Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice

I’ve recommended this book more times than I can count. It’s a real life story that reads like fiction. If you want to be on the edge of your seat with a book you can’t put down, this is the one you’re looking for.

This book was very clear and matter of fact, even when dealing with very dramatic and emotionally charged events. The story is naturally compelling with many twists and turns. That it is a true story with so many parallels and tie-ins to the situations and major personalities in the top headlines makes it still urgently relevant, even these years later. If anyone still doubts the veracity and unwavering dedication of Vladimir Putin's entrenched, megalomaniacal dedication to promoting his own self interests with complete need to win at any and all cost, this is a clear case study showing that this has long been and continues to be Putin's m.o. It makes the terrible situation in Ukraine all the more chilling because it shows Putin's long-established pattern of retribution when challenged or resisted, and his overriding need to win, even at unthinkable cost. Not a big surprise to anyone, really, but I believe people need to understand the terrible dangers of supporting current and future leaders who would either underestimate and disbelieve the horrific lengths Putin would go to to achieve his ends and mete out punisment or who actually admire Putin's vicious governing style and will cozy up to him instead of calling out and standing against his evil maneuvers. Lack of resistance to Vladimir Putin and his totalitarian regime equals support. And anyone supporting Putin, directly or indirectly, is supporting a whole miasma of truly evil actions and policies, examples of the like of which have been thoroughly described in this book. IMHO, I don't believe that anyone who is seeking to lead this country should be admiring or complimenting a person as dangerous and morally bereft as Vladimir Putin. It isn't clever or cute to do so and any leader who is inclined to take these toxic political leadership lessons from Putin, as in 'monkey see, monkey do' should never be allowed the opportunity to try to put them in practice in leading the USA. We and our democracy will all suffer irreparable harm if we support and fall under the power of self-serving politicians who reject truth and justice to increase and entrench their own power and wealth. People need to recognize that the evils this book portrays are agonizingly real and if we do not act to protect our democracy from self serving, Putinesqe leaders here, the US will experience the same harms and continue on a dangerous path away from personal freedom and toward political extremism. So I highly recommend this book, if only to remind oneself that good and evil are not just rhetorical concepts and that our words and actions do have consequences and really do matter.

Overall, Red Notice is a very good book. Browder’s compelling story and writing style make this book easy to rapidly get through. In a way, it’s almost like a well-written spy novel, though the story is real. If it’s such a good book, why didn’t I give it five stars? Well, let me tell you. I got really turned off by Browder’s need to inflate his ego while telling what otherwise is a troubling and important story. It’s already a compelling read; he did not need to embellish it by emphasizing for us lesser-than readers his elite status as a high roller. For example—and this is one of the least egregious examples of this attitude—Browder discusses the events leading up to the dissolution of his marriage. He tells the reader that his first wife, Sabrina, had scheduled a family vacation in Greece and that, after months of what had been a distant relationship between the two, literally and figuratively, they were having a surprisingly wonderful time together. At the end of the vacation, he tells us, she sprung the surprising news on him that she didn’t want to be married to him any longer. He goes on to say that, as he’s seeing Sabrina and their son off at the airport, he realized the following: "As I watched them leave, the feeling of loss that I was so familiar with overcame me. Once again, I had that visceral and empty feeling in my stomach, but this time it was was worse. Losing love was a lot harder than losing money." All right, first, what did this have to do with the corruption and theft going on in Russia? Second, with an attitude like that, I’m not surprised she left him. I can only hope that he has enough life insurance on his second wife to where he’s indifferent to whether she ever comes home or not. Later on, in a passage about Vadim, his trusted aid, having just provided him information from a source in Moscow, he explains having a dilemma. Oh my, what could it be? Is it a devastating decision he has to make, like in _Sophie’s Choice_. No. He is told that the corrupt Russian authorities were trumping up charges against him and he is now pulled between remaining with Vadim for a few more hours in order to ascertain more information about what seems like a dire and dangerous situation, or attending a prior commitment. Well, I’ll let him tell you his predicament: "I had a hundred questions I wanted to ask, but it was 7:30 p.m. and, annoyingly, Elena and I were obligated to be at dinner in half an hour that had been planned for months. An old friend from Salomon Brothers and his fiancée had made a big deal securing an impossible-to-get reservation at a new London restaurant called L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, and I couldn’t cancel on such short notice." “Annoyingly”?!? “I couldn’t cancel on such short notice"?!? As if 9 million people in London would not have gladly stepped up to the plate to save ol’ Bill Browder from having to partake in such frivolities during such a trying time in order for him to save himself from imprisonment in Russia. Didn't the couple he was to dine with at such a high-status restaurant have other friends they could called on to step in at the last minute? I will go on a limb and say that, not just the average reader, but all readers of this book can only hope to one day enjoy the "annoyance" faced by Bill Browder. All right, it’s passages like this that make me question the accuracy of the story he’s telling. I do believe him, but I wouldn’t have had any questions at all had he stuck to the story and not wasted the ink inflating his ego. How does the reader know he's not inflating his story? His need to regularly assure the reader that he does not rub elbows with anyone but the top one-percent of the one-percent serves no purpose toward explaining his otherwise interesting story. There are other examples, such as “cringing” while watching a security specialist cut a tiny slit into the lapel of his cashmere blazer in order to install a microphone needed to surreptitiously record a meeting with someone he feared was trying to undermine him. “Oh no, Lovey, not the cashmere blazer.” (In my worst Thurston Howell, III voice.) But I’ll end my criticisms here. The book is good overall, and I do recommend reading it. I just hope that Browder realizes for his subsequent books that his story is compelling enough and he doesn’t need to impress anyone with his high-income status. Yes, Bill, we know you are an elite. You’re rich beyond almost anyone’s wild imagination, but that’s not why anyone wants to read this book.

