Anne Garrels. "Putin Country." 2017.
She was an ABC on-camera reporter. More time with NPR. Lots of time in Russia. Has friends and an apartment there, in a medium-sized, formerly CLOSED city in the Urals region, because of nuclear/military goings-on there.
The book is straightforward, hard-hitting. Very readable, presented as discreet vignettes. The corruption is systemic. If you don't give-in and pay-up, we'll intimidate you and threaten your family. Or you might just end-up dead. It all begins with scumbag Putin. If you disagree with official policy, just don't ever EXPRESS it. (Which is what is happening these days in Hong Kong, too. Damn shame.) Everyone is caught in the web. The "government" is a criminal tong of frikkin' GANGSTERS. At all levels.
www.npr.org/2016/03/16/470660134/putin-country-offers-a-glimpse-inside-real-russia
