The Oligarch’s Daughter by Joseph Finder
“Reach for this intelligent, creative, well-crafted thriller, which will not disappoint.”
Joseph Finder, the New York Times best-selling author of 17 novels, has conjoined his expertise in Russian history, global politics, and knowledge of international espionage in his latest suspense thriller The Oligarch’s Daughter. The Cold War détente and the dissolution of the Soviet Union which followed ushered in the age of Russian oligarchs.
These formerly loyal officials were given the platinum opportunity presented by the privatization of state properties and businesses that were now either up for grabs or to be doled out as rewards. These business entrepreneurs who began with little became billionaires almost instantly under the aegis of General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev whose “perestroika” or restructuring into a market-based economy turned over the reins giving them unprecedented access to wealth and power. After Boris Yeltsin became President of Russia in 1991, their wealth increased dramatically as did their global political influence. These changes ultimately enabled Vladimir Putin to become an aggressive and immensely wealthy dictator.
The first wave of oligarchs owed much of their new found wealth to their connections to the old USSR and the omnipresent KGB secret police and intelligence community. In the process of Putin cementing his dominion over the new regime, many of the first billionaire Bolsheviks from the Gorbachev/Yeltsin era lost wealth and power, were imprisoned or fled Russia and in several cases, died under mysterious circumstances.
The Committee for State Security (KGB) lasted from 1954-1991, followed briefly by the Federal Counterintelligence Service (FKS), and was succeeded in 1994 by the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation and headquartered in the old KGB Headquarters. The director reports directly to the president of Russia. The names have changed but the function of domestic and international intelligence gathering remains essentially the same only with greater sophistication made possible by technological advances.
Thriller as Compelling as an Action Film
Immersing oneself in The Oligarch’s Daughter is like watching an action film at warp speed with little awareness of time passing. The tale begins in a present-day quiet New England waterfront hamlet where protagonist Paul Brightman has been hiding out for the past five years under the assumed name of Grant Anderson eking out a living as a small boat builder, handyman and occasional charter boat fishing guide. He eschews most technology accepting only cash for work, relying on cheap disposable burner phones for communication and credit cards bought in check-out lanes with cash.
Residing in a comfortable old farmhouse restored over time as he honed carpentry skills, he has a sweet girlfriend who is an elementary school teacher. It’s a simple, pleasant life with much time spent enjoying the four seasons out-of-doors until somehow, his cover is blown and he is tracked by a former KGB agent lured by the million-dollar bounty on his head. Filling in for a friend who owns a charter boat, his single passenger calls him “Paul Brightman” while they are at sea.
Though he has never killed anyone, a terrifying fight ensues. He must flee from certain death as soon as the fishing boat is returned to the marina. The novel continues in a series of flashbacks going back six years earlier that alternate between past and present. The chase is on and the action roils to a fast boil with plenty of chills, thrills and spine-tingling excitement as Paul strives to stay alive while solving a complicated conspiracy that involves the highest echelons in the CIA and FBI, as well as former KGB and hired Russian assassins.
Mystery Woman With Unexpected Connections
Paul Brightman tumbled head over heels for a strikingly beautiful and mysterious woman he encountered at a work-related Manhattan cocktail party when he mistakenly gave her his drink order. He is attracted but blissfully unaware that Tatyana Galkin is The Oligarch’s Daughter. This tall, slender blonde with knife-blade cheekbones was attired in what appeared to him to be the standard garb of black and white for catering staff. Her designer garb would have paid for several months of Paul’s living expenses while their livery would have been purchased at thrift shops or uniform supply stores.
He was a well-liked Wall Street hedge fund manager and stockbroker respected by his clients and the company owner for his successful market studies which resulted in substantial earnings. Paul is not rich and the company not a major brokerage firm but he has a comfortable apartment and a healthy nest egg. Long before the evening ended, he made his apologies and contact information was exchanged.
Tatyana lived in a small, unassuming Greenwich Village flat with walls covered in large-scale photographs of people she encountered on the streets of Manhattan and Moscow and photographed after obtaining their permission. Clearly, she was a visionary and talented artist whose lack of confidence in her skill was betrayed by the fact that her first well-publicized solo exhibition was held in a gallery owned by her father. Her family failed to recognize her ability and regarded her passion as a harmless hobby.
