Publication Date January 28, 2025

Next month, it will have been five years since I read and reviewed a book by Joseph Finder…that one was 5-star House On Fire, #4 in the Nick Heller series (note to self: go back and read 1-4!!) During the pandemic, I read a ton of books, including lots of thrillers, espionage and finance-related stories, but Finder is such a great writer and storyteller, I was extremely happy to receive a copy of The Oligarch’s Daughter from Harper and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. 

Not part of a series, this story focuses on Grant Anderson, a quiet man living in a small town in New England, harboring a huge secret. Five years ago, he was living in New York, working as a hotshot young financial wizard on Wall Street named Paul Brightman. He met, fell in love, and married a beautiful photographer, completely unaware that her father was a Russian oligarch. When Paul went to work for her father, he became more and more aware of the complex illegal investment schemes he was being dragged into, leading him essentially become a spy. Not surprisingly, when the Russians found out, he went on the run, adopted a new identity, and hid out in the woods, having learned survival skills from his father (“a sleeping bag is a bear’s taco”).  He had a complex security system that worked – until it didn’t. The story is told with alternating timelines, and as the story unravels, the mystery and tension increase. It’s such a cliche to say a book will keep you up all night, but this one really did. I loved the complexity of the story and the unraveling of the situation Paul/Grant found himself in. Five stars. I loved it!