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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
Browder proves to be more than many of his peers as he tells a hair-raising account of one man's ride through the world of high finance and into the murky places of international real politik and Russian paranoia, Putin-style.
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
Great story and overall thrilling. However the writer is patriarchal and arrogant to the point it’s hard to stomach. Other people are getting tortured by it’s still all about him. I suppose it is the story from his perspective, but you can tell it trends a little too far on the self absorbed scale.
Again, good story. The writer is just a bit hard to stomach at time.
Again, good story. The writer is just a bit hard to stomach at time.
informative
relaxing
medium-paced
Mind blowing. Given what's happening today with the US and Russia, this is a must read. You want it to be fiction because the truth is so unbelievable.
This is a fantastic book, a riveting page turner that had me still awake at 130am. It is fantastic in a literal sense of the word, being barely believable but is in fact fact, and in the grab you by the guts a great reading experience. The author, Bill Browder, has had an extraordinary life, and is hardly the shy retiring type in his telling of his story. Even if his life had taken a different turn from the path it took, I fully expect he would have been an outstanding success at whatever he turned his hand to.
This book covers a lot of ground. The author's early life provides an intriguing background as to how he ended up in Soviet Russia making investors rich, in charge of what was in the 1990s/early 2000s Russia's largest hedge fund. It all comes unstuck when, Bill in trying to expose corruption, gets a bit too big for his boots. In 2005 on a routine fortnightly trip back to Moscow from London, he is denied entry and forced to return to London. Bill and his team expose a tax fraud, which eventually leads to the imprisonment and tortuous death of one of the Moscow based lawyers working on the case, Sergei Magnitsky.
Bill immediately turns from high flying investment whizz kid to human rights campaigner. Although he is continually full of his own bravado and self importance, occasionally unlikeable, he is incredibly tenacious, determined to bring justice to Sergei, to expose corruption at all levels of Russian government, and in the process has most likely placed himself on Putin's hit list. A Red Notice is the extradition request served by Russia on Interpol to arrest Browder on charges of tax evasion. He was actually tried in absentia, both Britain and the US refusing to act on it. He is still a wanted man in Russia. Magnitsky was tried and found guilty even after his death.
The story takes Bill to the top of the US State department, looking for ways to hurt those Russian bureaucrats who were involved in the corruption that Magnitsky uncovered. Once successful, Putin in turn tightens his own screws by forbidding Americans from adopting Russian babies and children. Anyone who decides to take on Putin has to have big balls, and it is this underlying theme in the book which makes it so compelling. Will Bill be the next to receive a plutonium laced drink or a poke on the leg with a poisoned umbrella? The cover blurb, for once, is 100% accurate. I can't think of a better description than what those few words say.
This book covers a lot of ground. The author's early life provides an intriguing background as to how he ended up in Soviet Russia making investors rich, in charge of what was in the 1990s/early 2000s Russia's largest hedge fund. It all comes unstuck when, Bill in trying to expose corruption, gets a bit too big for his boots. In 2005 on a routine fortnightly trip back to Moscow from London, he is denied entry and forced to return to London. Bill and his team expose a tax fraud, which eventually leads to the imprisonment and tortuous death of one of the Moscow based lawyers working on the case, Sergei Magnitsky.
Bill immediately turns from high flying investment whizz kid to human rights campaigner. Although he is continually full of his own bravado and self importance, occasionally unlikeable, he is incredibly tenacious, determined to bring justice to Sergei, to expose corruption at all levels of Russian government, and in the process has most likely placed himself on Putin's hit list. A Red Notice is the extradition request served by Russia on Interpol to arrest Browder on charges of tax evasion. He was actually tried in absentia, both Britain and the US refusing to act on it. He is still a wanted man in Russia. Magnitsky was tried and found guilty even after his death.
The story takes Bill to the top of the US State department, looking for ways to hurt those Russian bureaucrats who were involved in the corruption that Magnitsky uncovered. Once successful, Putin in turn tightens his own screws by forbidding Americans from adopting Russian babies and children. Anyone who decides to take on Putin has to have big balls, and it is this underlying theme in the book which makes it so compelling. Will Bill be the next to receive a plutonium laced drink or a poke on the leg with a poisoned umbrella? The cover blurb, for once, is 100% accurate. I can't think of a better description than what those few words say.
This was such a gripping story—one that kept me up late reading at night until my eyes couldn't stay open any longer.
