Dnf @ 20%. Conceptually the historical aspect was interesting, but the writing was dry and, so far, the female characters were all old babushkas or prostitutes (or the not-like-other-girls hot cowgirl American housewife). Not for me.

John Mills just quit his finance job when he embarks on a new opportunity in Russia, after meeting Petr Kovac. Petr recently made money in Czech industries by buying vouchers that were later turned into shares and John is interested in replicating this in Russia, where they recently privatized their industries. At first they were planning on buying vouchers for a couple of undervalued businesses, but soon find themselves trying to buy the bulk of oil company Gazneft, to try and make billions. This begins an all out attempt to buy up vouchers from citizens and get them exchanged at the auctions, all while avoiding the Gazneft oligarchs who would rather they didn't succeed. Overall, a fast-paced and engaging story about two investors trying to take advantage of the opening Russian market and ending up in life or death situations, that often border on the ridiculous.

Published by Mysterious Press on June 6, 2023

The Siberia Job is less a crime novel than the story of business transactions undertaken in difficult circumstances. Because the story takes place in the Eastern European version of the Wild West — the transition from the fallen Soviet Union to unregulated capitalist markets — crime becomes integral to the plot.

While a work of fiction, the novel is based on real events. The story is wildly improbable but a forward suggests that the novel’s most improbable scenes are the closest to the truth. The forward also suggests that the rise of Russian oligarchs is associated with the “murder-y” methods that were used to acquire ownership of newly privatized companies.

When former Soviet companies privatized, their countries’ citizens were given vouchers that could be traded for shares of companies that were formerly owned by the government. Most people were happy to sell their vouchers for relatively small amounts of cash because cash is what they needed. When the day came to register the vouchers in meetings that were operated by the IMF, voucher owners received stock in the company in proportion to the percentage of total vouchers they registered.

One of the two protagonists, Petr Kovac, happens to meet John Mills in a London bar. Both men are young. Both have acquired some wealth and are looking to acquire more. Petr is a Czech national who bought up vouchers for Czech companies, used them to obtain stock, then sold the stock at a massive profit. John has experience with investment funds and is looking to start his own. He partners with Petr in a plan to purchase vouchers in Russia, using funds supplied by his investor contacts who buy into his new investment partnership.

The most profitable company they can acquire is a massive producer of oil and gas. The executives who run the company plan to acquire it for themselves. While those executives are trying to hold registration meetings on short notice in remote locations to deprive people of the chance to register their vouchers, John and Petr acquire inside information about the meetings. They travel to the area where the first meeting will be held, buy up all the vouchers they can find for American cash, and register the most vouchers at that meeting, much to the dismay of the company representatives who expected to be the only people registering vouchers.

Several more registration meetings are scheduled, sending John and Petr all around Russia in their quest to gather vouchers. They travel by train, bus, bush plane, and car — buying cars when necessary. They rescue a cigarette girl who is about to be raped on a train ride, then hire her as a translator.

The three voucher buyers need to split up when three registration meetings are scheduled in distant locations on the same day. One of the men takes a dog sled to the most remote place where vouchers are being registered. The varied scenes of travel though the vast country are thoroughly engaging. This is as much a story of travel adventure as it is of crime and business.

The novel takes its subject seriously, but the story doesn’t lack humor. My favorite moment occurs when, to move a tank that is blocking the road to a small Siberian town where John needs to attend a voucher auction, John bribes the tank driver by arranging a lunch date in LA between the soldier and his favorite Playboy model.

The intriguing setup establishes the likable young characters and sets their adventure in motion. Neither Petr nor John are action heroes, although they find themselves being shot at and chased from time to time. They use their wits, contacts, and negotiating skills to avoid being murdered. The story’s roots in reality add intrigue, but Josh Haven scores a winner by telling the story with a light touch that suits the “truth is stranger than fiction” tone of the novel.

