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The Siberia Job
A thrilling adventure inspired by true events, The Siberia Job charts a course through one of the most impactful periods in recent Russian history, whose reverberations continue to be felt in the present day.
After the demise of the Soviet Union, the newly established Russian government privatized its industry by issuing vouchers to all of its citizens, allowing them the chance to be shareholders in the country’s burgeoning businesses. The slips are distributed among the population, and auctions are arranged where they can be exchanged for actual shares. For the country’s rural populations living in abject poverty, the vouchers appear to be little more than pieces of paper, totally separated from the far-off concept of potential future fortunes.
But for Texas businessman John Mills and his Czech companion, Petr Kovac, the seemingly valueless chits suggest a lucrative potential, worth much more than what the current owners are willing to sell them for. They travel to the farthest, coldest reaches of the country to acquire vouchers for the country’s national oil company, Gazneft, roving from town to town with suitcases full of cash. But they quickly learn that the plan has complications--for example, the fact that the auctions at which these vouchers are traded for actual shares have been planned at the most remote, inaccessible locations possible to deter outsiders from buying in. When the Russian mafia and the oligarchs in charge of Gazneft catch wind of their successes, the stakes become suddenly more deadly.
After the demise of the Soviet Union, the newly established Russian government privatized its industry by issuing vouchers to all of its citizens, allowing them the chance to be shareholders in the country’s burgeoning businesses. The slips are distributed among the population, and auctions are arranged where they can be exchanged for actual shares. For the country’s rural populations living in abject poverty, the vouchers appear to be little more than pieces of paper, totally separated from the far-off concept of potential future fortunes.
But for Texas businessman John Mills and his Czech companion, Petr Kovac, the seemingly valueless chits suggest a lucrative potential, worth much more than what the current owners are willing to sell them for. They travel to the farthest, coldest reaches of the country to acquire vouchers for the country’s national oil company, Gazneft, roving from town to town with suitcases full of cash. But they quickly learn that the plan has complications--for example, the fact that the auctions at which these vouchers are traded for actual shares have been planned at the most remote, inaccessible locations possible to deter outsiders from buying in. When the Russian mafia and the oligarchs in charge of Gazneft catch wind of their successes, the stakes become suddenly more deadly.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published June 6, 2023
148 people are currently reading
5848 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews
June 7, 2023
I am not much of a fan of anything to do with Russia but let me tell you, this book piqued my interest from page one. Written based on true events. The book starts in 1994, right after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia started handing out vouchers to the people so they could have shares in businesses, particularly oil companies. Some people had no desire to have these vouchers as they felt cash was a better option for them.
So we have John Mills, an American from Texas and Petr Kovac, a Czech seemingly meet out of the blue. They devise a plan to cash in on these vouchers. They hire a woman, Anna to be their translator. The three of them go around remote Russia, Siberia in fact, with lots of money that they had gotten from investors, and buy up the vouchers. There are auctions held in the remotest parts of Russia but the people from the companies (Gaxneft to be exact) do not want them to purchase these vouchers so they find ways to stop them.
Thus starts the madcap adventure of the two men and Anna trying to get to the auctions without getting killed and robbed in the process. They are stopped at every turn. Their modes of transport are hilarious, old planes, clunky cars/taxis, tanks, and even sleds with dogs. Each one of these transportation modes has its own story. Do they make it safe and sound? Oh, I am not going to tell you that. You have to read it for yourself. All I will say again is that it is based on true events.
This is a really interesting story and I really enjoyed it, if I could give it more than 5 stars, I would, but 5 stars it is!
So we have John Mills, an American from Texas and Petr Kovac, a Czech seemingly meet out of the blue. They devise a plan to cash in on these vouchers. They hire a woman, Anna to be their translator. The three of them go around remote Russia, Siberia in fact, with lots of money that they had gotten from investors, and buy up the vouchers. There are auctions held in the remotest parts of Russia but the people from the companies (Gaxneft to be exact) do not want them to purchase these vouchers so they find ways to stop them.
Thus starts the madcap adventure of the two men and Anna trying to get to the auctions without getting killed and robbed in the process. They are stopped at every turn. Their modes of transport are hilarious, old planes, clunky cars/taxis, tanks, and even sleds with dogs. Each one of these transportation modes has its own story. Do they make it safe and sound? Oh, I am not going to tell you that. You have to read it for yourself. All I will say again is that it is based on true events.
This is a really interesting story and I really enjoyed it, if I could give it more than 5 stars, I would, but 5 stars it is!
September 8, 2023
This is a financial book and story about Russia, murder, money, it's edgy and thrilling. Thoroughly enjoyed. Should have been boring but, it kept going from just after start to finish. As it's based on reality it's an amazing story.
October 2, 2023
I suppose this is a sort of historical fiction. It's ambiguous, how much is fact, and how much is fiction, which makes the read a little more fascinating.
A post-soviet story about two venture capitalists who exploit a recovering Russian society. They buy into companies using government vouchers and it takes them all over Russia on some wild and dangerous journies.
I liked the outrageous problems and gritty response that the main characters navigated. Apparently, a couple of them were true to the description. I like the "globetrotting" component that takes the reader all over Russia.
It's not a character heavy narrative, and it mostly recounts the journey of a couple of wealthy guys who buy their own solutions. I suppose in that way it's hard for most of us to relate to, but interesting to think about. It's a wild story that I had a lot of fun reading.
Fast read and insightful into the a part of history I never knew to ask about.
A post-soviet story about two venture capitalists who exploit a recovering Russian society. They buy into companies using government vouchers and it takes them all over Russia on some wild and dangerous journies.