At the start of the book, I was completely engrossed in the behind-the-scenes of this financial professional's early path (an area I know nothing about)—his failures and successes. I also enjoyed being reminded of what life was like before the internet, and thinking about how it's changed face-to-face interactions and how things get done.
Then the story took a turn, which kept me devouring it even faster. What I'm still trying to wrap my head around is the fact that this isn't some novel—it's a true story. And these horrifying events and corruption are taking place NOW, today in Russia. A highly recommended read.
At the start of the book, I was completely engrossed in the behind-the-scenes of this financial professional's early path (an area I know nothing about)—his failures and successes. I also enjoyed being reminded of what life was like before the internet, and thinking about how it's changed face-to-face interactions and how things get done.
Then the story took a turn, which kept me devouring it even faster. What I'm still trying to wrap my head around is the fact that this isn't some novel—it's a true story. And these horrifying events and corruption are taking place NOW, today in Russia. A highly recommended read.
Holy hell. The most chilling book I've ever read...mostly because it's true. Everything you've ever wanted to know about Putin/Russia encapsulated in a most maddening story.
Mixed feelings. Red Notice is a true story and the stakes are huge; Bill Browder strides on the world’s stage. His ability to shape all this international drama effectively is the question.
This memoir contains a long set up to tell the story of Sergei Magnitsky, a brave Russian lawyer (Browder’s lawyer) who was taken into custody on trumped up charges. He never lost his integrity despite brutal mistreatment and his failing health.
To get to that story, Browder tells his own, incl memories of his grandfather, the Communist prez candidate, his brilliant father and mathematical genius brother, his own disappointing choice of biz school in a political/academic family.
After graduate school, Browder becomes fascinated w the Russian market and positions himself to find jobs in banking. Communist grandfather and he’s into Russian commerce—the irony! Along the way, he marries, has a child, divorces, marries again, has two more children. I have no idea when he sees any of them given his crusade to spotlight the FSB’s unethical, inhumane activities. He cannot think of anything else, as he notes while attending one of his child’s school events.
The main problem is that Browder is not a writer. He describes every character by an article of clothing, hair color, and height in reference to his own. He tells a highly detailed story of his life as a broker that is really its own book. I think this could have been more profound if written by a professional who did not keep addressing the audience and knew where to prune.
All that said, Browder’s experiences are startling. He truly does poke the bear. At one point, Putin personally name checks him. In his early years, Browder figures out how to make a fortune on undervalued Russian stocks. He strings together a multi-million dollar company before he really knows what he’s doing. He is brash and ingenious.
Interesting narrative w distractingly flawed narration.
This memoir contains a long set up to tell the story of Sergei Magnitsky, a brave Russian lawyer (Browder’s lawyer) who was taken into custody on trumped up charges. He never lost his integrity despite brutal mistreatment and his failing health.
To get to that story, Browder tells his own, incl memories of his grandfather, the Communist prez candidate, his brilliant father and mathematical genius brother, his own disappointing choice of biz school in a political/academic family.
After graduate school, Browder becomes fascinated w the Russian market and positions himself to find jobs in banking. Communist grandfather and he’s into Russian commerce—the irony! Along the way, he marries, has a child, divorces, marries again, has two more children. I have no idea when he sees any of them given his crusade to spotlight the FSB’s unethical, inhumane activities. He cannot think of anything else, as he notes while attending one of his child’s school events.
The main problem is that Browder is not a writer. He describes every character by an article of clothing, hair color, and height in reference to his own. He tells a highly detailed story of his life as a broker that is really its own book. I think this could have been more profound if written by a professional who did not keep addressing the audience and knew where to prune.
All that said, Browder’s experiences are startling. He truly does poke the bear. At one point, Putin personally name checks him. In his early years, Browder figures out how to make a fortune on undervalued Russian stocks. He strings together a multi-million dollar company before he really knows what he’s doing. He is brash and ingenious.
Interesting narrative w distractingly flawed narration.
This was a very good read on the realities of Russia in the last 30 years. However there were some things that irked me. Browder’s lack of self-reflection one of them. Another is his condescending patriarchical writing style. This was especially evident when he described his interactions with his family (particularly his first afire). One that stands out in particular is a sentence about Bianca Jagger. Instead of saying she is a respected human rights activist, he qualifies it by first stating she is the ex-wife of Mick Jagger. Her relationship with Jagger is irrelevant to the book and acts to dilute her credibility as a human rights activist.