RECOMMENDED

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

After quitting his "very good, very high-paying job with a top investment bank" in London, John Mills only knows he is on his way home to Texas and his new wife. But, on his last night in London, drinking alone at a bar, he meets Petr Kovac, a Czech national who is celebrating a huge financial coup. As the two of them continue drinking and talking, Petr explains how he made all this money. And by the morning John has exchanged his airline ticket to Dallas for one to Moscow and they are onto an adventure having to do with vouchers issued by Russia to all its citizens so they might take part in the newly privatized companies that had previously been seized by the Soviet Union. I didn't really understand that, either, but it leads to a rip-roaring story!!

After much travel around the ends of the earth of Russia, all the while being targeted by rich Russians who want to become oligarchs, they split up and go their separate ways, not to see each other again for 25 years.

But the ride!! It is confusing and interesting and dangerous and adds up to a GREAT read.

Truth or fiction? The wild world of Russia in the 1990s is at the root of this novel of a man caught up in a scheme to make lots and lots of money by buying up and selling shares in Russian companies, John believe Petr when Petr roots him in but then things go off the rails. It's nutty and it's also ominous. There are some over the top scenes that actually ring true. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A fast paced read that will have you chuckling and shaking your head.

Great read! Really unique topic, well paced with interesting characters and twists and turns. I couldn’t put it down.

A thriller full of financial jiggery pokery and Eastern European excesses that romps along most enjoyably without leaving much trace.

Apparently based on a true story, American banker John Mills teams up with Czech wheeler dealer Petr Kovac to make a fortune in 1990’s Russia. State companies are being privatized by giving ownership vouchers to the population but there is an opportunity to buy these vouchers for way less than their worth using hard currency. Petr has already become rich using this scheme in the Czech Republic and now he sets his sights, with John in tow, on Russia. What he glosses over is quite how dangerous this is going to be as the Russian mafia, oligarchs, and military really really want those vouchers too.

The author keeps this background mercifully simple and short and focuses instead on the wild ride that John and Petr embark on to gather vouchers for Gazneft, a major oil and gas company. Using trains, planes, automobiles, tanks, and dog sleds, they go to the furthest extremes of Russia with duffle bags full of dollars. At first it’s a breeze but then the opposition gets wind of their plans and will use every resource and trick to stop them.

The tone is a bit wobbly between caper and threatening. There’s a gloriously anarchic episode (that the author assures us is true) involving sturgeon fishing with AK-47s in the Caspian Sea and John gets himself out of a tricky situation with the use of a ham radio enthusiast in Alaska and a glamorous actress. On the other hand lots of people die and our protagonists are on the wrong end of some very matter of fact death threats.

As you might expect with this type of novel, character development is not a priority and John and Petr are little more than self-assured white men who smoke and drink a lot. The only female character (other than John’s offstage wife who does her bit by being pregnant) is Anna, who the men meet on a train and swiftly recruit into their scheme. She sells cigarettes and speaks a lot of languages.

There are some interesting snippets of history, for example the origins of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, though they’re rather dumped in for curiosity’s sake with little effort made to weave them into the plot. The author does get a bit Tom Clancy with overegging of unnecessary details at times but mostly keeps things snappy.

There is a light skim over the morality of John and Petr’s multi-billion dollar scheme at the expense of the Russian people, on the basis it might as well be democracy-loving heroes benefitting instead of the corrupt Russian villains, but this is not really the sort of novel that would dwell on that. In fact, it’s not really a novel that needs you to dwell on anything very much, which was a fine way to while away an afternoon in a sunny garden.

Thanks to Penzler and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

The Siberia Job by Josh Haven was such an exhilarating story.

A suspenseful adventure that grabbed me and took me on one hell of a ride!
The writing is intelligent and swift at the same time.
The characters are real and interesting.
And the plot will keep you guessing to the last chapter.
A very interesting story that I truly enjoyed.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You Netgalley and Mysterious Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC.

The sophomore novel from Josh Haven is a very fast paced page turner based on a true story of two men that went into Russia after its collapse with an idea to by stocks into companies ready for privatization.

When they start taking too much stake into a certain company the criminals take notice. Much like the true novel of Bill Browder this novel is tremendously good. I could not put it down. Not particularly a long novel you might find yourself reading late into the evening. Highly recommended.