I liked the outrageous problems and gritty response that the main characters navigated. Apparently, a couple of them were true to the description. I like the "globetrotting" component that takes the reader all over Russia.
It's not a character heavy narrative, and it mostly recounts the journey of a couple of wealthy guys who buy their own solutions. I suppose in that way it's hard for most of us to relate to, but interesting to think about. It's a wild story that I had a lot of fun reading.
Fast read and insightful into the a part of history I never knew to ask about.
May 16, 2023
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 her 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.
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 her 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.
August 20, 2024
Určitě je tohle pro mě vykročení z mé komfortní zóny.
Ale po tragické smrti Petra Kellnera jsem se chtěla o něm už delší dobu něco dozvědět. Petr si hlídal své soukromí na internetu je jen pár střípků, které by nám mohly přiblížit jeho život.
A když se mi naskytla možnost přečíst si příběh, který je inspirován skutečnými událostmi, neváhala jsem ani minutu.
Není to jen obyčejný příběh, místy jsem si připadala, že čtu pěkně napínavý thriller. Petr se se životem nemazlil a překvapilo mě, jak se ničeho nebál a jak šel do všeho po hlavě. Já bych osobně třeba s cizími lidmi do letadla nesedla, jen kvůli tomu, že se semnou chce setkat. Ruská scéna jak je tu popsána, tak to je další taková lahůdka. Celá ta operace s kupóny byla tak nebezpečná, že jsem to nebezpečí cítila i přes stránky této knihy. Nebyl na to však sám, možná to bylo i štěstí, že na krátkou chvíli potkal Milese, který s ním celou tuto operaci absolvoval. Po příchodu do Ruska se ještě, taky vlastně náhodou potkají s Annou, která jim po celý čas dělá překladatelku. Petr v ní má velkou důvěru a svěří ji i jednu akci s kupóny. Kdo ví, jak by to dopadlo, kdyby na správném místě a ve správném čase oba nebyli…
Celá tato akce je šílená, pro normálního smrtelníka nepochopitelná“! Ale jak se u nás říká: Kdo se bojí, nesmí do lesa!
DOPORUČUJI! I pro nečtenáře těchto knih, je to fakt zajímavé, čtivou formou podané. Nudit se nebudete na 100%
Ale po tragické smrti Petra Kellnera jsem se chtěla o něm už delší dobu něco dozvědět. Petr si hlídal své soukromí na internetu je jen pár střípků, které by nám mohly přiblížit jeho život.
A když se mi naskytla možnost přečíst si příběh, který je inspirován skutečnými událostmi, neváhala jsem ani minutu.
Není to jen obyčejný příběh, místy jsem si připadala, že čtu pěkně napínavý thriller. Petr se se životem nemazlil a překvapilo mě, jak se ničeho nebál a jak šel do všeho po hlavě. Já bych osobně třeba s cizími lidmi do letadla nesedla, jen kvůli tomu, že se semnou chce setkat. Ruská scéna jak je tu popsána, tak to je další taková lahůdka. Celá ta operace s kupóny byla tak nebezpečná, že jsem to nebezpečí cítila i přes stránky této knihy. Nebyl na to však sám, možná to bylo i štěstí, že na krátkou chvíli potkal Milese, který s ním celou tuto operaci absolvoval. Po příchodu do Ruska se ještě, taky vlastně náhodou potkají s Annou, která jim po celý čas dělá překladatelku. Petr v ní má velkou důvěru a svěří ji i jednu akci s kupóny. Kdo ví, jak by to dopadlo, kdyby na správném místě a ve správném čase oba nebyli…
Celá tato akce je šílená, pro normálního smrtelníka nepochopitelná“! Ale jak se u nás říká: Kdo se bojí, nesmí do lesa!
DOPORUČUJI! I pro nečtenáře těchto knih, je to fakt zajímavé, čtivou formou podané. Nudit se nebudete na 100%
July 30, 2023
Great fictional retelling of a post soviet Russia. Amazing to read of the dangers that happened and still exist today.
July 7, 2024
I really enjoyed the premise of this novel and the story line about vouchers, stocks, and Russian investments. The fact that the book is based on a true story was equally fascinating. However, I felt that some of the situations that the characters faced were so far fetched that I had trouble believing them to be remotely feasible. But, what do I know about the dark side of Russia?
May 27, 2023
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia started handing out vouchers to its citizens. These vouchers gave the citizens shares in businesses. Eventually, auctions would be held where these vouchers could be exchanged for shares. Some people didn't want these pieces of paper because they had no value to them. Money in hand now was more valuable than money later. John Mills, a Texan, and Petr Kovac, a Czech, see a prime way to make money. They roam all over Russia with large amounts of cash, trading the cash for these vouchers, so they can then take the vouchers to auction. But the company isn't exactly happy with these men buying all the shares, and they will do anything they can to stop John and Petr from going to auction.
The Siberia Job is one heck of a crazy novel. The fact that it's based on a true story absolutely blows my mind. Some of the events in the book are based on fact, and some are made up by the author. As you're reading, the events seem so outlandish that you can't even fathom how they could have happened. I wasn't sure how I would feel about this novel, but I was absolutely drawn in by the drama and absurdity. This was quite a surprise because I don't typically read novels like this, but I found myself loving every single page.
Release Date: 06/06/2023
The Siberia Job is one heck of a crazy novel. The fact that it's based on a true story absolutely blows my mind. Some of the events in the book are based on fact, and some are made up by the author. As you're reading, the events seem so outlandish that you can't even fathom how they could have happened. I wasn't sure how I would feel about this novel, but I was absolutely drawn in by the drama and absurdity. This was quite a surprise because I don't typically read novels like this, but I found myself loving every single page.
