Patrick Carlton 01 - The Diamond Conspiracy
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Despite the foregoing, The Diamond Conspiracy is a work of fiction. Regardless of any similarities, Waterboer Mines Limited is not De Beers. The Slythe family is not the Oppenheimer family. None of Waterboer Mines Limited, the Slythe family, and the Banco Napolitana Lucchese exist. Although the Vatican hierarchy and many religious orders within the Catholic Church disagree over certain issues, the Order does not exist, but merely represents certain conflicts within the large Church family.
The Vatican Bank, its low cash liquidity, the Vatican Office of the Secretary of State, the GRU, the Rossiya icebreaker (named differently), and the U.S. Senate underground tramway are real. So too are the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the CIA Directorate for Intelligence, the NATO air base in Keflavik, Iceland, the U.S. 8X intelligence satellite, the USS Seawolf attack submarine, the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, and the USN F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter, whose hardware and personnel daily protect the United States and her allies from their all too real enemies. Mazal u’ bracha.
Nicolas Kublicki
Los Angeles, California
2002
www.nicolaskublicki.com
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Diamond Conspiracy was my first novel. It took nine years to write, from initial concept to publication. I wrote it mostly on weekends, vacations, and at night while I practiced law during weekdays. It was a long and often rocky road, but I wouldn’t trade it for any other experience.
The Diamond Conspiracy has my name on the cover, yet I could not have written it without the help of Providence and of those named below:
My parents, for instilling in me the belief that I could achieve whatever I set out to do, provided that I work hard enough for it. My father, for reading the manuscript untiringly and his suggestions. The rest of my family, for its support.
Molly Gould for her love and patience.
Elisa Celli-Wallace, for her constant optimism and encouragement, for teaching me my first steps in the book business, and for introducing me to Ed Stackler. Her husband, the late Trevor Wallace, for teaching me the essential duty of a principal character. Nick F., for suggesting that I write the ending while I lingered in the midway doldrums.
Ed Stackler, editor extraordinaire, for his enthusiasm about the story, for his invaluable help and patience in editing the manuscript, and for introducing me to Natasha Kern.
Natasha Kern, my agent, for her faith in the manuscript and in me, for her patience and suggestions, for guiding me through the publishing labyrinth and for protecting me against its minotaurs. Her crack assistants Ruth Widener and Laura Conner, for their kind and efficient help.
Lesley Kellas Payne, for her fine-tuning and point-of-view suggestions.
Alex Lubertozzi, my publishing editor at Sourcebooks, for having the guts to bet on the manuscript and on me, and for his comments and patience. They who state that all authors dislike their editors utter lies.
Sourcebooks marketing director Judith Kelly, publicist Megan Casper, event coordinator Heidi Kent, and all the other people at Sourcebooks who believed in the book and who worked so diligently to make it a success.
Robert D. Billings, for his friendship, for introducing me to and mentoring me on Capitol Hill, and for guiding me through the House, the Senate, and the Senate tramway. Mr. Billings, aye!
Daniel L. Casey, for giving me my first job, for so clearly understanding and legitimating my desire to write this book when the odds and conventional wisdom were against it, and for his help in marketing the book.
Todd Samovitz, fellow scribe, for his friendship, for being such a good sounding board, and for having the guts to blaze the “write” path.
Peter Riebling, fellow jurist, for his friendship, for blazing the path to Washington, D.C., and for sharing those lonely spaghetti law nights with me while on the other side of town and, later, on the other side of the country. Uh-rah!
Ann Bengele and Louis Bareno, for their friendship and for their untiring efforts at the trusty Macintosh laptop computer during tedious hours. More than any of my friends, Ann and Louis understand that in writing a novel, rewriting and editing outweigh writing at least tenfold.
Therese Wilson, my assistant, for making work much easier. Cynthia Kaiser, for helping me with marketing and invitations. Darius Baghai, Christina Carlson, Orlando Cartaya, Rick Cipra, Bari Cooper, Tina Crowe, Michelle Flores, Gerhard Heusch, Steve Istock, Vanina Marsot, Richard Marshall, Max Netty, Colm O’Ryan, Yvette Patko-Coffin, Tanya Rothman, Todd Shollenbarger, and Milo Stevanovich for helping me through the difficult times.
William Gray, for the maps and his artistic skill. Georgana Millican, for her photography and her willingness to help. Chris Netty, for his uncanny ability to locate items, particularly loose cubic zirconium stones.
Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, and Peter Mayle, for their extraordinary books, which made law school and other hard times bearable and encouraged me not only to dream, but to pursue the dream.
The men and women of Ervin, Cohen & Jessup LLP of Beverly Hills, the best law firm in California, for creating and managing a work environment that allows lawyers to have personal lives, interests, and pursuits outside of the practice of law while demanding only the best in the service of their clients.
My fellow members and the staff of the Grand Havana Room in Beverly Hills, for providing a haven away from it all.
All my other friends, thankfully too many to name, without whose kindness, support, encouragement, faith, and friendship, even when they may not have known I was writing this book, without which I could not have completed this work. You know who you are. Diamonds ye be.
And finally, you, the reader, for your interest and time. This book is for you. I am honored by your decision to read it. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Nicolas M. Kublicki
Nicolas Kublicki worked on national security issues on Capitol Hill and on environmental issues at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. before going into private law practice, then the real estate business in his native Los Angeles. He teaches law as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University and is involved in several civic and charitable activities. Nick is married and has two daughters. Like his protagonist Patrick Carlton, he is a vintage automobile enthusiast, cigar aficionado, and fan of Frank Sinatra (who was once his neighbor). He invites you to visit him at nicolaskublicki.com.