The plot and storytelling were compelling. It's a very worthwhile read, although if you're looking for any entertainment value, it's not there - it's for learning purposes. My main criticism isn't of the story but that I grew increasingly suspect and perhaps even disgusted with the author's choices, and ultimately, this is his story so to find the author so flawed, it left me with very mixed feelings. He has a brilliant mind for numbers and opportunity, but his choices from early in the story forward were questionable. Bold and assertive? Yes. Thoughtful of how his choices might impact others? No. Most of us would never have taken his actions. In the end, good may come of what he's exposed and the efforts he's made with the U.S. Government. Russian leaders and oligarchs need to be exposed. But the author took friends, colleagues, and his family through hell in the pursuit of riches. He obviously recognized that as he and others exploited the privatization of so many Russian national operations, the people of Russia were the greatest losers. Has he given back the billions he's made for himself and others to the Russian people? Well, flawed heroes are the only ones worth reading about, and this author ultimately does some heroic things but at a terrible cost to so many others. In the end, yes, read it. So much can be learned, including why "adoptions of Russian children" has a lot more meaning than what appears on the surface. But there are no amount of protests or justifications by the author that fully redeem him for his choices that harmed so many. Still, I appreciate he's shared it all.

This book touched me beyond imaginable. I thought it was important to share this part of the chapter...about Sergei, a citizen, human being, who lost his life to defend the truth. I cried and I cried...Rest in peace. "The film, entitled Justice for Sergei, was not easy to watch. It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know, but it showed Sergei’s story in a completely new light. In addition to the horror of his ordeal, there were the everyday facts of his life before he’d been taken into custody: his devotion to his sons, his love of literature, his enjoyment of Mozart and Beethoven. These details were harder for me to bear than any of those describing his detention. Achingly, the movie ends with his aunt, Tatyana, telling the story of a recent visit to Sergei’s grave. After she left the cemetery, she walked by an old woman at the Metro station who was selling cornflowers. “She was so sad,” Tatyana said. “I passed her, but returned to buy some flowers, knowing that’s what Sergei would have done. Whenever he walked with his mother past a lady selling plastic bags, he would always buy one. When the lady would ask, ‘Which one would you like?’ Sergei would answer, ‘The one no one else wants to buy.’ ” These are among the last spoken words of the film, but not the final message. To drive it home—to really show what the film is about—the image fades and a simple track of guitar and clarinet music ramps up. Clips from old home movies appear showing Sergei: raising a glass to toast a summertime family gathering; inspecting a waterfall on vacation; standing in the doorway of his apartment, entertaining dinner guests; sharing an outdoor meal with his best friend, joking, laughing, pointing at the camera. There is Sergei, alive as he would never again be except in the hearts and minds of those who loved him—who still love him. Up until that moment, I had held it all in, terrified of what would happen if I allowed myself to let go. Now, in that room in Oosterbeek, I let my guard down and the tears flowed as they’ve never flowed before or since. I cried, and I cried, and I kept on crying."

