Take a photo of a barcode or cover
1.01k reviews for:
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
Bill Browder
4.26 AVERAGE
1.01k reviews for:
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
Bill Browder
4.26 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
The book description, or blurb, reads like most of the synopses - that is, overstated and exaggerated. However, the book delivers what it promises. It is well written, exciting, and has the feel of a thriller - even though it is about investing and politics. It also seems to be an accurate account of what happened, which makes it scary as well. A very good read.
Well written, but veryyyyyy dry. Definitely a good portrayal of Russia’s political corruption.
The story itself is very good, the problem here is the telling of that story.
From the very little I know of Bill Browder he seems like a good guy, very bright, excellent businessman, principled, brave, loyal, gives very good interviews, but not a talented writer. (There’s a very good 60 Minutes segment on the story along with several YouTube videos produced by Bill Browder that are worth seeing.) If this book had been written by a professional writer uninvolved with the events of the book it would have been solid.
I almost gave up in the very beginning because the writing seemed so amateurish and unintentionally funny. Sweeping generalities are commonplace. The tone is very hearsay/schoolyard-ish and out of proportion to the events described. It’s loaded down with unnecessary detail about what people wore and what their physical appearances projected (“good” people were treated far more charitably than “bad” people, and everyone was either one or the other). Quoted conversations were painfully stilted. (I think every sentence directed to the author had his name in it. “What do you mean, Bill?” “Bill, I can’t believe it’s true.” “I have to say, Bill, we’ve got some serious trouble on our hands.”) (Even worse, “bad” people were occasionally quoted stuttering in fear. “W-what did you just say Bill?” “B-bill, this conversation’s over.”)
Here’s an actual quote from the book (I made up the ones above but they’re in the true spirit of what I read. I’m too lazy to track the real quotes down) regarding his mother:
“Going from poverty to comfort and then back to poverty was so traumatic that, to this day, my mother collects sugar packets and sneaks rolls from restaurant breadbaskets into her handbag.” Big deal, my mother walks out with the plates, silverware, glassware and tablecloth but you don’t see me writing about that in books.
And these troubling sequences (again, real quotes this time) relating to his time at boarding school and a visit by his mother:
“On my first night, a band of students came to my room and started rummaging through my drawers, taking whatever they wanted. When I objected, they jumped me, held me down, and chanted over and over, “Time for the titty-twisters, Billy Browder! Time for the titty-twisters!...I decided not to tell her about getting beat up every night or the titty-twisters, and I didn’t know whether she suspected any of it...I decided that while returning to the warm bosom of my mother sounded like the most appealing thing in the world at the moment...After saying good-bye, I returned to my room, and as I passed the sophomore bunk area, I could hear a pair of boys hissing, TTs for BB, TTs for BB"” I’m sensing a recurring theme here. And can we just refer to proper name of the titty-twister? Yes, the Bluey Louie.
Another true quote:
“This had been fed into the pysches of ordinary Russians from the moment they were on their mothers’ breasts.” There he goes again!
I can’t help myself:
“Her lipstick was redder than before, and her black dress was simultaneously tighter and classier than anything I’d seen her in before. She wasn’t just beautiful. She was sexy...Before we said good-bye that night, I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her toward me, and without any resistance, we shared our first real kiss.” Hubba hubba. Anyone got a cigarette?
One more:
“He made the oligarchs his “bitches,” consolidated his power, and, by many estimates, became the richest man in the world.”
If you like this kind of writing this book is an absolute gold mine.
From the very little I know of Bill Browder he seems like a good guy, very bright, excellent businessman, principled, brave, loyal, gives very good interviews, but not a talented writer. (There’s a very good 60 Minutes segment on the story along with several YouTube videos produced by Bill Browder that are worth seeing.) If this book had been written by a professional writer uninvolved with the events of the book it would have been solid.
