I read everything that Ben Mezrich writes. If you know him then you might too. If you don’t know him just understand that when you read a Mezrich book you will find yourself saying “No f&^%$%$ way,” about every ten minutes. Mezrich made his name with books like Bringing Down the House and The Accidental Billionaires. My personal favorite is Ugly Americans. Just read any of these and you will know what I mean. Two things confound me. At least right this second.
One, how does one do a book like this? The investigative part is mind-blowing to me, especially when we get to the Russia book I’m going to tell you about. Second, how does he keep doing these books at such a pace? Check out his site. This joker has reeled off more books than anyone should be allowed to write.
“Once Upon a Time in Russia” is about the Russian Oligarchs and their rise to the greatest wealth in history. Russia is shady. There I said it. How shady? You decide. I’m neutral. Think of me as Switzerland. I just read. I’m not involved. What I am is fascinated. Mezrich builds this story with the truly disturbing truth then lets the reality of that truth sink in. When you finish this book you are left with the idea these things actually happened, these people are real and most are still out there.
Get it, read it. Like the rest of his books.