The Oligarch's Daughter: A Novel
“Paul Brighton is still trying to be trustful, which, considering the world of both oligarchy and espionage, may be his most deadly mistake.”
Joseph Finder is a master of both espionage and thriller genres. His latest, The Oligarch’s Daughter, nicely straddles both, and rips an adventurous and rapid journey across six years of an American investment advisor whose determination to remain loyal rapidly places him with one foot on each of two horses: his beloved Tatyana, a photographer and daughter of a Russian oligarch; and his own friendships among men who have no clue what they’re tangling with as they tackle assignments for Arkady Galkin.
Paul Brightman is hiding on the New Hampshire seacoast from his short, shining investment career, now under a borrowed name and in an all-cash mini-economy where he builds and repairs boats and cautiously manages to have a girlfriend who’s a teacher. But when a Russian assassin turns up on a charter fishing boat with him, he knows it’s the moment to run—if there’s still time. Only marginally prepared, he races into New England’s remaining wild forests, with more Russians on his tale.
Finder is himself an expert on Russian espionage, speaks Russian, and has spent time in Moscow. But even his imagination seems to have fallen short, as this novel emerges into a new American politics when the term “oligarch” takes on new meaning: not necessarily a Russian billionaire, but one of several American ones, seated close to the new president at his inauguration and taking their own stands on managing the nation’s economy.
But what good is wealth if your life is on the line? Paul can’t even get far enough ahead of the assassins to be sure they won’t easily follow him into the Pemigewasset Wilderness, where the few trails represent easy routes for them to follow. As memories of his half-crazed father’s wilderness drills surface—how to use a compass, what water’s safe to drink, tricks for staying warm overnight without being spotted—Paul discovers he’s just as much a misfit with his own family as he is with Tatyana’s. “It was annoying, Paul thought, to have his father in his head after all these years.” But isn’t it worse to heal snarls in guttural Russian and the click of an aimed high-tech weapon?
Besides, in his hunger for a paternal figure, Paul has confused who Arkady Galkin really is—or at least, who the role he’s performing. “I like him,” Paul said. “He seems to be what Bernie Kovan would all a mensch. A good guy.” In that reaction, has Paul caught sight of one of the real facets of this Russian oligarch, to whom $50 million can be a small test investment with his soon-to-be son-in-law?
There is indeed a brief visit to Russia in The Oligarch’s Daughter. How could it be a Finder Cold War novel without a taste of Moscow? But the reader must absorb events, atmosphere, and potential threats through Paul’s own eyes, and although he understands financial investments (and has already earned Arkady a very fine payback), he’s clueless about the layers of intrigue smothering his life.
Bear with the book’s sudden shifts of time, between Paul’s life with Tatyana and his later disguised self, on the run with few reliable allies. It’s Finder’s very effective method of ramping up threat and suspense. The revelations of modern espionage here—like “the only uncrackable safe is one that no one can find to crack”—come in quick burst of surprise, seasoned by a gently sardonic viewpoint that echoes F. Scott Fitzgerald about the very rich, who “are different from you and me . . . hard, and cynical where we are trustful.” Paul Brighton is still trying to be trustful, which, considering the world of both oligarchy and espionage, may be his most deadly mistake.