The Oligarch’s Daughter

 Riveting action packed spy thriller.

Paul Brightman, a successful hedge fund trader on Wall Street, is flying high when he meets and marries the daughter of a Russian oligarch. He subsequently ends up working for Arkady Galkin, Tatyana’s father, in his investment firm. Despite his misgivings, he is successful but ends up stumbling upon some evidence that Galkin is breaking the law, is corrupt, and coming crimes. The FBI approaches Paul who agrees to spy. Things go awry and Paul has to go into hiding. He steals an identity and moves to a small town and works in obscurity as a boat builder. Unfortunately, his past comes calling 5 years later and he has to run. 

There is a lot going in in this novel and as Paul tries to escape his pursuers, he has no idea whom to trust. Many different characters that may or may not be helpful to Paul and his life is in danger. He has a few contacts from his past and ends up in an unlikely reunion with his father. Although quite a complex plot with twists and turns, it is full of great espionage spy and counterspy details. Very hard to put down, I was turning the pages trying to figure how all the loose ends tied together and hoping Paul was going to find some helpful good guys. I could not put this down so read it all today in a matter of hours.

Excellent writing and the type of expertise on a subject that can only be done by someone who knows what they’re talking about. Finder does a great job with political intrigue and especially the Russian conflict and involvement in geopolitical activities. 

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The narrator, Mark Bramhall, did an excellent job of voicing all the characters and adjusting his tone and pace to match the different parts of the story. His accents added to the ability to differentiate between the many Russian and American characters and he brought a nice dramatic flair. His performance definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Tags, genre - Russian spies, FBI, CIA, Wall Street, Investment firms, oligarchs, off the grid, murder