Athina Onassis The Red File (The Athina Onassis biography series Book 2)

This book contains material from the Authors first book on Athina but continues with the story of her divorce and the authors part in it. It paints Athina as rather heartless. In defense of her putting her talented mare down when the mare broke her leg in disastrous jump - it is extremely difficult to save horses with shattered legs. Even with successful surgery the horses can succumb during rehab as their other legs develop painful debilitating laminitis. Both racing world and show jumping are very hard on horses. Athina was groomed from childhood in that world and in my opinion it's a tough cruel world The Author seemed very skillful in the work he did for the Roussel family. It's clear it's a quagmire working for the rich. Easy to be impressed by the lavish surroundings or the hope that you will be included in the "inner circle". This is the bait that the very rich often exude towards those hardworking people who fall for working for them But the book shows that this "exclusive realm" is very dysfunctional. The best policy is honest work for honest wages. Clear contracts for work done and set clear boundaries. Don't neglect family friends or ones own lifeAnd don't be overly impressed by the rich. Only work for those who value your expertise and pay accordingly. Don't delude yourself that you are family. I think this book is valuable antidote for idealizing the rich and famous. Glad the author wrote it as it had to have been a very painful experience

A well-written,detailed book takes you deep into the lives of the Onassis family...The author Mr. Alexis Mantheakis gives you the opportunity to learn the real troubled life of the young, beautiful,wealthy girl..Athina Onassis..a fragile heart lost and damaged by INFIDELITY ...or is it maybe the Onassis "curse" that has long haunted the family according to Greek folklore...it makes you wonder...!!!!I found the book very intriguing....It makes you realize 'gold' not always glitters...a must read....

It’s amazing how being a billionaire is not so easy. Athina’s husband cheated on her for most of their married years. Sad in itself, but she ended up a very bitter young woman.

Great read but sad!

I read a lot and this book caught my attention and was very surprised when I started reading it. Let me just say I loved it and couldn't put it down. Well worth reading.

Filled with love, loss, lies and deceit. One could "almost" feel sorry for the poor little rich girl except for her ungracious attitude.

I Love biografies, I found the story interesting, but the author is a bit repetitive in some points. The first half of the book for me was much more interesting than the rest

Revealing the true Athina...

ATHINA ONASSISTHE RED FILEby Alexis MantheakisA ReviewThis is really a very sad story. In unpredictable ways. On the surface it is the story of the poor little rich girl, but there is a far more sinister undertone. Initially the book reads a bit like a thriller. Because it is a thriller. The wealthy heiress is in danger of being fleeced by her dashing Brazilian Olympic medalist show jumper husband of nine years over a divorce suit. Alexis Mantheakis had represented the heiress and her father, Thierry Roussel in their bid to reestablish Onassis’ granddaughter’s rights and image in Greece. A task he had accomplished with great success. Because of this connection he was approached by a mysterious “escort” lady who claimed to have been the lover of the heiress’s husband for about as long as the couple had been married. She has the evidence to prove it and wants to get her revenge on her ex lover. Mantheakis undertakes the difficult and even risky task of getting the material to the wronged party, Athina. Here we encounter the thriller. Plane journeys, different venues, different people in a race to get the material safely into the heiress’s hands. At one point, on the last lap, we read that the file had been locked safely into the boot of the Mercedes and you begin to worry either that the car will be broken into or stolen out right. However, everything goes swimmingly for the heiress. She has been saved perhaps even billions from the demands in alimony and compensation by her former husband, who, however, has now been exposed as the guilty party by having this affair and is hence no longer eligible for anything like as much as he had planned to milk from his rich young wife. Happy end of story? Well no, not quite. Fascinating though it has been, with all the trappings of expensive cars, races across countries, lawyers all over the world and so on, the ending has an extremely bitter taste. Mantheakis did not request any remuneration for all his efforts which he undertook through a sense of friendship, which helped the heiress enormously. In fact she thanked him profusely for his support. However, when his wife was struck by illness and he found himself in need (not least owing to the utter destruction meted out to Greeks owing to the so called EU/German “bailouts”) he reached out to Athina for a helping hand. Not only did she avoid him, but ultimately refused him any help whatsoever with a “she has other things on her mind now”. Which is what makes the story so unbelievably sad. Sad of course that the author was spurned by the heiress he had helped so much and without personal gain, in his hour of need, but sadder still perhaps that a person who has everything, in effect has absolutely nothing since she has not an inkling of empathy.

The book is basically a re hash of the original Athina Onassis book except with the details of how the Red files where obtained added on I hope the again (like my last review stated) unflattering description of Athina isn't true, though she's not one for talking about her life in public, as to me this book seems like a way of airing his grudges against her. The book reveals not too much on what the files contain.

A rather good read. The author points to both the positive & negative side of the character in question.