Red Ink [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Greg Dinallo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1995

Former Russian dissident journalist Nikolai Katkov joins forces with Gabby Scotto, an attractive Special Agent for the U.S. Treasury, to investigate a dark world of money laundering, Russian organized crime, and murder. 25,000 first printing. Reader's Digest Cond Bks.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nikolai Katkov is a freelance journalist in Moscow, short on work and money, an ex-political prisoner pushing 40 and probably an alcoholic to boot. The mysterious murder of an Interior Ministry bureaucrat promises him a big story: Was the victim about to blow a whistle? Was he involved in smuggling money out of Russia? Hunting down leads, dogged Niko is soon followed, threatened by local mafiya types, thrown in jail and shot at. He loses his story to an ambitious young reporter possibly allied to a devious Moscow Militia officer, only to be contacted by brassy Gabriella Scotto, a U.S. Treasury agent hot on the money-laundering trail of a Russian-born American billionaire, a case that ties in directly with Niko's lost story. The duo's quest for the truth takes Niko to Washington, Florida and Cuba before returning him to Moscow. Dinallo ( Final Answers ) neatly shows the turmoil and hand-to-mouth desperation of Moscow life (the near impossibility of obtaining coffee; Scientology classes offered at Moscow State Univ.), and his pacing is properly frenetic, but he can't seem to decide if Niko, who narrates, is Woody Allen or Bruce Willis. The surprise ending may look like waffling to some readers, but all will enjoy the breakneck roller-coaster ride getting there. Reader's Digest Condensed Book Club selection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Dinallo (Final Answers, LJ 7/92) delivers an insightful and entertaining slice of post-Cold War life in Russia. Dissident journalist Nikolai Katkov is tipped off to the murder of a high-level Russian bureaucrat. While investigating, he stumbles upon an international money-laundering scheme by the Moscow "mafiya." With the help of U.S. Treasury agent Gabby Scotto, who becomes a solid friend and partner, he tracks down a Russian expatriate gangster who has engineered a scheme to invest organized crime money into Russian businesses. Soon, a hidden government document leads them on a dangerous ride through the underworld from Moscow to Washington, Miami, and Havana. Dinallo resembles Martin Cruz Smith in his stark and realisitic depictions of the cold streets of Moscow and in the Russians' comical reactions to American culture. As narrator, Katkov is sardonic, self-deprecating, and completely believable, and the dialog is fast-paced, amusing, and scintillating. Highly recommended for espionage and adventure readers.
Stacie Browne Chandler, Plymouth P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 474 pages
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708958060
• ISBN-13: 978-0708958063
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,219,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A Roller-coaster Trip Searching For the Red Ink., August 1, 2005

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Ink (Hardcover)

This novel traces the steps of a freelance journalist from America who is determined to learn the truth as he and friend Gabby go on a roller-coaster ride, pursuing leads as he investigates the murder of Russian bereaucrat, Vorontsov.

They attend the trial of an American billionaire who had been born in Russia. There had been a connection between the dead man and Michael Rubimau, an American embezzler who is caught shipping two billion of the dirty money to a Baltimore, Maryland, warehouse for money-laundering before it is placed in his bank account.

The cat-and-mouse game takes them through the underworld of modern-day Moscow in Russia, Havana, Cuba, Miami, Florida, and Washington, D.C. Together they track down a Russian expatriate gangster and learns the facts of this espionage,

I liked the beautiful copper onion-domes on the Russian castle-type buildings. I've always loved that architecture but never seen it in person. Russian is a marvelous place, just has been undermined by all the chinary and bereaucracy. This is an interesting story and moves at a fast pace, leaving the reader guessing until the last word.

Greg Dinallo has written some religious books; examples are FINAL ANSWERS, TOUCHED BY FIRE, and BABYLON RISING. Another intriguing book is ROCKETS RED GLARE.

2.0 out of 5 stars Flat, April 9, 2002

By 

John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Ink (Hardcover)

I would have preferred if this book would have been written in invisible ink. Maybe I have read too many books of this genre, but I am beginning to become tired of the much used stereotypes and standard sub plots. The best thing that I can say about the book that it was enough of a story to keep me reading hoping it would pick up and finally I was so far into the book I have to finish it.