Red Notice

A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man's Fight for Justice

By: Bill Browder

Narrated by: Adam Grupper

November 2009. An emaciated young lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, is led to a freezing isolation cell in a Moscow prison, handcuffed to a bed rail, and beaten to death by eight police officers. His crime? To testify against the Russian Interior Ministry officials who were involved in a conspiracy to steal $230 million of taxes paid to the state by one of the world's most successful hedge funds. Magnitsky's brutal killing has remained uninvestigated and unpunished to this day. His farcical posthumous show-trial brought Putin's regime to a new low in the eyes of the international community.

Red Notice is a searing expose of the wholesale whitewash by Russian authorities of Magnitsky's imprisonment and murder, slicing deep into the shadowy heart of the Kremlin to uncover its sordid truths. Bill Browder - the hedge fund manager who employed Magnitsky - takes us on his explosive journey from the heady world of finance in New York and London in the 1990s, through his battles with ruthless oligarchs in the turbulent landscape of post-Soviet Union Moscow, to his expulsion from Russia on Putin's orders. Browder's graphic portrait of the Russian government as a criminal enterprise wielding all the power of a sovereign state illuminates his personal transformation from financier to human rights activist, campaigning for justice for his late lawyer and friend.

With fraud, bribery, corruption, and torture exposed at every turn, Red Notice is a shocking but true political roller-coaster that plays out in the highest echelons of Western power.

©2015 Hermitage Media Limited (P)2015 Recorded Books

True 5 star book

This book completed exceeded my expectation. The detail in which the author describes Sergei's story moved me to tears many times. His story deserves to be told by this book to everyone who has conscience. Thank you for sharing your story with me. I have learned a lot about human rights in Russia, and the system that is so corrupt criminals can roam free without consequences. A true 5 star.

This Is Motion Picture Material

This book read like a great spy novel- except all of it is a true story and not fiction (as others have pointed out in their reviews). The story was riveting and I thought that Adam Grupper did an incredible job with the narration- especially with his English, French and Russian accent for all of the characters. Well worth the listen. I really believe that this should be made into a motion picture and hopefully some producer will purchase the rights to the book and proceed with the project. I would recommend that as you listen to the book think of who should be cast in the various roles in the story.

Run, don’t walk, to read this book!

This book is astonishing in its depth, breadth and humanity. Mr. Browder’s personal story about his life and motivation for studying business was fascinating. His description of how and why he became so interested in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe and Russia provided real insight into a very important period in the modern history of business and politics. Where this book truly shines is in the telling of the tragic story of Sergei Magnitsky. Mr. Browder’s tenacity, courage, and commitment to truth-telling have deeply touched me. I now understand so much more about modern Russia - and about the need to ask deeper questions when political decisions are made in the West. Thank you, Mr. Browder, for this amazing book.

An important read

Compelling story with great narration. Heart wrenching account of why we must still fear Russia. Great life story even if you don't like Bill by the end.

Insightful and intriguing

This insightful and intriguing account of Bill Browder’s naive financial investment foray into Russia at first made him the biggest investor in that country. But the Russians would not allow him to continue to reap all those tens and hundreds of millions. In the process, the police arrested his lawyer, imprisoned and tortured him for weeks, ignored his serious illnesses, and eventually beat him to death. This event catapulted Browder into a human right’s activist to vindicate his friend and colleague. Once this book got going it was quite compelling. There was a bit of sluggishness in the beginning, information that could have been compressed. Or at least a better decision could have been made as where to drop in at the beginning.

Exposes Despicable Corruption in Putin's Russia

This book is an eye-opener! I previously had only a vague idea of the Magnitsky case as the death of a Russian lawyer who had died in mysterious circumstances. Not so. As this book lays out in well-documented detail, Magnitsky was the victim of a brazen and brutal retaliation plot by Russian police, intelligence agencies, and tax authorities after he filed charges of their fraud that had resulted in the theft of $230 Million from the Russian treasury. Worse yet, when Browder and others publicized the corruption of justice that had occurred in the Magnitsky case, the highest Russian authorities (including Mr. Putin himself) claimed repeatedly there was no merit in Magnitsky's charges, that he himself was responsible for the tax fraud, and even staged a show trial against Magnitsky and Browder to provide some prima facie support for their bogus claims.

The book is a must read for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the state of things in Putin's Russia today. Based on personal experience on visits to Russia, I do think things are better for average Russians today than they were in Communist days. However, the Russian standard of living still trails substantially behind western Europe. Worse yet, the Russian police and Putin's government have in no way given up the corrupt police methods of Stalin's day when they go after an opponent who seeks to expose corruption in their ranks.

I would strongly recommend this book for one of the current Presidential candidates who seems to have a rather naive view of Mr. Putin, his way of running things in
Russia and the means he is using to put pressure on the Ukraine and other neighboring countries.

I don't usually write reviews...

Absolutely incredible. Well written and straightforward, beautifully narrated with feeling, and the last chapter is read by Bill Browder himself. I'm struggling to find words about the book, so you should read it for yourself. All of the protagonists in this book are an inspiration to anyone who believes in standing up to corruption and injustice.

Great story, just could have been half as long.

This is an important story that deserves wide circulation, especially in light of the recent actions of Putin. It's too bad a good editor didn't pare it down though. The writing is full of unnecessary "travelogue" details that slow it down. Things like "I showered, shaved and got dressed" or "the phone rang at 11:15. I picked it up and answered it. "It was so-and-so". It could have been half as long and much more effective. Still very interesting story.

Brilliant!

History and entertainment... Does it get any better? Great book!!!! I think my kids will love it too!

Powerful book perfectly told

Powerful story bringing light on corruption and human rights abuse in Russia. Highly engaging and beautifully written. Highly recommended.