Narrated by Mark Bramhall, who excelled at the Russian and accents., the Oligarch's daughter is the rare espionage novel with a somewhat happy ending. Paul Brightman, a wall street wizard, meets a woman at a party. At first mistaking her for a waitress, he flirts with her. The attraction is mutual. Paul quickly realizes she is Russian and, as he studied the language in college, enjoys the opportunity to practice his rusty skills. She returns his attraction and the two begin dating. Believing she is a struggling immigrant, he is shocked to learn her father is a wealthy oligarch. With ties to Russian leaders. Paul eventually proposes and the two marry at City Hall. Paul's Wall Street firm is having financial difficulties so he accepts the job offered by his father-in-law.

He is soon approached by government authorities to collect information about the firm. Paul isn't sure who to trust and tries to carefully navigate his way through the job and the government agents. But, he's soon in deeper than he ever thought and takes himself 'under cover' with an assumed name in a small town in New Hampshire. When he's discovered there and walks in on a recent massacre of FBI agents, he flees to the woods.

Paul's father, a former college professor, was a survivalist and much of Paul's childhood was spent learning with him. Paul detested the experiences but found they served him well when needed. He was on the run from the Russians and not sure who else. FBI? CIA? He wasn't even sure how many people were after him. He is able to contact his father and finds help to decipher the mysteries surrounding his father-in-law's business and connections.

Recommended for readers of spy novels and thrillers.

I've been a fan of Joe Finder's for decades, probably. I read all of his novels, but for whatever reason the title, cover, and description just weren't calling to me the way they usually would. Oligarchs did not sound appealing. Well, I sucked it up, read the book, and it was awesome. The protagonist, Paul, was both appealing and empathetic. I got sucked into his story from the opening pages. And Joe Finder is so freakin' good at what he does. He worked the dual timeline like the pro that he is. The pace was unrelenting--in the best possible way. This was everything I look for in a thriller. I'll never doubt you again, Joe!

Great listen. I enjoyed the narrator. The story itself was very interesting and I liked the back and forth of the storytelling.

A smart thriller about a man living in a small town under an assumed identity, who has to go on the run when his past catches up with him. What sets it apart from a lot of spy thrillers is how fully the author commits to the "fish out of water' trope with his main character and lets him make relatable mistakes that an actual person would when they are under pressure and aren't a specially-trained super-agent. Fast paced, dual timelines, great listening experience on audio. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for digital review copy.

Thank you Harper Audio Adult for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This thriller has it all : Russian oligarchs, conspiracies, fine art photography, boat building -- and tension! There were points when I was listening that I'm sure my blood pressure was elevated, because I was nervous about the outcome of the situation. Some situations weren't realistic (no surprise), but I could handle those, because overall it was worth it. A fun listen!

3.5 out of 5

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Audio for the free advance audiobook.

Grant Anderson lives a peaceful life in a small town. He has a job he loves building boats, and a girlfriend named Sarah. Except he isn’t really Grant Anderson, and he’s a man on the run. The story alternates between present day and the past, starting five years ago when he met Tatiana, an oligarch’s daughter. As he grows closer to Tatiana and her family, he learns explosive secrets that could put him in danger.

This is spy thriller and suspense territory, not something I’d usually choose. But this title has been on my TBR list since I first heard about it. The plot drew me in. I don’t know that I’d choose to read more books in a similar vein in the future, but I did enjoy this one. It was fast paced, action packed, constant twists and turns. There were moments of suspense that felt like they involved me personally for how invested I was in the characters.

The narrator was Mark Bramhall. He added an even keeled aspect to the story and did a great job making the most of suspenseful moments. The action was so fast paced, it was hard to press pause and walk away because I wanted to know what happened next.

However, I did not like how Bramhall played Tatiana’s parts. His voice for her character was cringe worthy. It gave me the ick. I didn’t have any issues with other characters, including other women in the novel, just with Tatiana’s voice. A second narrator, a woman, would have been ideal. Another disappointment for me was that some of the twists were pretty predictable, and some of the situations were really far fetched, almost to where belief needed to be suspended. The big ending was not a shocker and that was a disappointment too. Overall, worth a listen. Fans of spy thrillers will appreciate aspects that I likely missed and get more out of this novel, potentially enjoying it more.