Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump

I could just say that this book is brilliant. Brilliant, period. End of story. But despite its meticulous detailing, this isn’t the end of the story, it is just, I am afraid, the beginning. Investigative journalists Isikoff and Corn are at it at their lacemaking, weaving their dark mantilla, telling the tale of an international mafia that apparently roots in Russia. But despite their carefully threading, no one is sure where the source starts or where it will end. What one is certain of, is that one is entering into a jigsaw of crimes. Better yet, crimes built like Russian dolls, where one hides another one, and once one discovers that one, the opening that doll’s head reveals something else. And on, and on. Here are a few, just a few things one learns: Trump is not thrown up-hazardously into the political scene, nor is his arrival there a revenge against some humiliating words thrown out humorously by our last president Barrack Obama. There might be cold calculation in what appears to be burst-out, emotional and vulgar eccentricities. In other words, Trump’s impulsiveness might be “fake news.” Chapters are titled with quotes. Here is the title of Chapter 7: “He’s Been a Russian Stooge for Fifteen Years.” This is an allusion to Paul Manafort, in the news now as I am writing this (August 2018), and facing life in prison. He was, after all, a Putin aide before he offered his help to Trump’s campaign. That last gig, he did for free, quite a strange thing for a businessman like him. There are the continuous meetings between Trump’s entourage and Putin’s. There is Trump’s insistence on maintaining a relationship with a country that not only is our enemy, is powerful enough to destroy us, but has a leader who will not encumber himself with delicate sentiments to do it should his interests dictate it. All of this, and much more, is woven with an assembly of names and places, as if they were parts of an infernal machine. But what makes the work fascinating, brilliant as mentioned, but beyond that, important, is that Isikoff and Corn have begun to show us the mechanism of that machine. Hopefully it is not a bomb. Hopefully, with more work like this, it can be dismantled.

Seasoned investigative reporters Michael Isikoff and David Corn have written an utterly absorbing account of Russian cyber-espionage efforts, both their history and those specifically aimed at the 2016 election. They also document Donald Trump's long efforts to cultivate a business relationship with Russia and his campaign aides' curious and repeated contacts with Russian officials. Some of this has been captured in the news media, but not with the meticulous detail and urgent narrative thrust of this book. The authors' clear, vigorous writing kept me turning pages far into the night.The outlines of some of what's covered will be familiar, but the authors delve well below the surface, weaving together information gleaned from many sources to present a fuller story. And it's both a scary and a frustrating one: The Russian attack was known months before the Obama administration and Republican leaders in Congress were willing to share it with the public. The DNC was slow to pick up on the threat to their computers. Trump has been trying for many years to cozy up to Putin, and some of his campaign people were on intelligence community radar screens before their dubious activities were finally made public. What if everyone had been just a little quicker to realize what was going on? Would the election have turned out differently? The authors wisely don't speculate, but the story they present will have you asking yourself some difficult questions.Finally, this is a great read. Admit it: How often do you read political nonfiction and hate to come to the end of the book? I'm a political junkie, but I don't recall ever feeling that way - before I picked up this book.

I don't want to be unfair to the writers because if you are someone who is really into fact-gathering there is no question that the authors thoroughly did their research. The number of names, places, times, events and connections they gathered for their book is astonishing. I really admire them for their work. So if you're seeking a book that references the many Russians and shady figures involved with Trump and Putin then this is an excellent book--and I'm glad I read it (or at least read most of it) because I came away from the book finally feeling solid in my understanding of why Trump is such a suck-up to Putin [I believe, after reading this book that, along with already getting $millions from Putin and the oligarchs who laundered money through Trump's properties, Trump wants more than anything to create a real estate empire, starting with a Trump Tower or two, in Russia itself, and Trump can't do that unless Putin himself grants him permission to do so--thus Trump doesn't dare risk offending Putin by saying anything negative about Putin or Russia--and on Putin's side of things, Trump was the perfect American wheeler-dealer to help get elected into the office of the US president in hopes that Trump would help keep him [Putin] from being sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act. I think the book was worth reading just for the depth of understanding it gave me regarding Trump's relationship with Putin. I'm glad I purchased the book, just to learn what I learned from it. But I confess that seeing its 5-star rating led me to believe that it would be a cant-put-it-down read like Bill Browder's book "Red Notice", only it wasn't. The numerous facts and names made this book a bit tedious to read for a low-brow like me. However, the book will forever stay in my memory just for the fascinating account of Putin telling Hillary Clinton about 'the foot with the shoe in the pile of bodies being his mother.' I will always, always wonder about that story! Everyone I tell that story to is fascinated by it.

Fantastic book. Well written; well researched. I couldn't put it down. Read it within 2 days after receiving it; now reading it for a second time. This book puts all the chaotic newscasts and discussions of today in context chronologically and helps make sense of the whole sordid affair of US politics that occurred and continues to affect the globe. Thank you Mr. Isikoff and Corn. It is an intriguing read. Every high school student in the US and every 1st year student at University should have this as mandatory reading. What occurred in the last US election sets a precedent for the future. We are living in dangerous times; dangerous like never before; insidiously dangerous. Will Trump ever get his 'Trump Tower in Moscow'? He is being a good boy for recently "re-elected" Putin, so maybe he just might!!!!! Voters beware -- read this book.

Reads like a spy novel except that it is not! Very well documented, names, dates, places..... I am almost finished reading this fascinating book which shows what a con and liar Trump really is.

I bought the book to gain a deeper understanding into the Russian involvement in the US Presidential elections,a topic in which I was highly interested since last year.The book gives the reader a complete picture on how the Russians used a variety of tools in their mission to get Donald Trump elected as President.Besides this,the authors give a look into the affinity Trump had for the Russians before the election took place.The book also narrates the stories of Trump’s associates who have been accused of colluding with the Russians.A must read for anyone interested in US politics.

David Corn & Michael Isikoff demonstrate their first-class journalistic professionalism in this book which in many ways complements Luke Harding’s ‘Collusion’ in narrative style and content. The long involvement of Trump with the 21st century Russian mafia state and the multiple connections of members of the Trump campaign (Manafort, Gates, Page, Flynn, Sessions, Kushner, the list is a long one) with the Putin regime and with kleptocratic Russian oligarchs are extensive and characterised by one feature: they all lie to congressional investigators and to the FBI about these connections and many have been up to their eyes in dirty Russian money for years.One is left wondering why on Earth the GOP-dominated Congress & Senate continue to support Trump, whose persistent vilification of the investigation against him and protestations of “no collusion” make him look guilty; an innocent president would just shut-up, relax, act more presidential & allow the investigation to do its work, because the truth is bound to come out eventually: it always does.Corn & Isikoff dig deep and are excellent storytellers. Even if you’re not particularly interested in US politics or how America was hacked and corrupted by Russia aided and abetted by the Trump team, the book is a first class read. Editing is exemplary and the style is racy, punchy and informative. Great title too: appropriate with a sinister twist.

This book can be read like a thriller. There are many unsavoury people in it starting with the Man the whole World knows as President of the United States. Bit by bit the two authors are piecing together a frightening picture of a great Power (Russia) using the most sophisticated tools of modern cyber warfare to influence the Presidential election of 2016 and to put their creature in the White House.What was unnerveing me a little bit was the overwhelming number of sinister actors and their counterparts on the democratic side. I lost track between all the Russian oligarchs, siloviki, politicians and their offspring on one side and their American stooges on the other side. May be you have to make a list of them like Tolstoi or Dostojewski did in their novels, father's name included.