Release Date: 06/06/2023
September 17, 2025
Okay for one, I also fell in love with Petr.
This book was interesting because I am fascinated by the cultures of Russia, Russian history, the Soviet Union, and the fall of the Soviet Union. Also weirdly the Cezch Republic, lots of Prague popping up in my life recently, and it's been number one on my travel list for years.
Anyway. My personal interests brought me to the book, and the characters kept me going. I generally liked the two (three?) main characters. I cared enough to know what was going on with them, and what would happen to them. I am furious about the outcome for a certain character, or two, but I am content with how things happened. HOWEVER. I was not satisfied by the ending because when listening to the book it seems so abrupt. Like oh! this character dies and now it's done. Okay, cool, like, give me about 100 more pages please?
This book was not really a thriller in my opinion, but it was very interesting. The plot of two men trying to out smart a variety of Russian mafia was pretty good (the tank, the party), and it was generally a fun ride as the characters met and progressed in friendship and chaos. While not for everyone, I would recommend this book. It's just a good time.
This book was interesting because I am fascinated by the cultures of Russia, Russian history, the Soviet Union, and the fall of the Soviet Union. Also weirdly the Cezch Republic, lots of Prague popping up in my life recently, and it's been number one on my travel list for years.
Anyway. My personal interests brought me to the book, and the characters kept me going. I generally liked the two (three?) main characters. I cared enough to know what was going on with them, and what would happen to them. I am furious about the outcome for a certain character, or two, but I am content with how things happened. HOWEVER. I was not satisfied by the ending because when listening to the book it seems so abrupt. Like oh! this character dies and now it's done. Okay, cool, like, give me about 100 more pages please?
This book was not really a thriller in my opinion, but it was very interesting. The plot of two men trying to out smart a variety of Russian mafia was pretty good (the tank, the party), and it was generally a fun ride as the characters met and progressed in friendship and chaos. While not for everyone, I would recommend this book. It's just a good time.
August 4, 2023
This book is probably a 3 star book, but I found the topic intriguing enough that the novel really flew by and was entertaining. The ending was too abrupt and too disjointed. The author should have planned a better way to wrap up the whole novel.
August 23, 2023
The story was interesting, but it wasn’t well written. The dialogue was choppy and awkward. I do find stories about Russia fascinating. I think the end was a bit rushed, and the beginning was a bit slow. The pacing definitely could have been better.
Overall, I learned a lot and found it an interesting real life story.
Overall, I learned a lot and found it an interesting real life story.
April 3, 2024
Excellent book. It was changed to ‘fiction’ to protect some of the people involved, however, represents a based on real events story. As someone who lived through those years, not much of a surprise.
The hat it shows is how IMF stood by and allowed foreigners to take over newly privatized post Soviet industries at pennies cost and skim Russians (or post former Soviet citizens) out of this. All these people had protection from IMF, US, Germany, etc. i.e. the West. And most of these people became millionaires/billionaires as a result as well as these people have connections and protection from powerful western politicians and businesses.
It should be no surprise what is happening in Russia now given how formerly gov’t =people owned Soviet industries were legally grabbed up by people who should never had been allowed to profit from privatization of Soviet Union.
The hat it shows is how IMF stood by and allowed foreigners to take over newly privatized post Soviet industries at pennies cost and skim Russians (or post former Soviet citizens) out of this. All these people had protection from IMF, US, Germany, etc. i.e. the West. And most of these people became millionaires/billionaires as a result as well as these people have connections and protection from powerful western politicians and businesses.
It should be no surprise what is happening in Russia now given how formerly gov’t =people owned Soviet industries were legally grabbed up by people who should never had been allowed to profit from privatization of Soviet Union.
March 30, 2024
Originally thought this was more murder/mystery but it’s definitely historical fiction (which of course means there’s murder and mystery naturally worked in)
As someone who has spent a lot of time studying post war Eastern Europe / Russia, I really enjoyed this read. Whether googling the remote russian oblasts (i’ve been to the amur oblast!) or some of the slang - i liked learning a bit more of a story of the globalist perspective and cash grab that was the voucher system.
by no means would i call our protagonists heroes, but their pursuit of free market / capitalism and the misadventures they face is certainly entertaining and will get your heart racing.
i think the author does a good job of making a complex time/topic fairly digestible to any readers - good historical fiction! and a crazy true story
As someone who has spent a lot of time studying post war Eastern Europe / Russia, I really enjoyed this read. Whether googling the remote russian oblasts (i’ve been to the amur oblast!) or some of the slang - i liked learning a bit more of a story of the globalist perspective and cash grab that was the voucher system.
by no means would i call our protagonists heroes, but their pursuit of free market / capitalism and the misadventures they face is certainly entertaining and will get your heart racing.
i think the author does a good job of making a complex time/topic fairly digestible to any readers - good historical fiction! and a crazy true story
January 27, 2024
Great story well-told, unpretentiously. An effective thriller with an original premise. I needed a good distraction and it provided it satisfactorily.
November 3, 2024
Crazy this is based on a true story! Insane to think things like this happen in our world and get covered up. If you love history and a good mafia ish thriller, this book is worth the read!
