The Diamond Eye: A Novel – The New York Times Bestselling WWII Historical Fiction About Lady Death, History's Deadliest Female Sniper
Don’t miss the thrilling new novel from Kate Quinn, The Briar Club!
New York Times Bestseller
The bestselling author of The Rose Code returns with an unforgettable work of WWII historical fiction about a quiet bookworm who becomes history’s deadliest female sniper. Based on a true story.
In 1937 in the snowbound city of Kyiv, wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son—but Hitler’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper—a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death in this gripping historical thriller. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.
Still reeling from war wounds and devastated by loss, Mila finds herself isolated and lonely in the glittering world of Washington, DC—until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a silent fellow sniper offer the possibility of happiness.
But when an old enemy from Mila’s past joins forces with a deadly new foe lurking in the shadows, Lady Death finds herself battling her own demons and enemy bullets in the deadliest duel of her life.
Based on a true story, The Diamond Eye is a haunting piece of biographical fiction about heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, of a woman who found her place in the world and changed the course of history forever.
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Readers say *The Diamond Eye* is a compelling WWII novel about Lady Death, an inspiring female sniper praised for its vivid history and strong lead. R...
The book had a slow start for me, but the pacing improved as the story progressed, and I ended up genuinely enjoying it. One fun moment: when Mila mentioned that Krostia was speaking English, I actually had to re-read the passage—it hadn't occurred to me that the characters weren't speaking English in the story itself, since I was reading it in English! It was a little "aha" moment realizing they were actually speaking Russian.
I enjoied the author's note at the end. It was fascinating to learn about the author's research process into Mila's life and her experience as a female sniper. Mila served on the front lines at a time when that was virtually unheard of in the US—and even today it's still rare. Despite proving herself repeatedly, she was consistently underestimated, marginalized, and not taken seriously by those around her. It was heartwarming to learn that she eventually found love in real life, mirroring her journey in the book. I also appreciated the author's note about the ambiguity in Mila's memoir regarding who she fell for—it's unclear whether it was one person or two, and it seems there are several reasons we may never know the full answer. Still, I loved how the author thoughtfully interpreted and crafted that love story for us.
”When women become famous, it brings strange men out of the woodwork” - Mila Pavlichenko
This war story was a candidate of my 2025 “out of my comfort zone” challenge and depicted so much of why I don’t read war stories. On the other hand, I should have known better for a story about a WWII, female, sniper. Of course, it’s going to have a lot of gory and bloody war scenes. However, the parts about the life of the sniper, Mila, were the parts of the story that I truly enjoyed, that and the story was actually based on a real person and real events. Quinn discloses in her Author’s Notes where she took artistic liberties with Mila’s story for entertainment purposes.
The book summary basically introduces the two storylines: one of Mila, the sniper killing Nazis on the battlefields of Russia and parts that we now call Ukraine, and one of Mila, the war hero on an American goodwill tour. What the book summary doesn’t mention is that from the moment Mila landed in the US, she is being stalked and studied by another sniper, referred to as the Marksman, who is carrying out a job by President FDR’s enemies who want to assassinate FDR and frame Mila. This is not a spoiler because it was revealed really early in the story.
The story flips back and forth between before the war when Mila lived in Kyiv (spelled Kiev in the book) and several years later when she is on the goodwill tour. It also flips back and forth between Mila, for the sections on the past, and the Marksman, for the sections on the present during the goodwill tour. The sections on the past trace Mila’s path from student and mother to revered sniper. The sections on the present include some excerpts from Eleanor Roosevelt on her thoughts of the guests to the White House and her time consulting and advising FDR, who spent a lot of time isolated due to his declining health.
Once again, I enjoyed the parts of Mila’s rise to revered Russian sniper and her relationships with her family, her sniper partner, Kostya, her lover, Lionya, her friend, Lena, the nurse, her incredibly annoying husband, Alexei, who she spent pretty much the entire story, trying to divorce. Another thing that bugged me was how regardless of the level of skill Mila reached and extraordinary accomplishments that she obtained, for most of her career, lesser skilled and accomplished men were getting promoted above her. Reminds me of an old saying that was drilled in me by my mother and grandmother (my feminist role models) since I was a teenager, “a woman has to work twice as hard to be considered just as equal.” These days even that saying isn’t true anymore, because no matter how hard a woman works, or how much better than a man she is at doing or accomplishing anything, she’s still not considered equal and she’s most certainly not recognized or paid equally.