When a state is run by someone who is more mobster than president, when it throws its weight around in the neighbourhood, cynically beating up the weak with little fear of retaliation, it is no surprise that something in it is rotten. In his book Red Notice, Bill Browder peels back Russia’s thin skin and exposes the maggot-infested viscera that are Vladimir Putin’s organs of state. Browder, once the largest foreign investor in Russia through his Hermitage Fund, made his money after the fall of the Soviet Union by buying shares in Russian enterprises at fire-sale prices. Browder’s account of his rise in Russian financial circles from upstart outsider to Quixotically tilting, first at the oligarchs and then no less than Vladimir Putin, reads like the thriller it is. For someone as pugnacious as Browder, one might expect him to be arrogant and self-assured. Quite the opposite, his unpretentious approach to everything makes him sympathetic: someone you would love to have around for dinner and whom you might well want as a friend. Browder’s insights into the Russian psyche are telling, especially when trying to fathom Putin’s motives in Ukraine. According to him, Russian business, and by extension, Russian politics, is governed by the propriety of the prison yard. Any sign of weakness is fatal and any objective must be pursued to its conclusion without consideration for the consequences. With that knowledge, the required response to Putin’s regional and international aggression should be much clearer. When Browder learned the rules of the game, he gave no quarter, exposing oligarchs and government officials who were stealing everything they could get their hands on. And in the process, he made some very powerful enemies. He was expelled from Russia in 2005 when his campaign against the oligarchs touched the oligarch-in-chief: Vladimir Putin. After his expulsion, he managed to get all of his capital out of the country, but when the shells of some of his companies were stolen and put to criminal use, Browder fought back, exposing those involved. With him and Putin firmly in opposite corners, the cage fight began in earnest. Browder and most of his associates were safely out of the country. But his attorney, Sergei Magnitsky, remained and was arrested. When Magnitsky died in jail at the hands of his captors, Browder dedicated himself to obtaining justice for him. The last third of the book describes that struggle and the astounding lengths he has gone to punish Magnitsky’s murderers. Browder continues in his quest for justice, campaigning tirelessly, his Hermitage empire deferred. Red Notice is an enthralling read, a fascinating peek at Putin’s soiled linen, and a testament to the bravery of both Sergei Magnitsky and Bill Browder, who took on the might of Russia without regard for their own safety.

Only in America -- can the grandson of Earl Browder, former head of the American Communist Party, give Vladimir Putin the "comeuppance" that he justly deserves in trying to manipulate; trick and thwart Russia's efforts towards free; balanced and lawful capital markets. In his chilling; spellbinding story of revenge for the jailhouse murder of tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky , Bill Browder had gone from managing a successful Russian hedge fund, Hermitage with 4.5 billion assets, to his relentless and successful quest to get the US Congress and the European Parliament, to pass legislation providing visa bans and asset seizures for the Russian officials responsible for Magnitsky's death. I'm glossing over so much fascinating detail here because I do not want to spoil it for the reader. Bill Browder is a most unlikely hero, an unremarkable student who ultimately decided upon a business career in an act of rebellion against his academically gifted and socialist family. Being the grandson of the biggest communist in America, his goal was to become the biggest capitalist in Eastern Europe. From there, he went on to Russia when the government willingly sold undervalued companies and their assets in order to privatize industries and grow a free capitalist system. Eventually, too much money and power fell into the hands of a group of corrupt Russian officials.and oligarchs, and Browder was thrown out of Russia. "Prison Yard" rules ultimately prevailed over western style rules and Browder's Hermitage was declared bankrupt. Read the book! It was fantastic and I'm betting that Browder's story will be turned into a movie. (Don't expect Putin to let them shoot the film in Russia, however.) Writing about Alexander Litvinenko's poisoning by drinking a cup of radioactive tea; and Khodorkovsky's imprisonment, Browder warns us that should he meet an untimely demise, we will all know who is responsible for his death. In the meantime, thanks to Browder's fascinating tale and his ability to clearly explain complicated investment concepts to the reader, the book is transformative to anyone who is interested and follows Russian political and business events.