I almost gave up in the very beginning because the writing seemed so amateurish and unintentionally funny. Sweeping generalities are commonplace. The tone is very hearsay/schoolyard-ish and out of proportion to the events described. It’s loaded down with unnecessary detail about what people wore and what their physical appearances projected (“good” people were treated far more charitably than “bad” people, and everyone was either one or the other). Quoted conversations were painfully stilted. (I think every sentence directed to the author had his name in it. “What do you mean, Bill?” “Bill, I can’t believe it’s true.” “I have to say, Bill, we’ve got some serious trouble on our hands.”) (Even worse, “bad” people were occasionally quoted stuttering in fear. “W-what did you just say Bill?” “B-bill, this conversation’s over.”)
Here’s an actual quote from the book (I made up the ones above but they’re in the true spirit of what I read. I’m too lazy to track the real quotes down) regarding his mother:
“Going from poverty to comfort and then back to poverty was so traumatic that, to this day, my mother collects sugar packets and sneaks rolls from restaurant breadbaskets into her handbag.” Big deal, my mother walks out with the plates, silverware, glassware and tablecloth but you don’t see me writing about that in books.
And these troubling sequences (again, real quotes this time) relating to his time at boarding school and a visit by his mother:
“On my first night, a band of students came to my room and started rummaging through my drawers, taking whatever they wanted. When I objected, they jumped me, held me down, and chanted over and over, “Time for the titty-twisters, Billy Browder! Time for the titty-twisters!...I decided not to tell her about getting beat up every night or the titty-twisters, and I didn’t know whether she suspected any of it...I decided that while returning to the warm bosom of my mother sounded like the most appealing thing in the world at the moment...After saying good-bye, I returned to my room, and as I passed the sophomore bunk area, I could hear a pair of boys hissing, TTs for BB, TTs for BB"” I’m sensing a recurring theme here. And can we just refer to proper name of the titty-twister? Yes, the Bluey Louie.
Another true quote:
“This had been fed into the pysches of ordinary Russians from the moment they were on their mothers’ breasts.” There he goes again!
I can’t help myself:
“Her lipstick was redder than before, and her black dress was simultaneously tighter and classier than anything I’d seen her in before. She wasn’t just beautiful. She was sexy...Before we said good-bye that night, I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her toward me, and without any resistance, we shared our first real kiss.” Hubba hubba. Anyone got a cigarette?
One more:
“He made the oligarchs his “bitches,” consolidated his power, and, by many estimates, became the richest man in the world.”
If you like this kind of writing this book is an absolute gold mine.
4.5 stars.
Wow. So many thoughts about this book. I think I got it on an audible deal of the day because I'm not really into books about finance and stuff like that, but once the Russian authorities get involved this book gets very interesting. Some thoughts in no particular order:
1. Bill Browder is a good man to have on your side. After Mr. Browder is summarily deported from Russia, at the time he has no idea why, he and his staff inside Russia (he runs a wildly successful hedge fun in Russia) slowly realize that the Russian authorities are after him, mainly because he has been so successful, and after anyone associated with him. He describes the process of getting his close staff—at least the ones who were under threat from the Russian authorities—out of Russia. He is successful in this, with the exception of one lawyer, Sergei, who sees no need to leave because he is a law-abiding tax attorney, which he was, and which also eventually led to his imprisonment, torture, and death (yeah, this is Russia).
2. The sheer enormity of the corruption that went on in post-Soviet Russia, and now in Putin's Russia, is breathtaking, even to Russians, and that is saying something.
3. Mr. Browder, in order to explain the Russian psyche about "success" tells the story of a Russian who is given one wish, whatever he wants. He imagines a magnificent dachau in the forest, a vacation resort on the Black Sea, unlimited money. The wish granter reminds him, "Oh, but don't forget. Whatever you receive, your neighbor will receive double!" The Russian's response is, "Well in that case, poke one of my eyes out." Mr. Browder uses this story to illustrate the Russian psyche that really does not like to see another man succeed, and indeed, will hurt himself in order for that person not to succeed. If he didn't go on to explain how some of the Russian billionaires took exactly that approach with him, I wouldn't have believed it, but they did.