Anyway, it’s in the second half that the storylines merge and the past catches up with the present and Mila’s growing weariness of the tour and the press and her longing to return home and back to the front line. It’s not long before Quinn has me whooping and shouting “whoo hoo”. I love stories that can excite me like that.
The character development of Mila, Kostya, and a few other primary characters was very well done. The pacing was steady to fast, especially in the second half. The story was very interesting, even if I didn’t like the war scenes. I loved that the story was loosely based on a real woman who was an extremely intelligent and a deathly and fierce, female sniper. The writing was also very well done; I will definitely be checking out Kate Quinn’s other work. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.4 that I will be rounding down to a 4star review.
This war story was a candidate of my 2025 “out of my comfort zone” challenge and depicted so much of why I don’t read war stories. On the other hand, I should have known better for a story about a WWII, female, sniper. Of course, it’s going to have a lot of gory and bloody war scenes. However, the parts about the life of the sniper, Mila, were the parts of the story that I truly enjoyed, that and the story was actually based on a real person and real events. Quinn discloses in her Author’s Notes where she took artistic liberties with Mila’s story for entertainment purposes.
The book summary basically introduces the two storylines: one of Mila, the sniper killing Nazis on the battlefields of Russia and parts that we now call Ukraine, and one of Mila, the war hero on an American goodwill tour. What the book summary doesn’t mention is that from the moment Mila landed in the US, she is being stalked and studied by another sniper, referred to as the Marksman, who is carrying out a job by President FDR’s enemies who want to assassinate FDR and frame Mila. This is not a spoiler because it was revealed really early in the story.
The story flips back and forth between before the war when Mila lived in Kyiv (spelled Kiev in the book) and several years later when she is on the goodwill tour. It also flips back and forth between Mila, for the sections on the past, and the Marksman, for the sections on the present during the goodwill tour. The sections on the past trace Mila’s path from student and mother to revered sniper. The sections on the present include some excerpts from Eleanor Roosevelt on her thoughts of the guests to the White House and her time consulting and advising FDR, who spent a lot of time isolated due to his declining health.
Once again, I enjoyed the parts of Mila’s rise to revered Russian sniper and her relationships with her family, her sniper partner, Kostya, her lover, Lionya, her friend, Lena, the nurse, her incredibly annoying husband, Alexei, who she spent pretty much the entire story, trying to divorce. Another thing that bugged me was how regardless of the level of skill Mila reached and extraordinary accomplishments that she obtained, for most of her career, lesser skilled and accomplished men were getting promoted above her. Reminds me of an old saying that was drilled in me by my mother and grandmother (my feminist role models) since I was a teenager, “a woman has to work twice as hard to be considered just as equal.” These days even that saying isn’t true anymore, because no matter how hard a woman works, or how much better than a man she is at doing or accomplishing anything, she’s still not considered equal and she’s most certainly not recognized or paid equally.
Anyway, it’s in the second half that the storylines merge and the past catches up with the present and Mila’s growing weariness of the tour and the press and her longing to return home and back to the front line. It’s not long before Quinn has me whooping and shouting “whoo hoo”. I love stories that can excite me like that.
The character development of Mila, Kostya, and a few other primary characters was very well done. The pacing was steady to fast, especially in the second half. The story was very interesting, even if I didn’t like the war scenes. I loved that the story was loosely based on a real woman who was an extremely intelligent and a deathly and fierce, female sniper. The writing was also very well done; I will definitely be checking out Kate Quinn’s other work. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.4 that I will be rounding down to a 4star review.
A welll written story based (mostly) on facts about a female Russian (Ukrainian) sniper in WW II.
It was not so surprising at there were females at the front in the Russian army, but that was a Russian student delegation to the US in 1942 to promote support for US help in the war against Germany. And the story of how one of them, the female sniper, befriended the First Lady. As I read the book I that that was fiction until I read the author's notes and the true (mostly) story of the sniper, whose memoirs can be read in English.
It was not so surprising at there were females at the front in the Russian army, but that was a Russian student delegation to the US in 1942 to promote support for US help in the war against Germany. And the story of how one of them, the female sniper, befriended the First Lady. As I read the book I that that was fiction until I read the author's notes and the true (mostly) story of the sniper, whose memoirs can be read in English.