November 29, 2023
If this were pure fiction, I might have given it another star, as a somewhat cheesy romp through financial misadventures. But the conceit that it was based upon a true story of a rich American who goes in to Russia and cons a load of people out of shares in state companies to get wildly rich is just crass, and the author never even intimates that it is unseemly, if not wholly obnoxious. That the rich white dude only gets out with his life by calling in a favor from a senior white house figure who happens to be a financial backer of his ploy is at best cynical, and likely also just the wet dream of said rich dude (who purportedly actually exists and experienced all this first hand). One can imagine his excitement when the novel came out, desperately hoping to impress his rich buddies at what a cowboy he was in the post Soviet wild west. What a loser.
July 17, 2023
3.75 stars
July 21, 2023
Quick read but very interesting.
I was engrossed.
Easy read but great adventure.
Recommend for simple escape.
I was engrossed.
Easy read but great adventure.
Recommend for simple escape.
October 6, 2023
The flames of the incendiary outlash to the LIKE A PRAYER video and Pepsi-Cola television commercials had barely died down and the 80s were just about to welcome the next decade when the Blond Ambition World Tour was announced in the middle of November. Potentially a take on the popular North American adolescent game, 1990s TRUTH OR DARE allowed audiences and fans unfettered access to Madonna's world, specifically an all day pass for the full four months duration of the artist's live performances and behind the stage life. More a risqué title than an actual game, the Madonna movie was daring in its boldness and candor but failed to pull in more than modest box office riches. Never a soldier, never shot at anyone and never been shot at, THE SIBERIA JOB is the story of a paper pusher supreme with the old college boxer days and the Eagle Scout oath still echoing deep in his soul. Adopting the British SAS' motto, it is the story of a man in search of his true self and the ability to dare big in a new, rich and dangerous Russia, for 'Who Dares Wins.'
Barely thirty and a Master of the Universe like Sherman McCoy, though he's never climbed a mountain, fought a bull or been in a car chase, John Mills EXPERIENCES a quasi existential crisis and feels that if harebrained classmates of his can run their own lives and hedge funds, why was he still trudging along on the endless steps of a corporate pyramid? He's been lugging around for three years, from Texas to Tokyo to India to London. On a bender in a hotel bar and getting sloshed after telling the global finance world to stick it, he's biding his time to sober up and hit Heathrow for a plane out. When one door closes, another opens. This one far to the East, the former Soviet Union, where the streets are paved with gold. In a Russia infested with Bratva and former KGB with sticky fingers, it was better to be Communists winners than capitalist losers. They had a government they didn't respect, no clear authority, and no sense of pulling together for a new beginning. A country mistrusting everyone for screwing them over: the West, neighboring countries, the government, and each other. Post-Soviet Russia was the Wild Wild West of the East, one big Plata o plomo hole, offering John Mills a golden shovel.
Almost like THE ITALIAN JOB without the Mini Coopers, THE SIBERIA JOB is all about Grand Theft Gazprom, a tale of greed and highway robbery on the wide open range of natural resource and company privatization. In Russia, a country historically plagued not by a lack of brains but an overabundance of Communism, investing in companies being privatized through the IMF voucher system was King. Where were you when all this highfalutin money grabbing happened? As Russian oil and gas is big money, THE SIBERIA JOB goes long on commentary about EU energy problems and dependence, the Ukraine invasion, NATO, and Novichok. Featuring more train travel than DR. ZHIVAGO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE combined, THE SIBERIA JOB also cleverly references THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE, GOLDFINGER, and most curiously, Weezer. Going deep finance-wise to give the average Joe a frothy nosebleed, THE SIBERIA JOB treats Russia minutiae right and adds tongue-in cheek vernacular like ex-commie-Stans, prosti-translator, Linc-mo, 'Why Bach?', and the oft used axiom of Russian existence, 'the elbow is close but you can't bite it.' In a time when Russia is the low hanging fruit on the Evil Doer Tree, THE SIBERIA JOB splendidly turns back time when Russia was on the road to democracy and stumbled over capitalism. For the most exciting derring-do north of the Volga-Don, THE SIBERIA JOB works a delectable kleptocracy caper that has it all--greed, intrigue, action, adventure, and murder. Get in, Comrade, or miss out.
December 19, 2023
I bought this book in part because of a interest in 1990's Russia and that special setting of semi-anarchy inbetween harsh rulers. But also because the renowned Russian History scholar Stephen Kotkin (whom I greatly respect) mentioned having read it "in one sitting", indicating that it must have been quite something. Though I've come to wonder whether that wasn't one of these polite "technical truths" with perhaps the real motivation being a need to push through the book in time in order to meet commitments.
It's a novel based on a real story which does accomplish to some extent to make real and concrete what the heck happened when russian state owned companies were ended up in the hands of oligarchs and carpetbagging western capitalists - what happened at the ground level in terms of vouchers and vodka bottles and greenbacks changing hands. The plot twists to and fro by the kind of shenanigans and mafia ways that took place to have this corrupt process comply morally with law and IMF regulations, while at the same time being egregiously immoral and deeply injust.
The two main characters are young western investment banker types that seek to take advantage
of this anarchy, to get into the game that the domestic crooks were playing. That's fine and all - the fictionalized investment banker type often is an adventurous go getter, with avarice not just for money but for the fun and thrills and glitz you can have with money - but that go beyond money. But the writer shouldn't feel so down with them and admiring that they begin to resemble boys room plastic action figures, which i think is the case here. The guys are shrewd businessmen, ballsy and "cool" in the adolescent sense of nonchalantly lighting cigarettes of various named brands all the time, never being at a loss for elegant worldly manners, love a wild party, obviously have no problems with women, not shying from coarse macho parlance in their suits. They're both much the same, but one is "virtuously" restrained solely on account of success with marital life and a first born child.
