This is a complex international thriller. It takes place in the early 1990s, amid the chaotic capitalism and corruption of the "new" Russia after the failure of the Soviet system. Alex is a very successful young Russian capitalist who provides extensive financial backing for Boris Yeltsin's rise to power. Former KGB goons are very unhappy about this. They want a return to the old ways, when the KGB had unlimited power. They torture Alex and then frame him for the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars, which actually goes into their own accounts. After this, Alex is supposed to die with the blame on his head so the real thieves can enjoy all that money. But he and his wife keep thwarting the plans of the various factions trying to destroy them. After Alex and his wife escape to America, a lot of international logrolling ensues--all of it nefarious. At times it seemed to me that the author was a little over the top in his portrayal of the bad guys--both Russian and American. But then I read the Author's Note. The book is based on a real Russian couple who lived an even worse version of this story!
The Drift Of Things
To yield with a grace to reason
This is a complex international thriller. It takes place in the early 1990s, amid the chaotic capitalism and corruption of the "new" Russia after the failure of the Soviet system. Alex is a very successful young Russian capitalist who provides extensive financial backing for Boris Yeltsin's rise to power. Former KGB goons are very unhappy about this. They want a return to the old ways, when the KGB had unlimited power. They torture Alex and then frame him for the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars, which actually goes into their own accounts. After this, Alex is supposed to die with the blame on his head so the real thieves can enjoy all that money. But he and his wife keep thwarting the plans of the various factions trying to destroy them. After Alex and his wife escape to America, a lot of international logrolling ensues--all of it nefarious. At times it seemed to me that the author was a little over the top in his portrayal of the bad guys--both Russian and American. But then I read the Author's Note. The book is based on a real Russian couple who lived an even worse version of this story!
