A Very Expensive Poison

The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko and Putin's War with the West

By: Luke Harding

Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith

Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

On November 1, 2006, journalist and Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London. He died 22 days later. The cause of death? Polonium - a rare, lethal, and highly radioactive substance. Here Luke Harding unspools a real-life political assassination story complete with KGB, CIA, MI6, and Russian mobsters. He shows how Litvinenko's murder foreshadowed the killings of other Kremlin critics, from Washington, DC, to Moscow, and how these are tied to Russia's current misadventures in Ukraine and Syria. In doing so he becomes a target himself and unearths a chain of corruption and death leading straight to Vladimir Putin. From his investigations of the downing of flight MH17 to the Panama Papers, Harding sheds a terrifying light on Russia's fracturing relationship with the West.

©2017 Luke Harding (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"Harding's exposé, shortlisted for the CWA Nonfiction Dagger Award, could not be more chilling or timely.... A devastating and disturbing must-read." ( Booklist)

"A chilling look at the Putin regime's murderous suppression of its critics.... In this fast-paced book, Harding, who was expelled from the Kremlin while serving as the Guardian's Moscow bureau chief, covers all the bases while exposing the weakness and accommodationism of the now-departed British leadership. Hard-hitting and timely given Russia's continued sway in international politics as well as its documented influence over an incoming American administration that is also hostile to the press." ( Kirkus )

"Extraordinarily pacy...one of the best political thrillers I have come across in years." ( The Evening Standard)

Cover-To-Cover, This'll Have You Mindblown!

Who can forget the iconic photo of Litvinenko, gaunt, bald, dying in his hospital bed, the victim of the most chilling kind of assassination straight out of a le Carre spy novel? It's haunting.
This expose will leave you reeling. You don't even feel the 13+ hours going by as it's such a gripping, horrifying tale of threats made real, of NEVER being able to speak your mind, to speak of anything.
It's a tale of mobsters, of comical (if they weren't so deadly) assassins, of archaic poisons and your run-of-the-mill bullets to the head. It's an account of radiation leaving near-fatal trails, of dedicated and always thwarted detectives, of courtroom dramas. It's of vindication that means absolutely nothing.
You think Putin is scary? Read/listen to this book and you'll have nightmares.
Meticulously researched by a journalist who lived in Russia and had his apartment broken into and bugged many times, this is a throat-grabbing (literally for some victims) story that is well-crafted, and superbly narrated. The evidence laid out is astounding, and when it's iffy, it's specifically stated as "circumstantial".
And it'll mean nothing, nothing to governments...

Publisher please send copies to all in the senate and congress.

All citizens and government officials have a patriotic duty to read Harding's exposure of international criminal acts and political deceptions used to threaten, weaken and destroy democracies.

Glad I gave it a chance

The narrator was excellent but the story is complex and doesn't always follow chronological order which can make it a little hard to follow, be prepared to pay attention. Very relevant reading considering current events.

A Non-Fiction Thriller

A Very Expensive Poison is a thrilling and eye-opening account of an historically unprecedented murder that, remarkably, British Justice has officially linked to the current Russian President. The book is an incredibly drawn, multi-angled reconstruction of the infamous crime itself, the poisoning of a political dissident, Alexander Litvinenko, in central London with the most radioactive substance known to man. Meticulously researched, the book recounts the moving personal stories of the victim and his family as well as the stories of the bottom feeding perpetrators, a cast of characters lightyears beyond the power and villainy imagined in The Godfather.

It is all there: finely drawn portraits of thugs as well as those highly placed on the world stage (and unfortunate combinations of the two). You will never forget the victim whose idealism, love of country, and inborn dignity blinds, or inures, him to the inevitably lethal consequences of dissent.A Very Expensive Poison, through its accounts of the factual actions and brutal methods of political actors whose influence over not only over Russia but also England, Europe and America is only growing, could not be more timely or informative. It is essential reading for everyone seeking deeper insights into the present darkening of world politics.

A very informative book.

I loved this book. I heard of it through an NPR interview of the author. I drive for a living, so audio is best for me; which leads me to the only tiny issue I had. I'm new to audio books so following a reader with a British accent was a slight challenge for me at first. I got use to it after the first 2 chapters... other than that.... it was wonderful and a very informative book and listening experience.

Fascinating and detailed

I remember seeing this scandal play out on the news. It seemed crazy then, but feels even crazier now that I know more details. The author gives you a very informative look into Litvinenko, his assassins, and how Putin's government works.

The narrator was engaging and clear. I'm very glad I listened to this!

It's probably just me

The book was well-researched and informative. And I really like Nicholas Guy Smith as a narrator. I feel I did get what I expected out of the book, though I think I'll have to listen to it again at some point because I frequently found my mind wandering and I forgot to pay attention for several minutes at a time. Sometimes it was because the author raised an interesting point that caused me to ponder further, but other times I think I just got a little bogged down and ultimately lost in the facts and details. I also had a little trouble remembering who some people were, so in that respect a physical book might've helped me. I think this might be a good one to get the kindle edition as a companion.

Fascinating, well researched.

Reads like a good novel, ties in the whole Putin period. well researched from someone who's lived there for over a decade.

Unbelievably convincing.

Most of this book reads like a espionage novel, with amazingly accurate details into state directed assassination, poison snuggled across borders, and the comedy of horribly picked stooges. It is saddening to know that political interests prevented any justice in this high profile murder, and the meticulate details provided herein only support my distaste for political actors.

Gripping and tragic story

I’d always been fascinated by the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and eagerly purchased this recording to learn about it - not knowing how much more than that I would receive. This story provides a clear portrait of the world menace that is Vladimir Putin: it is a highly listenable account into the maze of corruption and amorality that grips his country, our own, and sadly now much of the world. A great find.