We get to tag along with these two cool, successful dudes on adventure and get seduced with them by a sense of winning-big-at-the-lottery excitement, the prospect of such and such many billions of dollars. This central place of money as a motivator of the characters and the reading suspense reminds me of that one John Grisham novel i read. But similarly to the Grisham novel (can't think of the name) there is a certain redeeming lightheartedness - part and parcel of the shallowness - that can tell a story with plenty of violence, crime and corruption in a way that doesn't disturb or depress, so that the reading experience comes to resemble watching a James Bond movie. In this story, the whole scheme that the main characters set out to accomplish is actually rather nauseating if you stop and think. If the book was written with realism and higher claim of authenticity, the sympathies with the protagonists that the book seels to convey would likely turn into something of the opposite.
Perhaps a petty thing to remark on, but it peeves me that the characters are always "laughing", rarely smirking or chuckling or politely smiling, at the writers passable jokes. Another remark on the writing would be the rather liberal use of brackets (parenthesis), that the author seems to like playing around with as if experimenting with a technique. As a reader however i recalled and more than hitherto agreed with Arthur Schopenhauers writing advise that brackets have almost no justification. Regular use of brackets outside of formal or technical writing easily looks as if the writer is excusing and making detail optional because they're unsure whether the detail is worth the readers time, whether they're wasting the readers time or not.
The story is mainly set in a poor and semi anarchic Russia in the 90's and broaches quite dark themes, but somehow it was rendered with mostly light colors in my imagination - because of how it's narrated but also because to me this was a novel with the extents of the bearing upon reality being unknown. A story in mostly light colors is quite welcome at times when reading serves mostly as distraction and relaxation. If i have to now and then sigh over superficiality, crassness, philistinism - well i suppose it usually goes with the bargain.
It's a novel based on a real story which does accomplish to some extent to make real and concrete what the heck happened when russian state owned companies were ended up in the hands of oligarchs and carpetbagging western capitalists - what happened at the ground level in terms of vouchers and vodka bottles and greenbacks changing hands. The plot twists to and fro by the kind of shenanigans and mafia ways that took place to have this corrupt process comply morally with law and IMF regulations, while at the same time being egregiously immoral and deeply injust.
The two main characters are young western investment banker types that seek to take advantage
of this anarchy, to get into the game that the domestic crooks were playing. That's fine and all - the fictionalized investment banker type often is an adventurous go getter, with avarice not just for money but for the fun and thrills and glitz you can have with money - but that go beyond money. But the writer shouldn't feel so down with them and admiring that they begin to resemble boys room plastic action figures, which i think is the case here. The guys are shrewd businessmen, ballsy and "cool" in the adolescent sense of nonchalantly lighting cigarettes of various named brands all the time, never being at a loss for elegant worldly manners, love a wild party, obviously have no problems with women, not shying from coarse macho parlance in their suits. They're both much the same, but one is "virtuously" restrained solely on account of success with marital life and a first born child.
We get to tag along with these two cool, successful dudes on adventure and get seduced with them by a sense of winning-big-at-the-lottery excitement, the prospect of such and such many billions of dollars. This central place of money as a motivator of the characters and the reading suspense reminds me of that one John Grisham novel i read. But similarly to the Grisham novel (can't think of the name) there is a certain redeeming lightheartedness - part and parcel of the shallowness - that can tell a story with plenty of violence, crime and corruption in a way that doesn't disturb or depress, so that the reading experience comes to resemble watching a James Bond movie. In this story, the whole scheme that the main characters set out to accomplish is actually rather nauseating if you stop and think. If the book was written with realism and higher claim of authenticity, the sympathies with the protagonists that the book seels to convey would likely turn into something of the opposite.
Perhaps a petty thing to remark on, but it peeves me that the characters are always "laughing", rarely smirking or chuckling or politely smiling, at the writers passable jokes. Another remark on the writing would be the rather liberal use of brackets (parenthesis), that the author seems to like playing around with as if experimenting with a technique. As a reader however i recalled and more than hitherto agreed with Arthur Schopenhauers writing advise that brackets have almost no justification. Regular use of brackets outside of formal or technical writing easily looks as if the writer is excusing and making detail optional because they're unsure whether the detail is worth the readers time, whether they're wasting the readers time or not.
The story is mainly set in a poor and semi anarchic Russia in the 90's and broaches quite dark themes, but somehow it was rendered with mostly light colors in my imagination - because of how it's narrated but also because to me this was a novel with the extents of the bearing upon reality being unknown. A story in mostly light colors is quite welcome at times when reading serves mostly as distraction and relaxation. If i have to now and then sigh over superficiality, crassness, philistinism - well i suppose it usually goes with the bargain.
April 11, 2025
A very fast-paced, entertaining thriller, The Siberia Job is the story of two businessmen and their pursuit to profit from post-Russian capitalism in 1994.
A Czech man and an American man meet in a bar in London, and this isn’t the setup to a joke; it’s actually the inception of a very lucrative partnership. The two discuss the fall of the Soviet Union and how previously government-controlled companies will be privatized under the new Russian regime.
To summarize the process, each company will issue vouchers to citizens all across the country. Those citizens will then have to show up for an auction for that specific company (in many cases held in a remote location) and turn in their vouchers in return for a percentage of the company. The higher percentage of vouchers a person turns in relative to the total number of vouchers turned in at the auction will warrant a larger equity stake in the company.
Many citizens don’t see much merit in actually using their vouchers as the locations of the auctions are extremely far away in some cases and capitalism is untested in new Russia, so their value could be worthless.
