A 200 mile swath of Namibian seaboard has long been closed to the public, and though many of its diamond pits have been deemed "overmined" and abandoned, they still supply a bloody illicit trade. Journalist Matthew Gavin Frank crosses Africa's Diamond Coast to meet desperate miners who raise carrier pigeons in secret and load them with rough diamonds. Weaving the smugglers' stories with harrowing anecdotes from former security men and vigilante pigeon hunters, Frank reveals how these remarkable birds have become outlaws.

"A quirky mixture of whimsy, history, and elegy to personal loss…. An intriguing read."—NPR