Zero Sum, Book One, Kotov Syndrome

Book One – Kotov
Syndrome

Russell Blake

* * * *

Content copyright © 2011 by Russell
Blake.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
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permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law, or in
the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and
reviews. For information, contact 
[email protected]

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the hard work of this author.

Published in the United
States

First Publishing Date July,
2011

* * * *

For "
Fatal
Exchange"

"Fatal Exchange is a
page-turning roller coaster ride of action, adventure and thrills.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this presumably debut offering
from Russell Blake. It's an awesome read. I couldn't put it down,
and stayed up all night to finish it, no exaggeration. Six Stars,
if they had that high a review!"

Katherina J.

"This is a book that took
me completely by surprise. I thought I'd give it a shot based on
the Amazon description and 5 star reviews, and it quickly became a
page turner I couldn't put down. The plot is complex, sort of like
a Forsyth or Ludlum, and the characters are gripping. It's a real
novel. Can't wait to see what Blake does next."

Anthony M.

"A woman on the airplane
sitting next to me was entranced with the book and recommended it
to me, and I have to say it's a great read by a complete unknown.
Kind of like caramel pop-corn in the guilty pleasure department. It
tastes so good you don't want to stop munching. A must read for
action or intrigue junkies." David A.

"Fatal Exchange is a
gritty," edge of your seat" thriller by first time author Russell
Blake. The author cleverly combines a well paced, CSI styled crime
thriller, with a "no holds barred", plausible international
conspiracy. The story centers around Tess, a spunky, misplaced
bicycle messenger, tirelessly working the Manhattan courier, who
becomes entangled in both conflicts. Set squarely in the sights of
a elusive serial killer and pursued doggedly by a ruthless,
clandestine interrogation/murder team, Tess weaves her way through
both worlds, as everyone around her starts to fall victim to the
two very different, yet equally deadly threats. Detective Ron
Stanford is stuck in the middle both conspiracy. A youngish
detective assigned to a "special homicide" investigative unit, he
initially meets Tess through his investigation of a set of serial
murders targeting bicycle messengers, and soon becomes enmeshed
another set of bizarre murders popping up throughout the city, all
linked to a mysterious transaction completed by Tess's father. I
can honestly say, that if I could find more books like Fatal
Exchange, I would be left with absolutely no reason to read some of
the "Brand" name authors on the market today."

Steven K.

"I really enjoyed this
book! Started it yesterday and have spent every spare moment
finishing it today. This author is going on my fave
list!"

Tux

"My only regret about this
book? Not purchasing it earlier. One of the best reads I've had
this summer! I mean, where else can you find bike messengers,
counterfeiters, and scalpers all in one book? I literally could NOT
put it down, I was so drawn in... Waiting with baited breath for
the next novel by Blake.... very impatiently I might
add!" 

Amber N.

" This book is in a class
by itself. The main plot of the book is exciting and scary (and
maybe a little graphic). The pacing is fast, the descriptions are
visceral and the twists are unexpected."

Stacy K.

For
"How To Sell
A Gazillion eBooks In No Time (even if drunk, high or
incarcerated)"

“How to Sell a Gazillion
eBooks In a Year is by far the most important book ever written on
any topic, although I exclude the Bible since the Bible wasn’t
exactly written in the way we mean the word “written.” But other
than that, Gazillion does it all. For everyone. A can’t miss, sure
fire Gazillion hit-a-thon from the master of them all.”

- John Lescroart, NY Times
bestselling author of over 20 novels, including The Vig, The 13th
Juror, Treasure Hunt, Damage, Second Chair and a host of
others

“…
a joyously vicious
satire and parody that makes sport of John Locke, and indeed of the
whole brave new world of self–publishing and self–promotion. If you
don’t find Mr. Blake outrageous, and indeed offensive, you would
seem to be missing the point. And the same thing goes if you only
find him outrageous and offensive.”

- Lawrence Block,
bestselling author of Telling Lies For Fun & Profit, The Liar’s
Bible, A Drop Of The Hard Stuff, and Getting Off

“Anybody who’s ever
read a self-help book will appreciate the cynical humor from the
nimble mind of Russell Blake in this parody. Piercing sarcasm, the
ability to turn a phrase into a missile and an impressive
vocabulary (he makes up words if he doesn’t know an appropriate one
– I’ve asked him, but still don’t know what a Gazillion is) combine
into a book that is alternately rant, grovel, trash-talk and
Bizarro-world counsel. Irreverent fun.”