However, Petr, the Czech, and John, the American, bank on the success of this new economy and take the leap to buy up vouchers and subsequently shares of an extremely large oil and gas company.
The two encounter wild and dangerous road blocks (literally and metaphorically) in their journey across the Motherland, leading to a very fascinating story.
Not all of the book is real, as the author claims he does not want to be at risk himself for releasing this story, so there is a lot of doubt, from the reader’s perspective, as it progresses. Nonetheless, it is still a fascinating ride that I wish had more detail and additional elaboration throughout. But ultimately, The Siberia Job is an entertaining snippet of history traversed by two daring and possibly fictional characters.
A Czech man and an American man meet in a bar in London, and this isn’t the setup to a joke; it’s actually the inception of a very lucrative partnership. The two discuss the fall of the Soviet Union and how previously government-controlled companies will be privatized under the new Russian regime.
To summarize the process, each company will issue vouchers to citizens all across the country. Those citizens will then have to show up for an auction for that specific company (in many cases held in a remote location) and turn in their vouchers in return for a percentage of the company. The higher percentage of vouchers a person turns in relative to the total number of vouchers turned in at the auction will warrant a larger equity stake in the company.
Many citizens don’t see much merit in actually using their vouchers as the locations of the auctions are extremely far away in some cases and capitalism is untested in new Russia, so their value could be worthless.
However, Petr, the Czech, and John, the American, bank on the success of this new economy and take the leap to buy up vouchers and subsequently shares of an extremely large oil and gas company.
The two encounter wild and dangerous road blocks (literally and metaphorically) in their journey across the Motherland, leading to a very fascinating story.
Not all of the book is real, as the author claims he does not want to be at risk himself for releasing this story, so there is a lot of doubt, from the reader’s perspective, as it progresses. Nonetheless, it is still a fascinating ride that I wish had more detail and additional elaboration throughout. But ultimately, The Siberia Job is an entertaining snippet of history traversed by two daring and possibly fictional characters.
September 21, 2023
This weekend, I finished The Siberia Job by Josh Haven. It's the first fiction book I've read that's not comics in some time as I've been more focused on nonfiction as of late. Given the topic of the book, it felt like a good choice.
The story involves an American and a Czech business partner scooping up vouchers to buy stock in a Russian oil company shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. They get bankrolled by wealthy friends and face threats as they sneak across the wide expanse of Russia. Apparently many of the stories are based on true tales, though the story is fictional.
It's an alright book. The writing is easy enough. But I also just didn't care that much about anyone. I didn't see a real reason to root for the protagonists. They're already wealthy enough personally and they're scheming to just become super rich. That can be fun in a heist story, but I didn't really see these men as the "good guys." Instead, it was more like the alternative was worse. So the tension was more about whether they'd scoop up huge shares of a company or get killed along the way.
The tricks they pull are sometimes cool and the threats are cold blooded, but it's hard to feel the real tension when I wasn't that invested in their success. The forward to the book alludes to this shedding light on how Russia really is today, but it doesn't really. I thought maybe it would really get into Ukraine politics or Putin's rise, since this came out in 2023, but the only real references to today were about how European countries had become beholden to Russian oil, but that really wasn't that key to the story as a whole.
The story involves an American and a Czech business partner scooping up vouchers to buy stock in a Russian oil company shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. They get bankrolled by wealthy friends and face threats as they sneak across the wide expanse of Russia. Apparently many of the stories are based on true tales, though the story is fictional.
It's an alright book. The writing is easy enough. But I also just didn't care that much about anyone. I didn't see a real reason to root for the protagonists. They're already wealthy enough personally and they're scheming to just become super rich. That can be fun in a heist story, but I didn't really see these men as the "good guys." Instead, it was more like the alternative was worse. So the tension was more about whether they'd scoop up huge shares of a company or get killed along the way.
The tricks they pull are sometimes cool and the threats are cold blooded, but it's hard to feel the real tension when I wasn't that invested in their success. The forward to the book alludes to this shedding light on how Russia really is today, but it doesn't really. I thought maybe it would really get into Ukraine politics or Putin's rise, since this came out in 2023, but the only real references to today were about how European countries had become beholden to Russian oil, but that really wasn't that key to the story as a whole.
June 2, 2023
After reading the summary I knew I had to check this one out.
The story follows John and Petr and their journey. They see a lucrative potential in Russia after the demise of the Soviet Union. They will quickly learn that their plan will have some serious complications and even some danger.
I will admit this took me a while to really get into it. The beginning was a hair slow for me. However, once it got its hooks into me....I was absolutely hooked. I stayed up WAAAAAY too late. Whoopsies. But totally worth it being tired at work the next day.
What made this extra thriller-ish for me is knowing that this was based on a true story and I was able to resist temptation to look anything up. I quite literally had zero idea so I had to know what was going to happen! There was a moment near the end that brought a tiny tear to my eye. Didn't see that coming.
What really surprised me was the sprinkle of humor. There was one scene that had me laugh so hard!!!! It was a nice surprise. There is a lot of serious-ness, drama, and financial talk so the humor moments helped lighten the mood.
There were some financial talk but the author did a good job simplifying it so readers, like me, could follow along enough and not be bogged down by complicated stuff.
Overall, I enjoyed this. The beginning was a little rough for me. It took a bit for me to really get into the story, but once I was I became invested! This was pretty good and I recommend it to those that like a little financial danger mixed with physical danger and a splash of humor. I'll stamp this with 4 stars.
