This was an interesting story and I was happy to learn more about the art world.
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Hammer is a book that doesn't quite seem to know what type of novel it wants to be, and I'm not sure how I felt about it either. Set in 2013, this is the story of Martin, who has a fledgling career at a famous London auction house, and what happens when his path intersects with that of a Russian oligarch, Oleg, who is sitting on a massive collection of priceless art. Oleg's wife is Marina, a former schoolmate of Martin's. While Martin begins an affair with Marina, Oleg begins a bid for the Russian presidency, seeking to sell his art collection to fund his campaign.

Hammer begins explosively with an auction at Martin's auction house, an exciting and tense scene that offers an intimate look at the high-stakes world of priceless art. I was so riveted to this novel when it was focused on the art world; I had to Google nearly every piece of art that was mentioned, and I love when a book makes me that engaged. Unfortunately, midway through, the book veers from its focus on the art world and focuses much more on Russian politics, and that combined with a slow pace made me lose interest.

Joe Mungo Reed made me care about these characters, made me understand their motivations and their ambitions even if I didn't necessarily like them. Hammer is an impeccably written novel that symbolically explores themes of wealth, power, politics, culture, and privilege in ways that, unfortunately, didn't always resonate with me. I found it to be an enlightening reading experience, but not always a compelling one.

Published by ‎ Simon & Schuster on March 22, 2022

Russian oligarchs are in the news, making this novel timely, at least in the limited sense that the most significant character is a Russian oligarch. Oleg Gorelov took advantage of the chaos caused by the breakup of the Soviet Union and Russia’s transition to capitalism by starting and growing a business, then by purchasing and closing factories after selling their manufacturing machinery to China, then by buying a mine and making an investment deal with the KGB. Now he conducts his businesses from London, where he devotes a tenth of his income to acquiring art. Some suspect that he has engaged in ruthless acts to obtain some of the works. His apparent lack of concern when he learns that another Russian expat died might suggest a naïveté about the deal he believes he struck with Putin’s people about his ability to transact business in London.

Martin works in an auction house. Martin’s roommate James is a piano player. When Martin and James were in college, James was dating a woman named Marina. Marina’s parents were party members in the USSR before they moved to England. In London, they tried to raise her to be “a completely different person from themselves.” Her father disappeared when she was 21. He might have drowned or been murdered. He might have abandoned his family. The uncertain fate of Russians who take their wealth out of Russia is one of the novel’s themes.

Marina now works in financial services. She is married to Oleg. Martin becomes reacquainted with Marina in 2013 when Oleg brings her to an art auction. As Martin begins to spend time with Marina, he becomes acutely aware that Oleg is a dangerous man. Just how dangerous he might be weighs on Martin's mind.

Initially, Hammer’s focus is on Martin. The focus shifts to Oleg when Oleg travels to Moscow to witness his mother’s lingering death. Oleg responds to a cousin’s letter by visiting her in an eastern region of Russia. The visit is a revelation that opens his eyes to the way ordinary Russians live, as if he has never seen them before. He is also disturbed that Putin has started a war to annex a portion of Ukraine (as I said, the story is timely, although the 2014 war was fought for control of the Crimean Peninsula). Oleg feels compelled to run for office against Putin. This is before it became clear that Putin would be president for life, but it is still a remarkably dangerous thing to do. Oleg is told of the risk that Navalny was taking to oppose Putin, and that was before Putin threw Navalny in prison after trying to have him killed.

Relationships change rapidly during the two years in which the story unfolds. None change is for the better. Marina has come to believe that Oleg doesn’t see her. “The first she knew him, she felt so closely seen, yet he was attending only to his own reflection in her eyes.” Martin’ friendships with James and Marina and his relationship with Oleg are all affected by decisions that impair trust.

Hammer doesn’t have the same impact or emotional complexity as We Begin Our Ascent, Joe Mungo Reed’s brilliant first novel, but the characters have a convincing degree of depth and the twin storylines are interesting. The story involving Martin’s role in the art industry (and the characters’ art commentary) will appeal to fans of the kind of art that shows up in galleries, but that story peters out when the focus shifts to Oleg.

Oleg's story has a feeling of inevitability that might deprive it of suspense, but the novel isn’t intended as a thriller. Reed certainly put me into the head of an oligarch in way that thriller writers and spy novelists haven’t managed.

Hammer has something to say about how money changes people and how people can change despite their money. Martin’s boss, for example, understands that acquiring wealth is only “the first part of being rich.” The art gallery helps the rich confirm “the actual materiality of being rich” by selling rich people things they do not need or necessarily appreciate but purchase because others cannot afford them. Martin has rejected his parents' hippy attitude toward money, an attitude they seem to abandon themselves when they have the opportunity to acquire modest wealth. Marina understands that wealthy people expect their children to "earn for themselves" because "further acquisition signals seriousness." Money changes people, Reed seems to say, even when its recipients deny that they have been altered.

More importantly, I think, the novel has something to say about how ordinary people with ordinary money relate to people who are swimming in wealth, and about the outsized importance that wealth has on the way people of ordinary means think and behave. If the novel is a bit uneven in its juxtaposition of Martin’s story with Oleg’s and with its attempt to bridge the two worlds with Marina, its strengths easily repay a reader’s investment of time.

