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A Real-Life Story That Will Curl Your Toes
I have just completed The Hunted , an account of the almost unbelievable struggles of Alex and Elena Konanykhin, a wealthy young Russian couple, newly married, who have everything stripped from them by the former KGB.
Brian Haig was contacted by the Konanykins after Alex read his novel, Kingmaker. He was impressed with Haig's account of modern Russia, feeling that he had got some things right. The couple wondered if Haig would be interested in using their life as an inspiration for a book.
Alex had written a non-fiction version of their life in Defiance, released in 1996; however, after Haig met with the couple, he knew he wanted to tell their story as well in a fictionalized version.
In his author's note, Haig states that this couple in real life "experienced fifteen years I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy--and I pray my worst enemy wouldn't wish upon me. "
Profit Magazine in 1996, in its review of Defiance, summarized the book thusly:
Imagine you are a teenage physics genius who quickly amasses a $300
million empire of real estate and banking ventures, has dozens of cars, six
hundred employees, several mansions and two hundred bodyguards—but you are
nonetheless kidnapped by those you trusted, threatened with torture and death,
and have your entire empire stolen from you one dark night of torture in Budapest. You escape with your life by racing through Eastern-block countries and flying to
New York on stashed-away passports—only to have the KGB and Russian Mafia
hell-bent on your hide and the U.S. government jailing you and conspiring to
serve you up into their clutches. All this before your 29th birthday.
That's what happened to Alex and Elena both in real life and in The Hunted. Granted asylum in the United States while living on a "rainy day' fund that Alex had stashed in the Bahamas, the couple are quickly on their way to making their first million in the United States.
Then, the unthinkable happens. The FBI, in a deal they cut with the Russians who want Alex back, revoke the couple's 'protected status' and jail them. Though Elena is finally released pending the outcome of a ruling by the INS, Alex remains imprisoned in some of America's worst hellholes.
Representing himself through much of the process, Konanykhin finally manages to convince an immigration judge of an alleged INS and KGB conspiracy and cover-up. Following the court's admonishment, the INS agreed to drop all charges and also pay $100,000..
The judge also ordered an investigation of the Justice Department. In separate actions, Konanykhine subsequently won multimillion dollar libel judgments against two Russian newspapers. A $100 million lawsuit against the Justice Department is pending, alleging perjury, fraud, torture and witness tampering by U.S government officers on behalf of the Russian Mafia.
I actually did not know until I finished the book and read the author's note in the back that this was a true story. I have to tell you--this book does not paint a pretty picture of what the INS and the Justice Department did to this couple.
Every person needs to read the story of Alex and Elena. It is a chilling account of what can happen to those who think the United States protects innocent people from persecution.
Now, I can't wait to go to the library to get Defiance.