–
David Lender, author of Trojan Horse,
The Gravy Train and Bull Street

For
"
The Geronimo Breach"

"The best thriller I've
ever read. How often do you hear a review say that? Well. that's
what I'm saying. Other reviews describing it as near perfection and
incredibly well written aren't lying. Russell Blake is on par with
the biggest names in the business. And I mean Grisham, Turrow,
Ludlum, Forsyth, Brown. The plot is intricate and completely
unexpected at every turn. Al Ross is a hateful, extremely
well-written character with believable complexity and nuance,
plunged into a global conspiracy nightmare he's ill-equipped to
survive. Don't want to spoil the end, but it's a barn-burner.
Overall, the best read ever."

jennifer989

"The artistry in this work
as the brush strokes build layers, brings you to wonder if
something like this could be true! That's the work of a true
artist. Many works of fiction have a main character that is so
scrubbed up that he no longer resembles a human male. No problems
with this one. You start out despising him, then start to feel
sorry for him, until finally you almost like him and wish him well
- although that outcome seems unlikely, the way the story develops.
This is almost a 'How to..' for budding writers. How to write
without one word or one sentence that could be edited out! Tight
narrative, great story, scary scenario. I almost never give five
stars, but this has earned it!"

K. McDicken

"Russell Blake is fast
becoming my favorite new author. Take an unlikely main character, a
scarily probable conspiracy, a government run amok, cocaine
dealers, commandos, whores, a burro, and a tightly meshed
action/intrigue plot, and you have what to me is the most original
thriller of the year. I don't want to spoil the ending but it
completely blew me away, and how the suspense was sustained to the
last few pages as a surprise was great. I loved Fatal Exchange and
had tears of laughter running down my face for How to Sell A
Gazillion Ebooks, and now spent a big chunk of my night reading
till 4AM to get to the end of Geronimo Breach. Highest
recommendation for a highly original and entertaining
novel."

Semi-Used

"Okay, I'm from the other
side of the pond (you can find most of my reviews and on the UK
site) and I'm not a patient/forgiving reader if the writer confuses
me or dawdles in their narrative. I was pleasantly surprised to
find myself going along with the easy style and broad strokes of
the narrative. The plot is very skilfully contrived but the real
art I found was in the affinity I found myself unable to resist
with the down-on-his-life main character, Al. I also love burros
after following Al's steady transition as he encounters hurdle
after hurdle. I laughed aloud in some scenes (I won't spoil it)
when Al is, let's say...compromised. I loved the ending but also
wished the story hadn't ended - so for that reason I'm taking the
trouble to recommend it."

Write Into Print

* * * *

The Zero Sum trilogy is fictional. The
following facts are not. A comprehensive list of all documented
examples of the intersection of Wall Street and organized crime,
clandestine government agencies, hostile rogue nations, and
Jihadists/terrorist financiers would require hundreds of pages. It
is beyond the scope of this novel to catalog the extensive
labyrinth of criminality that is the reality of the modern market
system, however the facts are available to anyone interested in
researching them.

In 2009, Bernard Madoff was
convicted for operating the largest Ponzi scheme in history. A
former co-chairman of the NASD and a Wall Street icon, his
fraudulent activities cost his investors over fifty billion
dollars. Among those who claimed to have been defrauded were
several Russian Oligarchs, who were invested in Madoff’s scheme via
an Austrian brokerage whose owner subsequently went missing. In
reality, none of the Russians lost any money; they actually made
billions from their participation. The list of connected criminal
entities who participated in Madoff’s fraudulent activities is too
lengthy for inclusion in this introduction.

During the 2008 financial
meltdown, shares of major banks like Lehman Brothers and Bear
Stearns were sold in massive quantities (many multiples of typical
trading volume) via a few small brokerage houses during the week
leading up to their collapses. During Congressional testimony, the
heads of those banks stated point blank that the massive naked
short selling (where sell orders are placed, but no shares exist to
settle the trades) of the banks' stocks was an obvious manipulation
effort largely responsible for their stock price collapse. To date,
the SEC has never investigated these trades, nor has anyone ever
been prosecuted for them, in spite of the fact that it was the
collapse of those two banks that took the global market system to
the brink of financial catastrophe.

A.B. ‘Buzzy’ Krongard
became head of the CIA after departing Deutsche Bank-Nicholas Brown
in 1998, where he ran the private client group which handles the
accounts of many high net worth offshore clients. He was also Vice
Chairman of the Board for Bankers Trust, and resigned from that
position at the same time. Bankers Trust subsequently pleaded
guilty to having created a slush fund and misappropriating
unclaimed client funds to prop up their underperforming divisions.
It is not unusual for this type of slush fund to be used for
transactions where complete anonymity of the client is
required.

Several funds, including
Lancer, Anthony Elgindy’s, and those of Mark Valentine have been
investigated by the Department of Justice, which revealed they have
ties to organized crime figures, Middle Eastern arms money, and
corrupt government officials. In the Lancer case, $650 million was
lost via a scheme wherein the fund invested in largely worthless
penny stock associated with a known organized crime figure. Where
the money went from there is unknown. The Lancer directors were
never prosecuted. In the Mark Valentine case – Operation Bermuda
Short – one of the main perpetrators fled the country after
ostensibly receiving a warning of his impending prosecution. The
list of La Cosa Nostra, Russian Mafiya and terrorist financiers
connected to Valentine is so lengthy as to require a non-fiction
book of its own.