The Steel Barons is a true-crime-inspired thriller by author Alex Frishberg, drawing on his firsthand experience of Kyiv during the turbulent years after the Soviet Union’s collapse. Set in 1990s Ukraine, the novel follows Jack Parker, an American lawyer whose assignment to negotiate a telecom deal leads him into a dangerous world of bribery, corruption, private armies, and emerging business empires. The story explores survival, power, and the moral compromises behind great fortunes, with characters including streetwise fixer Sergei, security chief Sasha, and Alyona, who challenges Jack’s choices.

Frishberg says the book is based on real people, places, and events, with names changed; its narrative is fictionalized from notes he kept while living and working in Kyiv. The Steel Barons brand offers information about the story, characters, historical setting, and the book’s background, alongside reader reviews and a trailer. Readers can access a free sample or purchase the novel in Kindle and paperback editions, or listen to the audiobook on Audible.