The Silent Oligarch [NOOK Book]

Pretty Good

This is an intelligent thriller about a Russian oligarch thought to be involved in nefarious dealings, and his main man who wants out. Lives are in peril as a western investigator who lost a friend to murder in the new Russia tries to help. The book is exciting without having bombs blasting and car chases. Things trip up however when the action moves to Berlin. Predictably a problem arises there and its resolution does not seem as smart as the book had appeared to be until now. So, off to a good start. If you like the resolution, then the book might get five stars from you.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Thrilling Read for Fans of International Intrigue

For a first book, Chris Morgan Jones writes like a seasoned professional. He weaves a story that draws the reader into the world of money laundering and the iron fists that rule.

Konstantin Malin is a key player with the Ministry of Natural Resources in Russia controlling half of the oil industry. He is a diabolical and ruthless man who controls his underlings like puppets on a string, praising them for a job well done or mercilessly punishing them for not living up to his expectations. Richard Lock is a money launderer working for Malin selling companies to investors by making promises that are not met.

Aristotle Tourna bought a company with promised licenses for oil and gas exploration. When the deal was complete, Tourna found the licenses had been transferred to another company. Tourna was enraged by this and hires Ikerru, an international corporate intelligence firm to bring down Malin. Benjamin Webster is the investigator who is assigned to gather intelligence on Malin’s empire inevitably zeroing in on Lock as a key player.

As Webster pursues leads talking to people connected to Malin and his shady dealings, his contacts begin dying. Police are ruling the deaths as suicides but Webster isn’t convinced. Webster and Lock finally connect and come to a meeting of the minds; it’s time for Lock to get out before he dies. But Lock doesn’t know whom he can trust, if anyone at all.

Chris Morgan Jones writes from knowledge. He has worked advising Middle Eastern governments, Russian oligarchs, banking and mining companies in Africa. Although this is his first novel, he proves a talent for writing that will have the reader turning pages as fast as they can. I highly recommend this read for fans of international intrigue and spy thrillers.

Reviewed by Jodi Hanson for Suspense Magazine

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Who Holds the Strings of Power?

The Silent Oli­garch by Chris Mor­gan Jones is a fic­tional book about those in the shad­ows which hold the strings of power.

Eng­lish lawyer Richard Lock owns a com­pany, but the Russ­ian oli­garch Kon­statin Malin owns Lock. The com­pany is a front to laun­der money in a com­plex web which enables Malin to con­trol the Russ­ian oil industry.

When a com­peti­tor tries to destroy Malin, Lock finds him­self stuck in the mid­dle. For the first time in his life Lock is being pushed to the edge in a very dan­ger­ous game with sin­is­ter peo­ple who con­trol it.

oli­garchy
1: gov­ern­ment by the few
2: a gov­ern­ment in which a small group exer­cises con­trol espe­cially for cor­rupt and self­ish pur­poses; also : a group exer­cis­ing such con­trol
3: an orga­ni­za­tion under oli­garchic control

The Silent Oli­garch by Chris Mor­gan Jones is an inter­est­ing book filled with great detail about Lon­don, Moscow and Berlin as well as the lifestyle of rich Rus­sians. The story is filled with inter­est­ing atmos­pheric nuances about the new Rus­sia.

The book is some­what com­plex, read­ing it was like walk­ing through a maze and the reader had to pay atten­tion. Jones writes like an insider, not only in the com­plex details of shell com­pa­nies but also into the mind­set of those who con­trol them and those who are being con­trolled. The reader can feel the boss’ is calm, col­lected, reserved yet men­ac­ing demeanor while being able to relate to the gen­uine panic of others.

What I liked about this book is that the bad guy, Kon­statin Malin, is a very sin­is­ter fel­low and even though he doesn’t have a big role in the book, his pres­ence is cer­tainly felt on almost every page. The novel moves for­ward at a decent pace and seemed, at least to me, very close to reality.

There are no big bat­tles, heroic acts or moral absolutes. The oppo­site actu­ally, just like in real life there are plenty of moral ambi­gu­ity for every char­ac­ter in this story while keep­ing the actual vio­lence to a min­i­mum.
While the book is about Rus­sia, once can draw par­al­lels to the US when it comes to oli­garchy. I cer­tainly don’t think it’s as bad as it is, or was, there but we can all see who pulls the purse strings in Con­gress (pizza is a veg­etable?).

Very Slow

good for insomnia

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A fast paced novel that left me wanting more

I don't normally read thrillers, preferring lighter mysteries, but the premise of this book intrigued me. Not only was I pleasantly surprised, but I also got a great history lesson as a bonus. The author weaved his fast paced plot through Russia, London, Berlin, and the Riviera and carried me right along with him. By the time I hit the halfway mark, I began to wonder why it has taken me so long to read this genre. If The Silent Oligarch is representative of the genre, count me in for more, especially if they're penned by Mr. Jones.

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