THE ACCIDENTAL OLIGARCH

In this novel, a lowly zoo worker in Ukraine gets inadvertently pulled into a criminal conspiracy that endangers his life.

Yuri Yavlinsky works as a menial laborer at the Kyiv Zoo—it’s not the most glamorous job, but he loves the animals and is an aspiring artist. Unfortunately, due to the zoo’s dire financial straits, Yuri is fired. Then he is charged with an inexplicable case of tax evasion. According to the government, he is the director of the Global Opportunities fund and owes about $30 million in tax bills, which he is accused of criminally dodging. As it turns out, Yuri sold his passport to make ends meet, and his identity was appropriated by a massive money-laundering conspiracy orchestrated by Viktor Raskolnovitch, a powerful and brutal oligarch. Yuri is convinced by his lawyer, Dora Osatinskaya, known for her crusades against government corruption, to use his identity to obtain financial records regarding this drug and money-laundering operation that implicate the highest levels of government. Yuri is successful and becomes obsessed with not only procuring more documentary evidence, but also looting the illegal organization’s coffers. Hoffman artfully begins with an inventively comic premise and from there constructs a complex and nuanced account of corruption in Ukraine. Raskolnovitch explains it plainly and powerfully: “Ukraine is very dangerous. Many scores to settle. Many gangs. There are powerful crime families. Some control ports, shipping, cars. Some liquor. Some prostitutes. Everyone wants to control politics.” The author deftly ties the briskly paced plot to the real political turbulence in Ukraine and paints an endearing tableau of the romance that blossoms between Yuri and Dora. While the story as a whole has a whiff of the fantastical about it, its ultimate implausibility doesn’t undermine its dramatic energy. For those readers in search of an intelligently conceived portrayal of contemporary Ukraine as well as a gripping tale of political intrigue, this is an enticing option.

An entertaining and edifying crime drama.