Hotel Moscow: A Novel

by Talia Carner

Overview

In this gripping novel, an American investment adviser travels to post-glasnost Russia to teach business only to encounter crime, corruption, and danger.

In late September 1993, Brooke Fielding, a thirty-eight-year-old New York investment manager and the daughter of Jewish Holocaust survivors, accepts an invitation to teach entrepreneurial skills to Russian businesswomen in Moscow. Though excited by the opportunity to be one of the first Americans to visit Russia after the fall of communism, she wonders what awaits her in the country that persecuted her mother just a generation ago. But as the Russian parliament’s uprising against President Boris Yeltsin turns Moscow into a volatile war zone, Brooke finds that her involvement comes at a high cost. For in a city where “capitalism” is still a dirty word, where neighbors spy on neighbors and the new economy is in the hands of a few dangerous men, nothing Brooke does goes unnoticed—and a mistake in her past may now compromise her future.

Praise for Hotel Moscow

“With the urgency of a thriller and the sharp, atmospheric lens of a great documentary, Hotel Moscow hurls you into the vortex of the corrupt, outlaw world of the Soviet Union morphing into modern Russia. A fascinating and ultimately gripping read.” —Andrew Gross, New York Times–bestselling author

“Bold and breathless . . . Hotel Moscow explores both the personal and the political with compelling prose, heartfelt insights, and gripping action.” —Ellen Meister, author of Farewell, Dorothy Parker

“A tantalizing book full of corruption, extortion, and shocking treatment of women—and that is just the tip of the Russian iceberg. . . . I was mesmerized from beginning to end.” —Deborah Rodriguez, author of The Kabul Beauty School

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062388605
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/18/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	485,285
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Talia Carner is the former publisher of Savvy Woman magazine and a lecturer at international women’s economic forums. This is her sixth novel.

Editorial Reviews

Carner deftly mixes in the changing landscape of Russia with an emotional story about a woman coming to terms with her heritage.” — South Florida Sun Sentinel

“Action-packed, steamy and suspenseful.” — Jerusalem Post

“An eye-opening exposé of life following the collapse of the Iron Curtain...Vividly drawn characters and taut suspense add up to a real-life dystopian page-turner of the un-put-downable variety.” — Library Journal

“Talia Carner sweeps us away along with her brave and determined heroine to an exotic and complex time and place, and keeps us riveted with the tension and dangers of international intrigue. A real page-turner!” — Tami Hoag, New York Times bestselling author of Cold Cold Heart

“With the urgency of a thriller and the sharp, atmospheric lens of a great documentary, HOTEL MOSCOW hurls you into the vortex of the corrupt, outlaw world of the Soviet Union morphing into modern Russia. A fascinating and ultimately gripping read!” — Andrew Gross, New York Times-bestselling author of One Mile Under

“HOTEL MOSCOW is bold and breathless. A smart story about a fearless New York woman who arrives in Russia with more baggage than she knows, it explores both the personal and the political with compelling prose, heartfelt insights and gripping action. An impressive achievement!” — Ellen Meister, author of Farewell, Dorothy Parker

Praise for Jerusalem Maiden: “Talia Carner uses beautiful language, exquisite storytelling, and detailed research to transport the reader into the world of old Jerusalem...This is a book to savor and discuss.” — Jewish Book World, on Jerusalem Maiden

“A fascinating look at a little-known culture and time...Tuck JERUSALEM MAIDEN in your beach bag.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune, on Jerusalem Maiden

“A welcome glimpse into a little-understood world.” — Kirkus Reviews, on Jerusalem Maiden

“A gripping read. Rich with insight and detail, as well as drama and emotion...this book deftly explores a chapter in history that is little understood much less written about.” — Rodney Barker, author of Dancing with the Devil: Sex, Espionage and the U.S. Marines

“HOTEL MOSCOW is a tantalizing book full of corruption, extortion, and shocking treatment of women — and that is just the tip of the Russian iceberg. Talia Carner’s engaging style draws you in with its powerful description of life in Russia twenty months after the fall of communism.” — Deborah Rodriguez, author of The Kabul Beauty School

“A heroine both glamorous and smart, hard-driving and compassionate, Brooke Fielding — American investment counselor and daughter of Holocaust survivors - travels through the looking glass of Russia, 1993, when the country was lurching toward capitalism, women were coming into their own, and danger lurked around every corner...Sweeping and suspenseful.” — Roy Hoffman, author of the novels Chicken Dreaming Corn and Come Landfall

“A finely-drawn tale of a country emerging from its dark Soviet past into a present overshadowed by a new kind of terror and lawless corruption... Will keep the reader mesmerized.” — Nelson DeMille

From the Publisher

Action-packed, steamy and suspenseful.

