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Max’s Diamonds

A stunning, sweeping and critically acclaimed debut novel, about a man forced to confront his moral culpability, the legacy of impossible loss, and the claims of his Jewish identity.

Max’s Diamonds is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble in paperback and e-book, and at your local bookstore.

A stunning, sweeping and critically acclaimed debut novel, about a man forced to confront his moral culpability, the legacy of impossible loss, and the claims of his Jewish identity.

Paul Hartman, coming of age in postwar Rockaway, grows up haunted by the specter of his cousin Max, an Auschwitz survivor, and his mysterious cache of diamonds, which fund Paul’s Harvard Law education and even sparkle in his fiancée’s engagement ring. When a stranger from his past confronts him with an impossible demand, one that could destroy his law career, his marriage and his sense of self, Paul must make choices that will change his fate forever.

The Indie Excellence Awards has named Max’s Diamonds a finalist for Best New Fiction.

Foreword Reviews calls Max “incredibly engaging and thought-provoking … an excellent new work of fiction”

The New York Journal of Books proclaims it “a fun and absorbing read … a page-turner”

Reviews by Amos Lassen writes “the novel made me think, and that is what I see as the true purpose of literature”

The New Hampshire Jewish Reporter calls it “well paced and suspenseful … a true American story,”

The Jewish News Service writes that Max’s Diamonds is “a fast-moving page-turner … a must-read and must-share”

San Diego Jewish World raves that Jay Greenfield’s “intent, carried out quite successfully, was to explore how family members and close friends of Holocaust Survivors, even those who lived safely in faraway America, were victims in the second degree of the Holocaust, less so than children of Survivors, but victims nevertheless”

Mark Laporta, the acclaimed author of Heart of Earth, writes that “With a deft touch for descriptive detail and a no-holds-barred quest for emotional honesty, Jay Greenfield creates a vivid world as real as it is phantasmagorical. For ultimately, Max’s Diamonds encompasses both the fondest dreams and fiercest nightmares of the post-war era”

The Examiner calls Max “a book I enjoyed and could barely put down for its suspenseful serpentine plot.”

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