4. The story of the lawyer, Sergei, is heart-breaking. He should have left Russia, but he felt that he was in no danger at all. All he was doing was exposing rampant corruption that was illegal. Unfortunately, for him, Putin and the Russian authorities are involved in the corruption. He is arrested and the authorities basically keep making his life worse and worse, trying to get him to withdraw his accusations of corruption. The worse they make his life, the more strongly Sergei resists any withdrawal of his complaints. He is eventually beaten to death.
5. The story of how Mr. Browder goes about rectifying Sergei's death is quite interesting because it is basically him against all the power of the Russian state. Mr. Putin even gets personally involved as Mr. Browder seeks to get a law passed which would not allow the 60 people involved in Sergei's death to enter into the United States. He eventually succeeds in getting the law passed, even though John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and the Obama administration, do not come off very impressively.
6. Mr. Browder has a fascinating comment when the bill finally does become law. He writes:
"There was something almost biblical about Sergei's story, and even though I am not a religious man, as I sat there watching history unfold, I couldn't help but feel that maybe God had intervened in this case. There is no shortage of suffering in this world, but perhaps Sergei's story cut through as few tragedies ever do."
Here is the thing. Apart from God, there will be no ultimate justice for the 60 people who were complicit in Sergei's torture and murder, including Mr. Putin. The fact of the matter is that they "got away" with it, even though they won't be able to travel to the United States any time soon. Christian theology understands that those 60 people will not get away with murder because they will ultimately stand before the sovereign judge of the universe and give account for Sergei's death. It is comforting to me to know that ultimate justice will eventually prevail.
7. Finally, Mr. Browder made a fortune investing in Russian companies after the fall of the Soviet Union for himself and the clients in his hedge fund. In the process he bought what are essentially shares in these companies from the public for what amounted to pennies on the dollar. This was all completely legal, but one wonders how ethical it was. Mr. Browder doesn't spend one second of this book wondering if he enriched himself by taking advantage of ordinary Russians. I'm sure Mr. Browder would argue that nothing that he did was illegal and it was all accepted business practices, which, to my way of thinking, is part of the problem. Could he not have informed ordinary Russians of the potential financial gain to be had. Could he not have worked for their financial good? We don't know because he never asks that question. This is a great loss, I think.
A very good, thoughtful, sad, thought-provoking book.
Wow. So many thoughts about this book. I think I got it on an audible deal of the day because I'm not really into books about finance and stuff like that, but once the Russian authorities get involved this book gets very interesting. Some thoughts in no particular order:
1. Bill Browder is a good man to have on your side. After Mr. Browder is summarily deported from Russia, at the time he has no idea why, he and his staff inside Russia (he runs a wildly successful hedge fun in Russia) slowly realize that the Russian authorities are after him, mainly because he has been so successful, and after anyone associated with him. He describes the process of getting his close staff—at least the ones who were under threat from the Russian authorities—out of Russia. He is successful in this, with the exception of one lawyer, Sergei, who sees no need to leave because he is a law-abiding tax attorney, which he was, and which also eventually led to his imprisonment, torture, and death (yeah, this is Russia).
2. The sheer enormity of the corruption that went on in post-Soviet Russia, and now in Putin's Russia, is breathtaking, even to Russians, and that is saying something.
3. Mr. Browder, in order to explain the Russian psyche about "success" tells the story of a Russian who is given one wish, whatever he wants. He imagines a magnificent dachau in the forest, a vacation resort on the Black Sea, unlimited money. The wish granter reminds him, "Oh, but don't forget. Whatever you receive, your neighbor will receive double!" The Russian's response is, "Well in that case, poke one of my eyes out." Mr. Browder uses this story to illustrate the Russian psyche that really does not like to see another man succeed, and indeed, will hurt himself in order for that person not to succeed. If he didn't go on to explain how some of the Russian billionaires took exactly that approach with him, I wouldn't have believed it, but they did.
4. The story of the lawyer, Sergei, is heart-breaking. He should have left Russia, but he felt that he was in no danger at all. All he was doing was exposing rampant corruption that was illegal. Unfortunately, for him, Putin and the Russian authorities are involved in the corruption. He is arrested and the authorities basically keep making his life worse and worse, trying to get him to withdraw his accusations of corruption. The worse they make his life, the more strongly Sergei resists any withdrawal of his complaints. He is eventually beaten to death.
