PROPHETS OF WAR

Brown’s political-financial thriller blends family drama and the shadowy economy of war.

The story opens with a gut-punch from narrator Alex Morgan: “My own father had started a business of war that was responsible for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” Alex, a newly minted financial advisor in Connecticut on his way to becoming a “Master of the Universe,” sees his life begin to fracture when he realizes that shell companies tied to his family in the British Virgin Islands may be funneling money to fuel the Russian war effort. What begins as a son’s dawning horror as he realizes that his father might be complicit in bloodshed escalates into an international plot involving oligarchs, Republican power brokers, and even an ex-president named Ronald Langston. In the Virgin Islands, Alex meets the shadowy figures his father has gotten into business with, all of whom tell him not to look too closely at the latest family venture. (“Blood washes off, Alex. Wealth doesn’t,” the lecherous Ivan hisses at him.) He also meets the bewitching Lena, who may be an ally or part of his eventual undoing. As Alex digs into his memories and travels around the world to challenge his powerful father, he puts both his family and his beliefs on the line. Brown writes in short, stinging bursts that keep the pages turning. His succinct and creative turns of phrase spin big ideas into vivid imagery (the financial conspirators are “warlords. Wielding spreadsheets like swords.”) Rapid pacing and tight characterizations make the book both compulsively readable and smartly efficient as readers follow Alex’s entertaining arc from capitalist frat boy to enlightened truth-seeker. However, that same velocity often means the author only skims the surface as big revelations and compelling details fly by with breakneck speed. Brown’s debut strives for an ambitious balance between intimate family drama and sweeping geopolitical thriller; it’s ultimately too rushed to pull both of these threads off, but he has certainly proved himself as an exciting new voice with a smart take on contemporary political thrillers.

A propulsive debut that grips with its intelligence and frightening what ifs.