Jerusalem Post

HOTEL MOSCOW is bold and breathless. A smart story about a fearless New York woman who arrives in Russia with more baggage than she knows, it explores both the personal and the political with compelling prose, heartfelt insights and gripping action. An impressive achievement!

Ellen Meister

Carner deftly mixes in the changing landscape of Russia with an emotional story about a woman coming to terms with her heritage.

South Florida Sun Sentinel

A gripping read. Rich with insight and detail, as well as drama and emotion...this book deftly explores a chapter in history that is little understood much less written about.

Rodney Barker

With the urgency of a thriller and the sharp, atmospheric lens of a great documentary, HOTEL MOSCOW hurls you into the vortex of the corrupt, outlaw world of the Soviet Union morphing into modern Russia. A fascinating and ultimately gripping read!

Andrew Gross

Praise for Jerusalem Maiden: “Talia Carner uses beautiful language, exquisite storytelling, and detailed research to transport the reader into the world of old Jerusalem...This is a book to savor and discuss.

Jewish Book World

Talia Carner sweeps us away along with her brave and determined heroine to an exotic and complex time and place, and keeps us riveted with the tension and dangers of international intrigue. A real page-turner!

Tami Hoag

A fascinating look at a little-known culture and time...Tuck JERUSALEM MAIDEN in your beach bag.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

A heroine both glamorous and smart, hard-driving and compassionate, Brooke Fielding — American investment counselor and daughter of Holocaust survivors - travels through the looking glass of Russia, 1993, when the country was lurching toward capitalism, women were coming into their own, and danger lurked around every corner...Sweeping and suspenseful.

Roy Hoffman

HOTEL MOSCOW is a tantalizing book full of corruption, extortion, and shocking treatment of women — and that is just the tip of the Russian iceberg. Talia Carner’s engaging style draws you in with its powerful description of life in Russia twenty months after the fall of communism.

Deborah Rodriguez

A finely-drawn tale of a country emerging from its dark Soviet past into a present overshadowed by a new kind of terror and lawless corruption... Will keep the reader mesmerized.

Nelson DeMille

2015-04-02
An American investment adviser, on a mission to counsel businesswomen in post-glasnost Russia, encounters corruption, organized crime, and extreme sexism. In 1993, the Russian economy is reeling under the extreme measures introduced by Boris Yeltsin to shock the country into capitalism. Brooke Fielding, on furlough from a Manhattan investment firm, accepts an invitation from Sidorov, head of an official-sounding "Economic Authority," to join a team of experts mentoring female Russian entrepreneurs. When she's shaken down by customs agents at the airport, Brooke realizes that being American is no protection against a civilization in free fall. In the seedy, bug-infested Hotel Moscow, where Brooke's group is housed, service and meals are grudging and skimpy, respectively. The only child of Russian Jews who survived the Holocaust, Brooke is also shocked by the unapologetic anti-Semitism she observes. When their tour bus takes them to a woman-owned factory, Brooke and the other visitors witness an attack by gangsters who stab the company's controller and beat up managers including Svetlana, one of Brooke's guides. Svetlana and Olga, a prominent sociologist, take up the story, illustrating the harsh conditions they endure now that the social safety net conferred by communism has unraveled. Olga, elderly at 48, has her car capriciously confiscated by her boss and is mugged on the street by thugs who steal her hard-won groceries. Olga's best friend, Vera, owner of a cookware factory, has been tortured by gangsters. Svetlana, struggling to raise her daughter in a cramped communal apartment, is raped by Sidorov. After rejecting the help of a handsome fellow American whose motives she distrusts, Brooke embarks on an audacious plan to find out who—among many possible miscreants—is targeting the women, even though a long-ago indiscretion has rendered her vulnerable to blackmail. Generalized commentary, not to mention some PowerPoint-worthy business lectures, occasionally interrupts the far more compelling narrative of lives lived in dystopia. Still, the novel sheds much-needed light on this turbulent period in Russian history.

Kirkus Reviews