5. The story of how Mr. Browder goes about rectifying Sergei's death is quite interesting because it is basically him against all the power of the Russian state. Mr. Putin even gets personally involved as Mr. Browder seeks to get a law passed which would not allow the 60 people involved in Sergei's death to enter into the United States. He eventually succeeds in getting the law passed, even though John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and the Obama administration, do not come off very impressively.
6. Mr. Browder has a fascinating comment when the bill finally does become law. He writes:
"There was something almost biblical about Sergei's story, and even though I am not a religious man, as I sat there watching history unfold, I couldn't help but feel that maybe God had intervened in this case. There is no shortage of suffering in this world, but perhaps Sergei's story cut through as few tragedies ever do."
Here is the thing. Apart from God, there will be no ultimate justice for the 60 people who were complicit in Sergei's torture and murder, including Mr. Putin. The fact of the matter is that they "got away" with it, even though they won't be able to travel to the United States any time soon. Christian theology understands that those 60 people will not get away with murder because they will ultimately stand before the sovereign judge of the universe and give account for Sergei's death. It is comforting to me to know that ultimate justice will eventually prevail.
7. Finally, Mr. Browder made a fortune investing in Russian companies after the fall of the Soviet Union for himself and the clients in his hedge fund. In the process he bought what are essentially shares in these companies from the public for what amounted to pennies on the dollar. This was all completely legal, but one wonders how ethical it was. Mr. Browder doesn't spend one second of this book wondering if he enriched himself by taking advantage of ordinary Russians. I'm sure Mr. Browder would argue that nothing that he did was illegal and it was all accepted business practices, which, to my way of thinking, is part of the problem. Could he not have informed ordinary Russians of the potential financial gain to be had. Could he not have worked for their financial good? We don't know because he never asks that question. This is a great loss, I think.
A very good, thoughtful, sad, thought-provoking book.
I'm torn on this rating.
4.0
For the topic, the inside information into a life of finance/wealth-building, hardscrabble Eastern Europe, Yeltsin's and Putin's Russias, and the rest, was very well done and nice to discover that which I did not know. The "plot" (this is non-fiction, but the storyline that makes up most of the book has a beginning, middle and end) is suspenseful, well paced, and engaging. The people are characters I liked reading about.
2.0
For the sense of entitlement combined with the author's seeming obliviousness to the irony of his Russia problem. Despite his intelligence, either the author is willfully ignorant and blissful in his ignorance, or he recognizes his sense of entitlement and the similarity between how he made his fortune and how Russian agents attempted to take it from him.
THE PROBLEM
I have with the book is this. Browder repeatedly paints himself at a roguish imp, hardworking, naive, dutiful, and other positively viewed traits of underdogs who overcome hardship. Yet he comes from a family of highly educated people, professors at elite universities, and he himself attended grad school at Stanford, while lazing away his early adulthood doing nothing but enjoying life. So the real-life set-up is incongruent with how he repeatedly tries to portay himself.
Then, as a young worker in eastern Europe, while the story paints the picture of a fish out of water, struggling and earning every hard won scrap of compensation by his wit and effort, his first big break turns out to be about how he can use the system to transfer wealth from poor people/countries to himself. And when he sets up shop in Russia, he scales up his wealth transfer to immense levels, moving billions from impoverished Russians (via a poorly designed domestic program to help them) to his clients and himself. But he repeatedly tries to convince the reader this is all okay because he's working within the rules of the system of business, within the laws of the countries in which he's operating, within his personal set of morals.
Later, when Russian actors try to transfer his wealth to themselves, he climbs upon his moral high horse and gallups all the way to a transformation where he ultimately views himself as a Human Rights Activist. Yes, the Russian actors use more physical means to effect the transfer of wealth, whereas Browder uses financial instruments, lawyers, and takes advantage of poorly worded economic equity programs. But the end result is both Browder and the Russian actors are primarily interested in transferring wealth from others to themselves.
And the fact that Browder either never realizes the obvious similarities between his actions and those of the Russian actors, or he realizes the similarities but uses misdirection to never admit the similarities, is too much for me to chalk up to "just one of those things."
