Flawless
Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History
Now the Netflix documentary
Stolen: Heist of the Century
The True Story of the Antwerp Diamond Heist
The Antwerp Diamond Center was one of the most secure buildings in the world. With hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds stored in its subterranean vault, it had to be. Located in the heart of Belgium’s Antwerp Diamond District, the building sat inside an area protected by police stations, armed patrols, extensive surveillance, and vehicle barriers in a neighborhood where most of the world’s diamonds are traded.
On February 15, 2003, a group of Italian thieves led by Leonardo Notarbartolo bypassed every one of those defenses and emptied the vault. After more than two years of careful planning and surveillance, they escaped with what experts estimate was nearly half a billion dollars in diamonds, jewelry, cash, and other valuables.
The robbery quickly became known as the largest diamond heist in history. The crew relied on stealth and planning rather than violence. They defeated electronic sensors, evaded cameras, and opened a vault protected by a massive steel door and multiple locking systems.
Flawless traces the investigation into the robbery and the man believed to be its mastermind. Traveling through Italy and Belgium, the book reconstructs how the thieves studied the building, discovered weaknesses in its security, and carried out the heist.
The result is a detailed account of one of the most sophisticated thefts ever attempted and an inside look at the secretive world of international diamond trading.
Reviews
“Like a diamond, this true-life caper is clear, colorful, and brilliant.”
Publishers Weekly ★ Starred Review ★
“Fans of caper books and movies will be in seventh heaven here. A must-read for true-crime fans.”
Booklist ★ Starred Review ★
“Tells the story with the gripping pace of a true-crime Ocean’s Eleven.”
New York Post
“As compelling as any work of fiction.”
A.V. Club
“A caper movie in print… offers exactly the right blend of diversion and pith.”
Salon.com
“A riveting narrative.”
Boston Globe
“Flawless is a page-turner… The sheer massed detail gathered from multiple sources is impressive.”
Globe & Mail
“The whole fascinating story is outlined in a new book called Flawless.”
BBC 4 Radio
“Flawless is a true crime tale as entertaining as Hollywood’s ‘Ocean’s Eleven.’”
Star Tribune
“A breathless ‘inside,’ blow-by-blow, if not actually how-to, account of ‘the largest diamond heist in history’.”
Harvard Magazine
“Meticulously reported and expertly assembled, Flawless is just the thing to get the blood of winter-weary readers moving.”
The Week
“An engrossing nonfiction thriller.”
Kirkus Reviews
“The literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster.”
PopMatters.com
“Flawless details a real-life diamond heist that is definitely movie-worthy.”
Bustle
“Fans of true crime and of crime caper movies will especially enjoy this fun romp.”
Library Journal
Praise for Flawless
“With Flawless, Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell take the genre of true crime to a new level. Reading Flawless you realize that sometimes reality can be more fantastic than most action films.”
Douglas Preston & Mario Spezi
New York Times bestselling authors of The Monster of Florence
“How could a group of thieves have slipped into a building designed as a diamond fortress and escaped with millions of loot in tow without anyone noticing? In Flawless, Scott Selby and Greg Campbell expertly dissect this audacious crime in a compellingly expansive investigation ranging from the intricacies of the diamond industry to the history of the mob in Italy. A story that could have been ripped from the pages of a movie script but which is rooted in fact, Flawless is a rare true crime story, a real diamond in the rough.”
Julian Rubinstein, author of Ballad of the Whiskey Robber
“Thoroughly researched and wonderfully written, Scott Selby and Greg Campbell tell the gripping story of the diamond heist of the century. Part whodunit, part mob tell-all, part diamond underworld reportage, Flawless is simply too good to miss.”
Ulrich Boser, author of The Gardner Heist