Sam North, the editor of the online writers magazine Hackwriters has published his seventh novel.

Diamonds - The Rush of '72 is the result of several years of research and is a true adventure set in the wild west.

It covers greed, treachery and bravado, when two prospectors find and try to hang on to a massive diamond find.

Their only hope is to keep its location secret.

They attract the attention of California's biggest bank and New York's finest investors, only to discover that the city gentlemen intend to cheat them.

Kentucky men John Slack and Philip Arnold are not about to be outdone - and there begins their battle to make or break a fortune.

Sam said: "This is a true story. When two Kentucky prospectors, John Slack and Philip Arnold arrived penniless and near starving in San Francisco to deposit raw 'American' diamonds in the Bank of California, it caused quite a stir."

"Rumours flew across the city. Everyone wanted a piece of the action.

"But Slack and Arnold would be hard men to woo.

"What began as a trickle in the Colorado mountains would grow into the great rush of 1872 and ruin the lives of almost everyone it touched."

Sam is currently senior lecturer in Screenwriting at the University of Portsmouth.

He has published six novels, had many radio dramas broadcast and also has written for several magazines.

He is the editor of the successful on-line writers magazine www.hackwriters.com.