This book is very much worth reading. And I've decided the "problems" I have with the book might actually be positives. Ultimately, it's like looking inside the mind of a serial killer, to see how a guy like Browder sees himself, justifies his actions while concurrently criticizing others for doing the same thing. It's illuminating to see how someone engaged in Capitalism On Steroids views the world. It's edifying to see his words to explain his views on "the system."
4.0
For the topic, the inside information into a life of finance/wealth-building, hardscrabble Eastern Europe, Yeltsin's and Putin's Russias, and the rest, was very well done and nice to discover that which I did not know. The "plot" (this is non-fiction, but the storyline that makes up most of the book has a beginning, middle and end) is suspenseful, well paced, and engaging. The people are characters I liked reading about.
2.0
For the sense of entitlement combined with the author's seeming obliviousness to the irony of his Russia problem. Despite his intelligence, either the author is willfully ignorant and blissful in his ignorance, or he recognizes his sense of entitlement and the similarity between how he made his fortune and how Russian agents attempted to take it from him.
THE PROBLEM
I have with the book is this. Browder repeatedly paints himself at a roguish imp, hardworking, naive, dutiful, and other positively viewed traits of underdogs who overcome hardship. Yet he comes from a family of highly educated people, professors at elite universities, and he himself attended grad school at Stanford, while lazing away his early adulthood doing nothing but enjoying life. So the real-life set-up is incongruent with how he repeatedly tries to portay himself.
Then, as a young worker in eastern Europe, while the story paints the picture of a fish out of water, struggling and earning every hard won scrap of compensation by his wit and effort, his first big break turns out to be about how he can use the system to transfer wealth from poor people/countries to himself. And when he sets up shop in Russia, he scales up his wealth transfer to immense levels, moving billions from impoverished Russians (via a poorly designed domestic program to help them) to his clients and himself. But he repeatedly tries to convince the reader this is all okay because he's working within the rules of the system of business, within the laws of the countries in which he's operating, within his personal set of morals.
Later, when Russian actors try to transfer his wealth to themselves, he climbs upon his moral high horse and gallups all the way to a transformation where he ultimately views himself as a Human Rights Activist. Yes, the Russian actors use more physical means to effect the transfer of wealth, whereas Browder uses financial instruments, lawyers, and takes advantage of poorly worded economic equity programs. But the end result is both Browder and the Russian actors are primarily interested in transferring wealth from others to themselves.
And the fact that Browder either never realizes the obvious similarities between his actions and those of the Russian actors, or he realizes the similarities but uses misdirection to never admit the similarities, is too much for me to chalk up to "just one of those things."
This book is very much worth reading. And I've decided the "problems" I have with the book might actually be positives. Ultimately, it's like looking inside the mind of a serial killer, to see how a guy like Browder sees himself, justifies his actions while concurrently criticizing others for doing the same thing. It's illuminating to see how someone engaged in Capitalism On Steroids views the world. It's edifying to see his words to explain his views on "the system."
Honestly, fuck Bill Browder. He got a bunch of other already ultra-wealthy fucks to come in a try and get in on deals that totally fucked the people of Russia. Browder and everyone he helped gain all that wealth for weren't people who deserved that money.... it was stolen from the people of Russia. Honestly, he basically described how fucking gross late-stage capitalism is...but he's basically completely unaware of it. He comes off as cocky and trying to play a victim. The Russian people are the real victims in this story. People he helped enrich are probably as guilty as those responsible for the death of Magnitsky. Poor Magnitsky. He wanted to do what was right for the Russian people, but.....didn't he help Browder to exploit the Russian people as well? Honestly, fuck all Oligarchs and the bootlickers around them that help them keep and continually amass ill-gotten gains.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
This is a harrowing story about a man who had a great idea to use (exploit?) the downfall of the USSR to begin to invest in companies that were privatizing. This goes great for years. Until it doesn't, and then all hell breaks loose, people are in danger of being jailed in Russia with no end date in sight, and lives are in danger. This is a story of government corruption and its fallout. Highly recommend.