Vodka Author:Boris Starling After twenty-five years, Gorky Park finally has a worthy successor in Boris Starlings Vodkaa dazzling, epic thriller set in post-Communist Russia that is filled with crime and corruption, love and death, and the tragic pull between good and evil that nearly brings a once-proud empire to its knees. It is Dec... more »ember of 1991, and the Soviet Union has just collapsed. Muscovites are used to lines and empty shelves, but now they have to cope with a dangerous power vacuum and a war between brutal mafia gangs for control of the city. Alice Liddell, an American banker, has come to Moscow to oversee the privatization of Russias most famous vodka distillerythe Red October. Faced with the charismatic, ruthless Levdistillery director and head of one of the warring mafia gangsAlices very difficult job is starting to look impossible. Levs archenemy has vowed revenge on him, and a series of bizarre child killings is only adding to the complicationsand the terrorof this dangerously volatile time.« less
Although this is a work of fiction, the author helped me understand more about the culture of Russia than any non-fiction text ever could. Deep and well-written.
Interesting look into modern day Russia's take on capitalizing that country, doing business through gang enforccement and intimidation. No so like the old Russia.