A good listen

I loved the build up before the rade , Tells you the history of how the diamonds came about and how they made there way to the dome , also tells you abit about the dome its self and what a waste of time and money it really is , I was unsure about buying this book but im glad i did ,

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Good story interwoven with facts

Well narrated and easy to listen to. Enjoyed the authentic accents of the people involved and learning so much about diamonds along the way (eg DeBeers has over 4 billion individual diamonds in storage). The author is clearly an apologist for the 'geezers' and somewhat romanticises the idea of London gangsters, but it helps to make a good story.

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Fabulous throughout

Most interesting read. Digs deep and a fantastic listen! Lots of background information and it is not your usual True crime book.

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Excellent narration.

Colin Mace is the best narrator on Audible. Well written book delivered brilliantly. Amazing how comical the whole job was . Would recommend.

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Fun, insightful, and atmopsheric

(I normally rate a good book as 3 stars, so 4 stars means it's very good)

As a former Dome employee who was there on the day the attack happened, I was very interested to hear more about the planning behind the raid, as well as happily reminding myself of what it was like down on the Greenwich peninsula back in 2000.

I agree with everything the previous reviewer has already said. The narrator is good, and does an excellent job of using different voices/ accents to bring to life the various characters involved. The pace of the book is good, and manages to blend a minute-by-minute account of the raid itself with chapters looking more at the diamond industry, the ineptitude of some private security companies, and the atmospherics of the year 2000 and the New Labour government of the time.

The previous reviewer has also got it spot on - the author clearly wants to promote the romantic image of the east end gangster; fans of lock stock etc. will feel very at home here. That being said, from my personal experience and that of my colleagues, I can say that - regardless of what the gangsters meant - smashing a JCB through the wall of a building with no knowledge of who was on the other side was a truly frightening moment and I think the author is not being impartial enough when explaining how no-one was in any real danger.

But it's hard to fault the book too much - it's pacy, funny, insightful, and atmospheric. Well worth it!

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4 people found this helpful

A great listen

The actual story of the heist is pretty simple, but this book gives so much more background info on the diamond trade etc. very interesting. I liked the narrator too.

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Interesting but incredibly biased!

I enjoyed listening to this book, it was an interesting insight into the criminal world in London. In addition, I learned quite a bit about how diamond companies work.

However, it definately seems to be very pro-gangster, painting these characters as genial wide-boys rather than criminals. Perhaps it is a good thing in some ways because it also explains their backgrounds and it is fascinating to see how normal people can become involved in crime and how the police may not always have right on their side.

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Pretty guff

What disappointed you about Diamond Geezers: The Inside Story of the Crime of the Millennium?

The story isnt that exciting, its a foiled raid which takes about 1 hr to tell. The rest of the time is padding with occasional seemingly less relevant tales.

Would you ever listen to anything by Kris Hollington again?

Sure, this is just one not so great title.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Colin Mace?

Narrator was ok, voices well attempted but pretty duff

Any additional comments?

I kept going back to this thinking it was going to go somewhere but it doesnt, the main story is told with 5 hours still to run and it literally just pads out. The idea of of the big diamond theft is exciting but really the story is not. I kept assuming there was a big twist but No. They literally drive a jcb into the dome and get arrested, the end.

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2 people found this helpful