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bookwormmichelle 's review for:
This is a gripping, involving story. American financier living in London opens an investment fund in Russia; challenges the "oligarchs" or economic titans who run the economy; ends up ticking off Putin. When he tries to return to Russia, he is denied entry; has to empty out his business accounts; hires lawyers in Russia to challenge his visa and business problems. But the government goes after his lawyers; two get out in time, but one does not. This lawyer is imprisoned, refused medical treatment, and finally beaten to death. The author then makes it his personal vendetta to punish the Russians who did this, ending with getting a law passed in the US banning a long list of Russians from entering the US. (The Russians end up canceling all US adoptions in revenge.) I admire the guy for courage and for fighting for justice for his lawyer. I guess I am just left vaguely uncomfortable by the whole story. This guy swoops in at the beginning of Russian privatization. I get that those who risk money in a very risky environment deserve a return. I also get that nothing really good or fair was going to happen in the privatization anyway, even if he wasn't involved. It just seems like he took up lots of private Russian shares in companies, bought them for a fraction of what they were worth, made tons of money, challenged corrupt business practices, true, but in a kind of a foolhardy way. He didn't seem to care if HE got hurt, which is brave, but seems to have discounted the possibility that someone else would. Someone did, someone died. True, he then tried to make it right by trying to get a measure of justice. But even then, adoptive families and orphans ended up being hurt.