The Outer Circle (The Counterpoint Trilogy Book 3)

by Bell, D. R.

  Karen Baker

  Sam Baker’s daughter and the mother of Jennifer Rostin-Kron. She fell in love with and married Pavel Rostin in The Metronome. The marriage began falling apart under stress from Pavel’s business venture failing. Acts as a support for Jennifer in The Outer Circle.

  Margarita Sappin

  Appears first in The Great Game, when David Ferguson accidentally involves her in searching for the “Schulmann file.” David and Maggie become lovers, publish the file and escape together. They both return to the US in The Outer Circle to expose a dangerous politician.

  Nikolai Nemzhov

  In The Metronome, Nikolai is a colonel of the FSB that is involved in clandestine financial operations abroad. Pavel Rostin comes across Nemzhov when investigating his father’s death. Nemzhov attempts to manipulate Rostin in order to gain access to Sam Baker. When this fails, Nemzhov eliminates Rostin. In The Great Game, Nemzhov is the head of the GRU and one of the driving figures behind the attack on the US dollar in 2019. He tries to manipulate Ferguson and Sappin into not releasing the data. When that fails, Nemzhov is forced to run. He retails powerful resources, both information and financial, that he uses in The Outer Circle in an attempt to seize power and more.

  Oleg Khmelco

  Briefly appears in The Metronome where, while still a teenager, he meets Pavel Rostin. Originally from St. Petersburg, Oleg comes to the US to work as a bodyguard for a Russian mafia figure. When people pursuing David Ferguson kill his friend in The Great Game, Oleg gets involved with David and Maggie. With the help of his friend and associate Alejandro, Oleg helps David and Maggie escape to Mexico. In The Outer Circle, Oleg joins David and Maggie in coming back to the US.

  Pavel Rostin

  The main character of The Metronome, a Russian physicist that married Karen Baker and left academia for the Wall Street. In investigating the death of his father Vladimir, he comes across the plot behind the murder of John Brockton, a financier that had been active in Russia during the perestroika years. Pavel’s actions lead to release of Jeff Kron, who’d been mistakenly jailed for Brockton’s murder. Unknown to Pavel, he’s been all along manipulated by Nikolai Nemzhov in order to gain access to Sam Baker, Pavel’s father-in-law. When Pavel refuses to cooperate he gets killed, with his murder staged as a suicide.

  Robert Treadwell

  A prominent media figure, Treadwell is blackmailed by Nemzhov into supporting John Dimon for president.

  Sam Baker

  Prominent US congressman, father of Karen Baker, grandfather of Jennifer Rostin-Kron. Retired from politics in 2022. Helps David Ferguson and Maggie Sappin to expose John Dimon.

  Sarah Shoffman

  Pavel Rostin’s lover in The Metronome; she appears briefly in The Outer Circle.

  Suzy Yamamoto

  In The Metronome, Suzy helps Pavel Rostin to investigate the financial mystery surrounding his father’s death. She appears indirectly in The Great Game as the person that saved Jonathan Schulmann’s research in an online storage service that David Ferguson and Margarita Sappin discover.

  Vitaly Mershov

  Ivan’s son. He first appears in The Metronome as a friend of Oleg Khmelco. In The Outer Circle, he is a militzia investigator that comes across suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the Russian Minister of Defense. Reaches out to his father Ivan for help and gets involved in untangling the Nemzhov-directed coup.

  Yuriy Shelkov

  A senior Russian military officer that is blackmailed by Nemzhov into supporting the coup attempt. He becomes the Russian Minister of Defense following assassination of his predecessor.

  Wu Cao

  A senior Chinese military officer that is planning a military action against Taiwan.

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