The story follows John and Petr and their journey. They see a lucrative potential in Russia after the demise of the Soviet Union. They will quickly learn that their plan will have some serious complications and even some danger.
I will admit this took me a while to really get into it. The beginning was a hair slow for me. However, once it got its hooks into me....I was absolutely hooked. I stayed up WAAAAAY too late. Whoopsies. But totally worth it being tired at work the next day.
What made this extra thriller-ish for me is knowing that this was based on a true story and I was able to resist temptation to look anything up. I quite literally had zero idea so I had to know what was going to happen! There was a moment near the end that brought a tiny tear to my eye. Didn't see that coming.
What really surprised me was the sprinkle of humor. There was one scene that had me laugh so hard!!!! It was a nice surprise. There is a lot of serious-ness, drama, and financial talk so the humor moments helped lighten the mood.
There were some financial talk but the author did a good job simplifying it so readers, like me, could follow along enough and not be bogged down by complicated stuff.
Overall, I enjoyed this. The beginning was a little rough for me. It took a bit for me to really get into the story, but once I was I became invested! This was pretty good and I recommend it to those that like a little financial danger mixed with physical danger and a splash of humor. I'll stamp this with 4 stars.
October 15, 2023
The Siberia Job
John Mills is a successful trader who is ready to cut back on his European business and return to Texas and his young family. After quitting his job and before departing London he meets a kindred spirit, Petr Kovac. The Czech tells John about the Russian government’s plans to divest government owned businesses by issuing vouchers to Russian citizens. Because there is a tremendous need for western currency, vouchers for some of Russia’s most valuable companies can be snatched up for a song. Before they depart for Moscow and begin their crazy adventure in search of vouchers, John asks Petr if he’s familiar with America’s stories of the wild west and the gold rush for that’s exactly the adventure they are embarking upon – except in Russia the villains have bigger guns and are far more brutal. The duo encounter a number of characters who assist them or try to thwart their quest for vouchers. They set up shop in small towns and exchange millions of dollars for potentially billions in voucher assets. There’s a little bit of “Trains, Planes, and Automobiles” in their crisscrossing of the Russian frontier except that they are being shot at and beaten up by hoods employed by the Russian oligarchs while plying their commerce. The author may exaggerate the wild wild west nature of Russia to make his point, but if he does, its not by much. The “Siberia Job” is a fun, entertaining, thriller.
John Mills is a successful trader who is ready to cut back on his European business and return to Texas and his young family. After quitting his job and before departing London he meets a kindred spirit, Petr Kovac. The Czech tells John about the Russian government’s plans to divest government owned businesses by issuing vouchers to Russian citizens. Because there is a tremendous need for western currency, vouchers for some of Russia’s most valuable companies can be snatched up for a song. Before they depart for Moscow and begin their crazy adventure in search of vouchers, John asks Petr if he’s familiar with America’s stories of the wild west and the gold rush for that’s exactly the adventure they are embarking upon – except in Russia the villains have bigger guns and are far more brutal. The duo encounter a number of characters who assist them or try to thwart their quest for vouchers. They set up shop in small towns and exchange millions of dollars for potentially billions in voucher assets. There’s a little bit of “Trains, Planes, and Automobiles” in their crisscrossing of the Russian frontier except that they are being shot at and beaten up by hoods employed by the Russian oligarchs while plying their commerce. The author may exaggerate the wild wild west nature of Russia to make his point, but if he does, its not by much. The “Siberia Job” is a fun, entertaining, thriller.
June 21, 2023
The Siberia Job by Josh Haven
I think I heard about this book from a Bill Browder recommendation.
It has very much to do with the privitization of large once Soviet companies in the early ‘90’s, with IMF, proto-oligarch, Eastern European as well as American financial types, and of course Russian mafia. involvement.
In the larger picture it is debatable who are the good guys and who are not… but as an action novel, it is quite a story.
John Mills, much like Bill Browder, has a fund and investors from all over; he links up with a Czech guy much like himeself, but with fewer financial friends, and hires help as needed, some of whom become partners (such as Anna Lydiovna Schelevatskaya). They are trying to swoop in and buy the vouchers entitling them to future stock certificates of undervalued companies, which are in need of capital. The process is arcane, and there is certainly motivation of all to make a quick buck (or ruble).
The description of the gasneft vouchers auction process, and efforts to hide the process in out of the way places by those proto oligarchs who are trying to corner the market of vouchers (and control) is too complex to be made up.
The action all over Siberia warrants the title and is almost slapstick except for its brutality. It reminded me of my wife’s trip on the TransSiberian railroad 20 years ago, but was much more exciting (and dangerous).
I think I heard about this book from a Bill Browder recommendation.
It has very much to do with the privitization of large once Soviet companies in the early ‘90’s, with IMF, proto-oligarch, Eastern European as well as American financial types, and of course Russian mafia. involvement.
In the larger picture it is debatable who are the good guys and who are not… but as an action novel, it is quite a story.
John Mills, much like Bill Browder, has a fund and investors from all over; he links up with a Czech guy much like himeself, but with fewer financial friends, and hires help as needed, some of whom become partners (such as Anna Lydiovna Schelevatskaya). They are trying to swoop in and buy the vouchers entitling them to future stock certificates of undervalued companies, which are in need of capital. The process is arcane, and there is certainly motivation of all to make a quick buck (or ruble).
The description of the gasneft vouchers auction process, and efforts to hide the process in out of the way places by those proto oligarchs who are trying to corner the market of vouchers (and control) is too complex to be made up.
