Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novel
by Martin Cruz Smith
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Book Summary Information
Author: Martin Cruz SmithEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-03
ISBN: 0743276736
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Pocket Books
Accessories:
- December 6: A Novel
- Wolves Eat Dogs (Arkady Renko Novels)
- Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novel (Arkady Renko Novels)
Book Reviews of Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novel
Book Review: "In Arkady's experience, when the snow melted, bodies would be discovered. In Moscow, that was spring."
Summary: 5 Stars
(4.5 stars) In his sixth Arkady Renko novel in twenty-six years, Martin Cruz Smith continues the character development of the aging Renko, a complex police investigator with an inherent honesty that serves as a barrier to advancement in contemporary Moscow. With the downfall of communism, Russia is now filled with corrupt politicians, organized crime lords, police acting as killers for hire, and a pervading uncertainty about the future. With every man for himself, it is no wonder that Renko, at the mercy of higher authorities in the force and unable to investigate the corruption he sees, has developed a healthy cynicism and pragmatism about life.
As the Moscow winter wanes, a mass grave from the early 1950s is found at a construction site beside the Supreme Court building, obviously a place for the disposal of those "dissidents" executed with the help of Renko's father, one of Stalin's trusted deputies. No investigation is initiated, and no one is surprised. The inaction is all part of life in this city where the past and the present come together in a whirlpool which sucks the life out of its citizens. When the ghost of Stalin is seen wandering the subway, Renko is assigned to this low level case. Many ordinary citizens long for the "good old days," Stalinism is on the rise, and Police Inspector Nicolai Isakov, a killer for hire, is running for public office on a Stalinist platform.
A wartime "hero" for his actions as a Black Beret during the Chechen war, Isakov has never received medals or promotion for his behavior, and Renko is curious about why. When the other Black Berets who served with Isakov begin to die violent deaths, Renko begins a surreptitious investigation and finds himself fighting for his life. His personal relationships are not improved when Eva, his lover, strays, and Zhenya, the twelve-year-old street orphan to whom Renko has offered a home, disappears, presumably to hustle at chess.
Cruz Smith's plotting grows naturally from life in Moscow and its values and mores (for good and for evil), and when dramatic and gory scenes of violence arise, they do so within the context of a setting fully developed sociologically and historically. The characters, including secondary characters, are individualized and empathetic at all levels, and Arkady, who has continued to grow and change over the course of twenty-six years, still hopes that goodness will triumph, despite the country's current problems. The occasional black humor and Arkady's sardonic observations keep the reader engaged, even as the author raises questions about the future of Arkady and others like him who hope for long-term justice. n Mary Whipple
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