William Burton McCormick

This financial thriller by William Burton McCormick and John Christmas was inspired partly by the real-life experiences of whistleblower Christmas, who worked for the corrupt Latvian bank, Parex. (Follow that link for a “truth is stranger than fiction story!) When the bank collapsed, information about its billions in bad assets was suppressed, and the Latvian government (i.e., taxpayers) covered enormous losses.
In KGB Banker, we meet Chicago banking executive Robert Vanags who is fed up with corner-cutting in the financial industry. Recently widowed, he’d like to make a fresh start. An unexpected opportunity to do so arises when a head hunter recruits him for an executive position with the $70 billion Turaida Bank in Riga, Latvia, where his family was from. This new job sounds like the perfect professional and personal fit.
His interviews go well but as he’s leaving the bank he meets an employee named Ēricks Helmanis in the elevator. Helmanis has one word of advice: “Run.” Bob ignores this puzzling admonition, along with a few other signs that all is not as it should be, and takes the job.
Bob doesn’t know that someone’s monitoring his office, apartment, phones, computer, and even his 17-year-old son David. His watchers know about the elevator conversation and that Ēricks is hoping to meet with a young reporter for an obscure newspaper named Santa Ezeriņa.
His fourth day in the new job, Bob and a large bank contingent attend the funeral of Ēricks Helmanis, who apparently committed suicide. There, he meets Agnese Avena, an executive at the International Development Bank, with which Turaida often partners. He also meets Latvian politician Dāvids Osis, a true national hero, member of parliament, and champion of the European Union. Bob named his son after him.
While Bob becomes uneasy about some activity at the bank, he’s also distracted by an affair he’s started with Agnese. He chooses to reveal his misgivings at a meeting that will determine whether the international banking community should regard Turaida as solid. He tells the group that most of the bank’s loans are made to only a dozen shell companies owned by Russian oligarchs prohibited from receiving loans from EU banks.
From here on, Turaida officials are highly suspicious of him. The only insider Bob can trust is his elderly assistant, Evgeny, and on the outside, the legendary David Osis. Before long, not only is his information discredited, it’s apparent his life is on the line. His last hope is to trust that crazy reporter, Santa Ezeriņa, who is never one to swallow the official story.
Bankers and their secrets, oligarchs and their dirty dealing, politicians and their agendas, reporters and their dangerous probing. In a sea of betrayal, it’s all Bob can do to keep himself and David safe. As this intriguing story spools out, that goal seems less and less likely.
William Burton McCormick and John Christmas have both lived in Latvia and establish the setting convincingly. Before you think some of the financial shenanigans are a little far-fetched, recall what has actually taken place there in recent decades, and you’ll conclude the set-up for this fictional story is not far afield. Plus it’s a cracking good adventure for both Bob and the journalist Santa, who sees the flashing neon warning signs that Bob tries so hard to ignore.… (mehr)

Lenin’s Harem takes place between 1905 and 1941 during the turbulent political and social struggles of the Russian Empire. The story begins with the Russian Revolution. Wiktor Rooks is the youngest son of a Latvian aristocrat with Baltic-German heritage. As a factory owner of considerable wealth, his father is a natural target for the local peasants. His older brother Otomars unsuccessfully tries to convince his father to hire guards. One night Wiktor’s home is set afire, and they must flee to safety.

In 1915, Wiktor, now 21, is forced to fight in the Russian Army against the Germans. One night, he steps in to save a couple of Latvian citizens from renegade soldiers and is critically injured. While recuperating, he is coerced by the Russian Army to act as a liaison and spy. His ability to converse in Latvian, German and Russian has not gone unnoticed. During this time he becomes a member of the Red Riflemen, otherwise known as “Lenin’s Harem.”

McCormick’s battleground scenes prove to be a gruesome lesson in man’s inhumanity to man. As Wiktor walks through the aftermath of destruction, the skillful, sobering imagery is equal to the best of any horror show. His observations of chemical warfare are detailed with grim precision: lifeless, stiff corpses, with gas seeking to hide in every crevice. Lenin’s Harem is an important historical fiction work that offers clarity to a complex and tumultuous time in Russian history. A prodigious and gripping read.

This review appeared in the February 2013, Issue 63 of Historical Novels Review .

Disclosure: Kindle edition was provided by HNR to furnish this candid review.

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2013].… (mehr)

The Author has literally let us walk with the main character of this book, Latvian aristocrat Wiktor Rooks. We begin with the 1905 uprising in Latvia, and end on the road to WWII.
Wiktor is just a young boy, living with his family on their Estate, when the serf uprising happens. We walk in his shoes throughout this book.
What descriptions of being in the trenches during WWI...could just picture the clouds of gas as they covered the area. He watches the bodies being stacked like cord wood.
We see that you really can trust no One!! Even as an Officer he is mistrusted because of his Aristocrat background. Hard to make any lasting friendship...if their was such a thing.
An excellent read to remember the World in the early 1900's. Although the title made me thing of a lot of Women, it actuality it means...the name of a Latvian military unit of which the main character was a part of. A work of fiction, but packed with truth!

I received this book from Knox Robinson Publishing, and was not required to give a positive review.… (mehr)