Gorky Park (Volume 1): Martin Cruz Smith (The Arkady Renko Novels)

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Having been born and raised in this part of the world before 1989, I almost cannot believe how well an American author was able to capture the dreary, corrupt, existentially-dispiriting and hopeless atmosphere of the era, without moralizing and without futile and inapt comparisons to a cheery, hopeful, democratic "west".

There is a falling-off at the end, when the plot turns about three notches more than my credulity is prepared to be stretched. While the syndrome itself is fictional, the incident also alludes to the very real Soviet practice of diagnosing dissidents with " sluggish schizophrenia", and of forcibly treating them with psychotropic drugs. Born in Pennsylvania, Smith is not of Russian or Eastern European heritage; rather, his mother is of Pueblo ancestry and was active in Indigenous Rights movements.

Martin Cruz Smith's novels include Gorky Park, Stallion Gate, Nightwing, Polar Star, Stalin's Ghost, Rose, December 6, Tatiana, The Girl from Venice, The Siberian Dilemma and Independence Square. Renko exposes corruption and dishonesty wherever he finds it, including on the part of influential and well-protected members of the elite, regardless of the consequences. Though the son of a decorated war general, and a member of the communist party, he prefers not to make waves or get any marks on his party card.

The way Martin Cruz Smith manages to beautify the saddest and weakest vulnerabilities of human beings while showing that that is what makes us strong in the first place. genuine novelist's ability to make us look at familiar surroundings with the insights of his characters. Was it possible – did he have the imagination – to create some elaborate case full of mysterious foreigners, black marketeers and informers, a whole population of fictitious vapors rising off three corpses? Those characters include John Osborne, a wealthy and well-connected American businessman who regularly travels to the U. Meanwhile, while checking the crime scene again at night Arkady disturbs a man with an American accent who attacks him.The thing is, despite some flaws (the book goes on too long, there's a vast coincidence that Arkady's father holds one of the clues, we have yet another beat-up middle-aged loner with whom a young beauty falls in love. The ruse works, and she admits that her friend is dead rather than have to look at the reconstructed head. S. and Communist Russia are totally opposite but equally rotten, but then there's an intense final chase sequence that got me muttering at my iPod to hurry up and get it over with, so I guess that worked out. Amongst his findings the pathologist Lyudin states that one of the men had a form of root canal treatment not available in the USSR, suggesting he was a foreigner, and that the case should be handed over to the KGB.

Cleverly and intelligently told, The Girl from Venice is a truly riveting tale of love, mystery and rampant danger. It’s the early ‘80s and three bodies have been found under the snow in Moscow’s Gorky Park with their fingertips removed and their faces peeled off to prevent identification. And resolving the case, in a nice twist, takes Renko to the other side of the Iron Curtain – to New York City – where the prospect of an exchange involving smuggled goods also holds forth the possibility of freedom in the West for Arkady Renko and Irina Asanova. It is an unusual work, for it gives the reader a unique glimpse into the difficulties facing a detective who is forced to operate in a police state.As in many a modern procedural, the detective brings his own baggage to the case and gets personally involved, especially with a sexy suspect. I was able to forgive the fact the the author seems to think that Moscow is located at the north pole.