Reviews - Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice

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Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice

In the past 24 hours I’ve read a must read. Bill Browder’s Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice is one of the best books I’ve read this year. It reads like a John le Carré novel, except it is non-fiction. It starts out as the autobiography of Bill Browder and his creation of a massively successful hedge fund (Hermitage Capital Management) that was one of the first non-Russian investors in Russia in the mid to late 1990s. It then shifted into an incredibly complex story of intrigue, corruption, lawlessness, injustice, and murder all at the hands of the Russian political system.

I know that was a mouthful, but if you want a little taste, just read the Wikipedia page for Sergei Magnitsky which is central to the second half of the book, where Browder shifts from successful financier to international human rights activist. If you want a taste, watch the following interview with Browder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7kwIkdcQlo

Amy and I just finished watching The Night Manager on Amazon, which was based on John le Carré novel by the same name. I’m an optimistic person and I tend to bury my cynicism in what I read and the movies I watch. My optimism holds that the good guys eventually come out on top. I’m going to keep holding onto that notion while doing the little bit I can to help impact that outcome, especially when it means supporting people like Bill Browder. While I don’t know him, if he ever called and asked for anything, I’d be immediately responsive.

If you are looking for a powerful read over the holidays, I’d put Bill Browder’s Red Notice at the top of the list.

hm_reads's review against another edition

2.5

The author isn't the strongest writer and I definitely tired of him introducing every woman to the narrative by describing how attracted he was to them. Not sure why this book was recommended to me so much in 2017 but I guess it's ppl being mad at Russia bc this is pretty polemical. Only light self reflection on his own role in the events of this memoir and essentially none on the realities of investment programs like what his company is based on 🤔