As Communism falls in the USSR, and free market and capitalism is still in it’s infancy, Alex Konevitch is making millions. He quickly figures out quickest way to make money, buying construction supplies from a falling, corrupt government system, and selling the same on an open market at a much higher cost. All of it legal and surprisingly simple.
He then takes all of that profit, finds various loopholes in a still mostly uncharted banking system, and parlays that into millions of dollars. Before long, Konevitch is one of the wealthiest men in Russia.
He desperately sees a need for a completely free society and uses a portion of his fortune to bankroll the ascent of Boris Yeltsin. It is Konevitch whose money allows Yeltsin to finally unseat Mikhail Gorbachev as the President of USSR.
Then, Alex makes one critical mistake. He hires a former KGB deputy director as his head of security. Soon, Alex and his gorgeous wife are kidnapped and severely beaten. All of Alex’s money is stolen from him and he is forced to sign over all of his companies and assets.
They escape to the United States, only to soon find themselves sought by the FBI for crimes that they didn’t commit in their homeland. Much to their amazement, the Russian government has made a deal with the FBI to catch them and send them back to Russia. Just to add to their misery, the Russian government has also enlisted the help of the Russian Mafiya, who now has a contract out of Alex. It seems there is no where they can go that is safe.
The Hunted, by Brian Haig, is a fast-paced story of international intrigue. There is some nostalgic history involved, as it’s loosely based on a true story. It brings back stark memories of 1987-1992 and the end of the cold war.
Haig puts us smack in the middle of the meetings between government bureaucracies, and it’s so easy to see why things move at a snail’s pace. He makes the backroom deals between countries very believable and the characters involved easy to dislike. You want to root for Alex and his wife to make it out alive almost from the very beginning of the story.
The Hunted hits bookstores on August 12th.