The action all over Siberia warrants the title and is almost slapstick except for its brutality. It reminded me of my wife’s trip on the TransSiberian railroad 20 years ago, but was much more exciting (and dangerous).
November 7, 2023
This novel is "based on a true story" and the author's Foreword implies that most of it is true. Regardless, it's a fascinating story from the mid-nineties when Russia was in the process of privatizing various enterprises that had been run by the government for decades. Two entrepreneurs, John Mills and Petr Kovac, decide to take a shot at buying up vouchers (distributed to the general population) for an energy company (Gazneft in the book) that could be converted into shares at special auctions. They are so successful at this, obtaining shares potentially worth billions, that the current managers of the company decide they need to be stopped by any means possible - from scheduling the auctions in the remotest corners of Siberia to threatening them with death. Along the way, they encounter all kinds of characters: scheming ex-KGB officers, tank drivers, Russian mafia, helpful indigenous people living in tents, and many others. It's an entertaining tale - the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that the chapters that bring the story up to date seemed a little disjointed and not written quite as well as the rest of the book.
If you want to read about the actual person that the story is based on see this link: https://fwtx.com/culture/the-siberia-...
If you want to read about the actual person that the story is based on see this link: https://fwtx.com/culture/the-siberia-...
July 8, 2023
"The Siberia Job" is a quick read, which says a lot for how much it pulled me in. Apparently based on real-life stories shared with the author, the book explores the world of the post-USSR scramble for ownership of companies and industries that were supposed to be for the benefit of the people of Russia. Instead, modern-day carpetbaggers swoop in to try to take control of money they hadn't earned (unless you consider their ability to invest tiny amounts of "hard currency" earning anything) before Russian oligarchs can build their own empires with little more right to it than the American and European "investors."
While John, Petr and Anna are interesting characters, and I will admit to rooting for them at points (they're better than their murderous opponents), their way of getting rich is very questionable morally. If you like Gordon Gekko-style raiders, you will like them, but if that turns you off... well, then not so much.
Their view is that their approach will help make the new Russia rich, too, but it seems very unlikely that the average Russian is going to benefit any more under this new regime than they did under the old Communist one.
Still, an interesting book and a page-turner. I'm not the fastest reader, and I was through it in two days.
While John, Petr and Anna are interesting characters, and I will admit to rooting for them at points (they're better than their murderous opponents), their way of getting rich is very questionable morally. If you like Gordon Gekko-style raiders, you will like them, but if that turns you off... well, then not so much.
Their view is that their approach will help make the new Russia rich, too, but it seems very unlikely that the average Russian is going to benefit any more under this new regime than they did under the old Communist one.
Still, an interesting book and a page-turner. I'm not the fastest reader, and I was through it in two days.
May 24, 2023
Truth is often stranger than fiction and this book is a roller coaster ride about two men trying to get rich in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. John, an American decides to go all out one more time. He hopes to strike it rich one more time, then settle back into life in the US with his wife and soon to be addition. Petr, a Czech is also looking to make some money on the fall out and finds a friend in John. The two partner up and find a way to scheme some of the most powerful companies, that are secretly working to become more powerful. Word gets out about John and Petr and as they work their way around Russia buying vouchers, they are also on the run for their lives and hoping they will wake each morning able to make it to the next city for the next buy out. This story gets crazier and crazier with each chapter, and it really is so crazy that it cannot be made up. Based on actual events and men who did all they could to try and beat some of the most powerful at their own game in their own country. Fascinating read and I did learn quite a bit of history as well. Thank you to Wunderkind PR and the author for the free novel. This review is of my own opinion and accord.
June 3, 2023
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.
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.
March 19, 2025
I was lured into reading this as a followup to a 2024 Webinair put on by the Hoover Institute, with an introduction provided by Condoleezza Rice, to a Q&A with the "alleged" primary source for the "truth-can-be-stranger-than-fiction" hedge fund/investment manager John Kleinheinz as setup by Stephen Koltkin.
My interest and ultimately satisfaction with having taken the time to read Josh Haven's "ghost writing" semi-fictional/factual collaboration with John Kleinheinz, & resulting Goodreads 4/5 rating are greatly predicated on watching that program &, on having previously read Bill Browder's "Red Notice" and Browder's follow up, Freezing Order.
As just a stand alone piece of "fiction" The Siberian Job would probably only rate a 2/5. If one just wanted fictional Russian thriller, I'd suggest David McCloskey's MoscowX and The Seventh Floor's be better reads. Depending on how "real" The Siberian Job's portrayal of John Mill's (aka Kleinheinz) fictional partner, Petr, is and the somewhat haphazard events of the closing 3-4 chapters are, the book gets from a 2/5 to a 4 or 5/5 for some insight into Russian and Vladimir et als. current foray into Ukraine.
My interest and ultimately satisfaction with having taken the time to read Josh Haven's "ghost writing" semi-fictional/factual collaboration with John Kleinheinz, & resulting Goodreads 4/5 rating are greatly predicated on watching that program &, on having previously read Bill Browder's "Red Notice" and Browder's follow up, Freezing Order.
As just a stand alone piece of "fiction" The Siberian Job would probably only rate a 2/5. If one just wanted fictional Russian thriller, I'd suggest David McCloskey's MoscowX and The Seventh Floor's be better reads. Depending on how "real" The Siberian Job's portrayal of John Mill's (aka Kleinheinz) fictional partner, Petr, is and the somewhat haphazard events of the closing 3-4 chapters are, the book gets from a 2/5 to a 4 or 5/5 for some insight into Russian and Vladimir et als. current foray into Ukraine.
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