttle for a minute and I highly recommend!

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy. It is my pleasure to write an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This book was a ride.....
Let's talk about plot first.
The writer did a great job devising the outline of the plot as none of the events in the book seem like they are popping out of nowhere. It is fast paced, at least enough for me to not loose intrest in the book. I liked that after every few pages there was twist or an awesome logical revelation.
If we talk about the heroine, she was really a character that we can relate to. The decisions she made in the whole book related to what a normal person would make in those circumstances.
Sometimes she was stubborn though but that was also required, I guess to make the character seem more realistic. There were some decisions made by sandy that I am certainly not a fan of but the plot overpowered it. It didn't give you time to think the consequences of her decision so it was good.
The one thing that could have been improved was the ending because the villain was portrayed like someone who was very powerful and although the ending was realistic, I was expecting some big showdown at the end because of the expectations that the whole book gave me so I was a bit disappointed by the ending.
Nevertheless I was happy that sandy got her normal life back and took those girls out of that hell.
I am a sucker for happy endings 😁

Was this review helpful?

“Corrupt cops, Russian pimps, and international sex trafficking” “oh my…”

This was an exciting fast paced read. Sandy, a previous escort, is pulled back into her old world and she is determined to help those still living that life, even if it means putting herself in dangerous situations.

At times it felt predictable, but I enjoyed the wonderfully written suspense so much that I didn’t mind. I’m usually a fan of multiple POVs to keep me interested in a story. This was all first person from Sandy’s POV and I had no trouble staying invested. I failed at my attempts of “just one more chapter” many times.

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas B. Cavanagh, and Oceanview Publishing for this ARC opportunity.

Publication date: July 2, 2024

Was this review helpful?