Ruthless Russian Billionaire
Daddy dearest is Arkady Galkin, a ruthless Russian billionaire with links to the Kremlin and possibly to the CIA. Money is his motivation and his god; through it, he acquires all he desires, i.e. power and all its trappings. He has a large investment firm in Manhattan dedicated to enhancing his wealth. His first wife was conveniently left behind in Moscow years ago. Tatyana and her playboy brother Niko are his only children.
More recently acquired trophy wife Polina is not much older than his offspring and puts the “gold” in gold-digger. Her engagement knuckle duster ring sports a 70-carat diamond and like Tatyana she dresses exclusively in designer attire but her choices exude expensively tacky brass and flash rather than subtle elegance. The couple lives in a double multi-storied brownstone decorated in her own inimitable yet questionable style; for example, gold toilets for all. Arkady owns a priceless Faberge egg created for Czarina Alexandra II, private planes and a half-billion-dollar yacht.
Paul’s first family dinner introduces him to crystal buckets of beluga caviar and a magnificently fine wine cellar. He eventually passes muster and after the prenuptial agreement is signed, the couple are married in a simple ceremony successfully subverting the Polina initiated over-the-top planning. Tatyana claims she wants to live on Paul’s earnings and what she might contribute from her photography sales despite her own 200 million investment account. Notwithstanding Paul’s protestations, Arkady is ever intrusive into their life together and Tatyana has clearly stated her family comes first; a sentiment she will adhere to when loyalties are later tested.
Surveillance Technology and Intelligence
Against sound advice and his better judgment, Paul Brightman becomes an employee of his father-in-law. After all, the company pays well, has excellent benefits and even provides a chef-catered breakfast and lunch for the staff. However, it soon becomes quite clear that strict adherence to SEC laws regarding such matters as insider trading does not apply in the Arkady firm.
It also becomes evident that Arkady utilizes the latest technologies in surveillance as not a keystroke is struck that goes unnoticed. Even the walls of the restrooms have ears as every room is bugged, including those in Paul and Tatyana’s new apartment, clearly demonstrated for the most innocent of comments come back to haunt the speaker. Essentially every movement of each minute of the day is recorded. When two honest, bright disgruntled brokers succumbed to odd fatal accidents, one would have to be blind not to suspect the boss or his henchman pulling the strings. On a trip to Moscow, Paul is recruited to help the USA intelligence organizations observe Arkady to prove his suspected illegal activities. Unparalleled danger and his ultimate flight from New York result.
Body Count Increases and Stakes Rise
The Oligarch’s Daughter is a Russian-based spy thriller that will have the reader on edge, heart in throat hoping against hope that as the body count rises Paul Brightman will succeed. The author has possessed an uncanny facility for learning languages since early childhood and was also accustomed to world travel to exotic locales and sometimes dangerous places. Summa cum laude Russian major Yale graduates who also earned a master’s degree in Soviet Studies at Harvard were in high demand as CIA recruits in the era when the Cold War was winding down.
Grateful readers will continue to appreciate the decision Joseph Finder made to write spy thrillers rather than to live them. If your reading time is limited but your desire for armchair excitement is high, reach for this intelligent, creative, well-crafted thriller, which will not disappoint.
About Joseph Finder:
Joseph Finder is the New York Times bestselling author of 17 suspense novels, most recently the forthcoming The Oligarch’s Daughter. His most recently published novel House On Fire is the fourth featuring “private spy” Nick Heller. His books have won numerous awards, including the Strand Critics Award for Best Novel for Buried Secrets (2011), the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Novel for Killer Instinct (2006) and the Barry Award for Best Thriller for Company Man (2005). The Boston Globe has called him a “master of the modern thriller.” Two of his novels have been made into major motion pictures, including High Crimes, adapted into the hit 2002 movie starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman; and Paranoia, the 2013 film starring Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, and Liam Hemsworth. A founding member of the International Thriller Writers, as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. Joe is a graduate of Yale and the Harvard Russian Research Center. He lives in Boston.
Publish Date: 1/28/2025
Genre: Historical Fiction, Thrillers
Author: Joseph Finder
Page Count: 448 pages
Publisher: Harper
ISBN: 9780063396012