RECOMMENDED

The art world . Mysterious, ambiguous, unknown. The reader is allowed into the world of an oligarch who is sitting on some of the finest art the world has known. He is willing to part with his treasure for a price. He hopes to resume his position of power and believes the art will provide that avenue. Martin sees this sale as the stepping stone he needs to move up in his auction house. Little does he suspect the price he could pay.

I read Reed’s previous novel We Begin Out Ascent back in 2018 and in retrospect I should have known what I was getting myself into. The description for this book really peaked my interest and the cover image was eye catching, but that alone wasn’t quite enough to get me fully engaged. Not sure if it’s a matter of my current mindset that I can’t exactly get invested in the story, or that these greater literary fiction books just aren’t my cup of tea anymore. Whatever the issue, I found myself constantly losing focus (I hate to use the word bored, but…) and it started to feel like a real strain to continue to follow the thread. I did enjoy the time spent on describing the art and can appreciate the development of the characters and relationships, but I chose to DNF this in Part II with the hope that I may pick it back up in the future rather than force my way through it and feel resentful enough to take it out in a negative rating. I remain optimistic that if I return in the future that all the time spent in Part I setting the scene will pay off later.

Hammer, by Joe Mungo Reed, is a nicely written novel that is billed as a thriller, but reads more like a drama. It takes place mostly in London in the years 2013-14.

The first character we meet is Martin, an ambitious youngish man working at a London auction house. His backstory is meticulously drawn, including his eccentric parents and best friend James. Later, during an important auction, Martin reconnects with Marina, an old friend, who is now married to Oleg, a Russian oligarch. This connection with a rich oligarch is an exciting development in Martin's career, but while he is dazzled with dealing with Oleg, he is also drawn into an affair with Marina.

Oleg's story is partially shrouded in mystery--we know that many people in his native country consider him to be a crook, that he obviously took advantage of difficult, chaotic times in Russia to make his fortune. After Oleg's mother dies and he goes to visit a cousin still living in his hometown, he becomes remorseful, and sets out on a bizarre and ill-advised plan to enter politics, to become the next Russian president and save his country.

It is more than halfway through this novel that Oleg decides to sell his entire art collection to fund his campaign. This is when Oleg's hubris really gets the better of him. He believes, deep down, that he is always correct and can do anything he wants, so there is no stopping him. Unfortunately and inexplicably, he does not seem to understand that he is putting himself and those around him in danger.

While reading this, I learned about Malevich, an important Russian avant-garde painter, and enjoyed some of the symbolism used in this story, particularly the description of a certain painting that is sent to Martin. Overall, though, I felt that these intriguing details did little to help me understand or like the main characters, or make the plot more compelling.

Hammer was an enlightening cultural experience for me, and I am grateful for it. Thank you to Simon Schuster and Netgalley!

This is a book about wealth, power and politics. There are brief references to drug use and sexual content. The story has extensive, detailed descriptions of both the artist and paintings, as the main plot is set at a prestigious auction house in London. Martin is a junior specialist there trying to obtain a collection from a wealthy Russian.
Oleg is the oligarch who owns the much sought after art collection. He was a Russian engineer, now lives in Great Britain and is married to  Marina. Martin knew Marina at university and she's the ex-girlfriend of Martin’s housemate James.
Vague references and innuendo as to the methods Oleg used to acquire his wealth. There were also mentions of two prior wives, but very little detail. While Oleg seems to be the main character, there is the predictable affair and the story plods along in annoying detail of everywhere they visit, what they eat, drink, etc.
Russian history is not my forte, I'd never heard of an oligarch. It was an enlightening tale of a culture of wealth, poverty, secrets, betrayals and the art world. Reading the story was tedious and I nearly gave up several times.
This is an author I have not read before.
Thanks to Netgalley, Joe Mungo Reed and Simon and Schuster for providing the advance digital copy of Hammer. These are my thoughts and opinions alone, provided voluntarily.

Misconstrued Power

Oligarchs are individuals or persons who belong to a small group of people who govern or control a country. Most of us think of Russia replete with oligarchs festered in a competitive, dangerous country similar to Russia. Some believe that the United States is run by oligarchs since the demarcation of the rich and the have-nots weaves a wide spectrum.

The author of Hammer focuses on three main characters, Martin, a young man climbing his way in an important London auction house, Oleg, an oligarch and his lovely, intelligent wife Marina.
Oleg collects art and his collection is important and treasured. While Martin is catering to the very wealthy men and women similar to Oleg, he has a chance meeting with Oleg’s wife, Marina, a friend from university. She can change his fortune and help him rise in his profession. So, begins the story of Oleg and his transformation when his mother dies and he questions his fading influence in his homeland, Russia. He is toying with the idea of selling his art collection, procured by tawdry means, and elevate himself as the new savior of Russia.

Meanwhile Marina and Martin have an affair, the depth of which is cloudy. A secondary character, James, best friend,, musician and roommate of Martin was a college lover of Marina. His importance is cloudy and so vague, his place in the plot was possibly unnecessary. Oleg’s character is heavily crafted and his ambitions combined with his business acumen mix well with these political aspirations. Reed depicts the ambition of the Oleg as a strong central character driving the plot while he became naïve as any other self-promoting politician.

The last scenes in the book are the strongest, the middle of the book was repetitive and a bit tiresome. Many of the wealthy buyers in the auction house were stereotyped, but that could be more realistic than not.


My gratitude to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-arc.