Bill Browder's book is essential reading if you want to understand exactly how and why the Russian government can be characterized as the worlds biggest mafia operation. It is very interesting to read a something written from the perspective of someone on the inside of global power circles. Browder seems to have a good intuitive understanding of what makes the various players in the Russian system tick, even Putin to some extent. Also very enlightening on how and why the Russian economy looks the way it does today; essentially, the privatization schemes were one gigantic theft from ordinary Russians, as if those people haven't suffered enough in the last 80 years. The only downsides of the book: it is a bit drawn out and repetitive at times. I think in reading it I spent as much time on Browder's blackberry as he does. Definitely worth skimming over some of these interludes. There is also an unnecessary amount of profanity, which can be annoying. Finally, at times Browder comes off as arrogant. He seems to consider himself a brilliant capitalist when in reality he was cashing in on the same ridiculous deals that made the Russian oligarchs rich. There doesn't seem to be much to it other than initiative in finding a government that happened to be selling its citizen's assets to all comers at basement rates and risk tolerance in being willing to put money under the jurisdiction of a kleptocracy. All of that said, I admire and applaud Browder for all he has done for the Magnitsky family and I think it is very important that he had written this book. I recommend it in spite of its shortcomings. It is moving and timely.

Must read for all Putin followers, detailed research and thrilling read about the Magnitsky murder which (re its prison sequence and its sad outcome) recalls the recent fate of A. Nawalny. Reveals how the Russian head of state in his actions is driven by highly questionable motivations such as greed, paranoia, authoritarianism, personal revenge, and, ultimately, a complete disregard for human life. The result is a Russian political Mafia state within which everything goes as long as ordered and/or sanctiond by the President, including state terrorism, silencing of those in apparent opposition to the Mafia boss as well as extraterritorial killings. Complete lawlessness, deeply rooted corruption and denunciation are the "rules" established by their President and impacting every-day life of Russian citizens, resulting in a constant feeling of fear as one of the witnesses at the A. Nawalny burial said in a moving statement. And for all those who say this is all fake news, here extracts of the Moscow Public Oversight Commission report on S. Magnitsky's death in prison, published in December 2009: in prison he "was subjected to physical and psychological torture", "investigators, prosecutors and judges played a role in his torturous conditions", and "after his death state officials lied and concealed the truth about his torture and circumstances of his death". Despite this damning report anyone held accountable afterwards? No, but perpetrators were promoted and honored publicly instead. No doubt a crime of this extension must have been committed with the knowledge of if not ordered by the Russian state's Supreme Leader. Russia looks spiralling into an area of complete political and social darkness. Anyone feels reminded of The Gulag Archipelago?

Particularly now well worth reading

Once in a while comes a business book that you can read like a thrilling novel AND learn encyclopedic knowledge from! Red Notice is one such GREAT book by Bill Browder. A MUST buy and read. Why? - The book is a real-life story of Bill's obsession to enter the then 'socialist' economies (Poland, Russia) as an investor to find hidden treasures (and his finds!). - It focusses on his operations in Russia, how that turned from a Fairy Tale to the WORST living nightmare a businessman can ever imagine. This book makes Narcos look like a comic book. - What impacted me most was the gruelling, never-ending saga of Russia vs Bill; the threats, stress, horrors & the bombardment of harassment Bill faced (& continues) as punishment for doing what any businessman would do - asking questions & preserving his wealth! - If anything, I re-learned the tenets of NEVER giving in, never allowing anyone to bully or intimidate you. (Yet, I DO NOT have the courage to do what Bill did). - The huge RISK of doing business in 'thuggish' markets that look very promising but turn out to be lethal. - The reinforcement of the fact that SPITE can make a man MAD.

interesting, exciting unbelievable thrilling. Very well written

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