Greg Wilson

This novel was sent to me by the publisher Equis Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you.

The Domino Game by Greg Wilson begins with a heart-stopping murder and does not lessen the suspense until the last page of the novel. The story concerns the powerful Russian mafyia, its influence on the international finance community, and the collusion of powerful men in other countries with the gangsters. This complicated framework of economic corruption would have been confusing if Wilson had not laid out the explanation within a plot so exciting and so clear that even readers with a minimum knowledge of how the International Monetary Fund works could understand the machinations of the villains.

The novel opens in May 1995 when two Russian policemen, the young and idealistic Nikolai Aven and his partner Vari Vlasenko, are surveying the home of one of the new Russian billionaires. Aven knows the man is a crook and worse. It is just a matter of finding hard evidence and this time the Directorate of Economic Fraud, a part of the new Federal Security Service, actually has a change to make charges stick because Aven has an inside source. This is a surprise to his vastly more experienced partner, a long time career cop whose roots go back to the KGB and NKVD. While Aven is a crusader, Vlasenko is just putting in time to retirement.

When Aven’s friend, the chief money manager for billionaire Marat Ivankov, is brutally murdered along with his wife, Aven knows that somewhere along the chain of command there was a leak. Ivankov had been warned that he was about to be betrayed. What he did not yet know was that the murdered man had already passed on damning evidence to Aven…evidence that reached from the highest positions in the police department and Russian government all the way to elected officials in Europe and the United States.

Aven’s life changes in the space of 24 hours. Suddenly, he and his family become the targets from two or possibly three groups who want the evidence and want him dead. How he copes with this disaster, his life after an ultimate betrayal, and his determined revenge against the men who ruined his life make up the rest of the book. To say anything more about the plot would be to give away such a tightly woven story that it would be a disservice to the potential reader. In the nine years of the novel, Aven changes from a young man with high ideals and belief in the new Russia to a cold-blooded killer with no pity for his enemies. He finds a supposed ally in a retired American diplomat who has his own agenda for exposing international corruption. Yet Aven, in his cynicism, trusts no one and is right to do so.

There is a hint that this book might be the first in a series. I hope so. I believe Aven and my favorite thriller character Bernie Gunther are cut from the same cloth and I really want to read more about Nikolai Aven.… (más)

The ten of them were on the remote island for a year. Kind of like in Survivor, only real, not a TV show. They had all applied and were chosen to go on this adventure, the end result of which was to be a film of their adventure. None of them was supposed to know each other before the island, except it did not take for long for most of them to figure out they had some sort of connection to others. They just could not figure out all the pieces of the puzzle as to why they were chosen for this strange adventure. This is their story. The story follows the ten through their daily existence on the island: what and how they forage for food and other necessities of life, how they build whatever shelters they have, how they explore the island, and how they interact as a team. The only glitch comes when some of the ten start dying, either because of an accident, murder, or some other nefarious means. How and why the deaths begin and continue is the real mystery of this book. Along with this murder mystery, the book provides a good picture of survival on the island as well as how and what motivates the people who are part of this experiment/adventure. I thought the plot was pretty good. The character development, for the most part, was also quite good, as were the setting and descriptions. The author writes well, so the book moved along quickly and smoothly. It did start out a bit slow, but that was probably because the author had to get everyone on the island and set the stage for what was to come. Once they got “into the groove”, the pace picked up and continued smoothly and easily to the finish, which was a bit surprising. In the last chapter, those left spend time discussing the “adventure”, where the author sheds some light on the hows and whys of the characters and their actions and the plot, all of which filled in a lot for me. I think any fan of reality shows, like Survivor, who enjoys good mysteries will enjoy this one. Also, anyone who enjoys a good mystery that is not too long and which moves along nicely will enjoy it. I received this through the Kindle Scout program to read and review.… (más)