The Oligarch’s Daughter by Joseph Finder
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Our hero Paul falls in love with Tatiana, the daughter of a Russian oligarch living in the U.S. Hmm, maybe that where the title came from. The writing jumps back and forth in time starting from the early days when Paul falls for her and then to present day where he is hiding in a small town under a different name building boats. He has a girlfriend there and it’s not Tatiana. He’s obviously on the run from someone, but who, and why? The story continues to ping pong back and forth in time. There are several suspense/action scenes as Paul is pursued and has to use his wits and some luck to survive. It’s reasonably entertaining until it gets near the end and the plot begins to have some big “twists.” At least the author and publisher may consider them twists. They’re called twists because they’re unexpected, but they’re actually unexpected because they’re preposterous eye-rolling fantasy. I lost interest after the big bloodbath scene (not a spoiler). As a retired FBI agent I’m picky, maybe too picky, about portrayals of the FBI in derogatory ways, but mainly totally impossible ways. The author seems to get all his information on the FBI from second-rate TV shows. If nothing else, it spreads misinformation about the FBI. I finished it because it’s a selection for my book club.