When Ukrainian oligarch Mikhail Vorotavich is close to achieving his ambition of topping the Forbes rich list, an assassination attempt leaves him in a coma and his vast business empire rapidly descends into turmoil. Laying in a hospital bed, Mikhail’s uncensored life story from a poor Jewish boy in communist USSR to disgustingly rich businessman in independent Ukraine, full of corruption, scheming, sex, drugs and violence, flashes in his mind’s eye. He has done it all: racketeering protection, drug trafficking, arms dealing, raiding privatised factories, dodgy infrastructure projects and money laundering. Aspiring to get legit he moves to London, but behind his new pretended façade nothing really changes. And the higher Mikhail climbs the wider is the circle of enemies that want him dead. Meanwhile, his partners, in a quest to discover who is behind the attack, stumble upon a conspiracy that, if realised, would change the world order. The mighty adversaries will stop at nothing. Conspiracies, old scores, powerful enemies and the blurred lines between decency and corruption all surface. Packed with remarkable characters and exotic scenes, humorous and philosophical at times, Rise of an Oligarch is a thriller set against the background of a young Ukrainian state striving to embrace capitalist democracy. Rise of an Oligarch is the book that oligarchs do not want you to read.
Enjoyable read, couldn't put this book down before it ... By Leon Colton on June 27, 2015 Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase Enjoyable read, couldn't put this book down before it was finished. The intriguing narrative will take you inside the skin of a progressive oligarch, on the backdrop of real events unfolding upon political Ukrainian arena ...a rare combination of personal ambitions, violent greedy character and humanitarian global aspirations all in one person. With some Israeli flavor of a Russian-Jewish immigrant expanding his horizons of perceptions, this book makes the plot even more colorful and cosmopolitan. A very skillful blend of fiction and documentary – a must read for those trying to get a grip of understanding on the contemporary Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Make sure you have your seatbelt on because you will be on a great adventure. As you read this story By Coco on May 6, 2015 Format: Kindle Edition Given To Me For An Honest Review
Rise of an Oligarch: The Way It Is: Book One by Nik Krasno is the first in a series and is also a debut book. This book is a page turner. Once you open it, it will grab you, hold you down tightly and then you'll watch those pages turn and turn and turn some more until you get to the last page. You'll even find a few twists and turns. Make sure you have your seatbelt on because you will be on a great adventure. As you read this story, it will draw you in and you'll begin to feel as though you are a part of the story. It has great character development. You will find it hard to put down. Mikhail Vorotavick is very successful. He earned his wealth by drug trafficking, rackettering and scheming. There are enemies that want to kill him. His partners are trying to find out who they are but while they are doing that they discover a conspiracy theory that could possibly change the world order. If you liked the Godfather, then you'll like this book. I loved it. There wasn't really an end to it because Book 2 is coming .... so I like others are waiting .. I highly recommend this book to everyone. You will love it and after reading it will be waiting just like me for Book 2. I look for more from Nik Krasno.
Where you can find Rise Of An Oligarch:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Oligarch-Way-Book-One/dp/0993082718/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448434308&sr=8-1&keywords=rise+of+an+oligarch
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rise-of-an-oligarch-carlito-sofer/1120689694?ean=9780993082719
Where you can find Carlito and Nik:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009937664739
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nik-Krasno/e/B00O416OLU/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1448436655&sr=8-1
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=AAIAABmN6fABbqnaV9HilC1IrjPooic8mXilpho&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profilehttps://
Interview with Nik:
1. What prompted you to write your book?
For many years I've been virtually living on the plane between Israel and Ukraine. Seeing how regular Soviet citizens, that at the time of the "Big Bang of the USSR" had no wealth or properties, manage to accumulate multi-billion estates, I realized that I'm witnessing a unique phenomenon that the world is largely unaware of. Then, there was a series on Israel TV about 'Russian' oligarch coming to Israel and buying a football team, which became extremely popular. As it was so naive and clichéd, I thought I could do something better. The underlining premise was that 'people are always curious about how someone became rich'. Many of us watched with interest movies based on bios of Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, but very little is known about their Eastern peers, so I thought I would fill this gap in a fictional manner.
2. What is your favorite genre to read? Who are some of your favorite authors?
As it became fashionable to say, I have a rather eclectic taste -:) I like sci-fi and fantasy like that of Zelazny or Harrison and some Russian writers, thrillers of Grisham, Clancy and those of Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie, action and adventure genre, as represented by Dan Brown, for example, and its classics like Alex Dumah, Jules Verne, Jack London or Fenimore Cooper and unorthodox and literary fiction like that of Irvine Welsh, Palahniuk or David Benioff. I also like to read about exotic places, culture, mentality and historical fiction.
3. Dream vacation...where and with who?
Travel is my passion. I try to cover as many interesting places on the Globe as I can. As I've been to 5 continents out of 7, I guess my next vacation priority would be the remaining two - South America and a cruise from there to Antarctic's. Now the best company would be my family - my wife and kids. But I'm well aware that 20 years ago I would've answered this question quite differently: Destination - Ibiza or Thailand and friends as a company -:)
4. What do you hope to accomplish as a writer?
I don't expect to achieve a worldwide recognition and to make it big time as a writer. Not that I don't want to, but mainly because 'oligarchs' theme and Russian-Ukrainian showdown that I write about is more of a niche rather than mainstream and I'm not sure how large the audience interested in it is. I do hope though that some readers would enjoy the series and would end up enlightened about what happens in the former USSR. Not less importantly, I hope my work would be thought-provoking with regards to enrichment process, what's valid for it and what's not, the entropy of modern capitalistic society and the ways to improve it and so on.
5. What would you like your readers to know about you?
I've disclosed most of the cornerstones of my career. Generally, I used to be that guy dancing on the bar stand in the thick of the party -:) I like to bring things a bit to extremes, being shy of nothing.. And I guess I still remain a bit juvenile or infantile for my age, which many might like less.
6. If you could give one piece of advice about life, what would it be?
Time's ticking. Don't "sleep" on your life and waste it on something unwanted, secondary, habitual. If you dream about anything, don't postpone, "wait for better times" and stuff like that. At that, be balanced though. Meet your obligations towards yourself, your family, but on the parallel - always try to achieve or engage in what you crave, in the things that matter. If you value comfort the most then it's Ok to stay in the comfort zone, but if you like achievements - step out.