SOVIET GHOSTS IN MODERN RUSSIA - Rated 
Martin Cruz Smith is to Russian psyche what James Clavell was to Far East ethos: a master author that is able to capture and masterfully convey the natives' perspective and an outsider's amazement at the same time.
From Soviet inefficiency and corruption, to the transitional plutocracy flaunting their stolen billions and political clout, and to present day totalitarian oligarchy struggling to consolidate its power, the Russian winter of discontent seems never to end. And in the middle of it all, good old Arkady.
The self-destructive and detached police investigator who knows not when to quit; who knows not how to play the political cards; who will take anything thrown at him; who never takes his eyes from the ball; and who will surprise every so often with his insight or luck, even he cannot be sure.
Soviet era ghosts stir up trouble in modern Russia. Stalin's apparitions seem to be visiting the Moscow Metro station that served as his underground bunker during WWII. Arkady will get stuck with the case of investigating the claims and its implications because of his father special relationship with the tovarich - and because he is expendable, not to mention a constant thorn in the side of his superiors. The way he drinks cheap vodka and brushes the wrong way with powerful underworld characters, he might believe so himself. But then again never underestimate the perceverence of the Russian desperation.
If new to the series, I would advise starting with GORKY PARK and work your way to this one: you will get a panorama of Russian society in the last 30 years. Nevertheless, STALIN's GHOST is a perfect standalone gem on itself.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Superb crime detection in post-Soviet Russia - Rated 
This is part of Martin Cruz Smith's long-running series set in contemporary Russia, featuring the akward, obstinate and brilliant detective Arkady Renko. In fact, the real star of these novels is Russia itself, as the twisting plotline is set against the backdrop of the post-Soviet state with all of its strange developments, political, sociological and criminal.
If you haven't read any of the earlier books in the series then the main plot won't be a problem, but much of the subtle backdrop will be lost on you, because you need to have developed a relationship with Renko, and an understanding of his personal situation, to feel the impact of events in this book.
Still, you don't need an in-depth knowledge of the characters to enjoy Cruz Smith's brilliant portrayal of the Russian winter, nor to understand the melancholic and nostalgic longing for Soviet-era order or how a military hero in Chechenya might rise to the top of a nationalistic political party.
There's also a good mystery to unravel. Why did travellers start seeing Stalin's ghost at an underground railway station? (And, of course, the deeper meaning of the title: how much of Russia is still dominated by Stalin's shadow?)
This isn't a page-turning, rip-snorting action thriller. Very often the most shocking moments come in mundane situations, when you least expect them. So it's best to pace the reading a little, enjoy the concise, well-crafted text, and let the Russian ambience surround you for a while so you get the most from the clever revelations as they jump out and grab you.
Thoroughly recommended for lovers of thoughtful political thrillers.
9/10
Renko is a good as ever - Rated
Its what? 30 years since Gorky Park hit the bookshops... and its a real credit to Martin Cruz Smith that Renko has survived the test of time.
As always, just when you think things are finally turning good for Renko in the last story, the book opens with his life in the gutter once again! His step-son has went missing and his relationship which developed from Wolves eat Dogs looks doomed to failure.
The story is really good... Wolves Eat Dogs breathed new life into Renko after the non-starters of Red Square and Havana Bay, and the feel of it is the closest to Gorky Park you will find in the series.
Only problem with it is Renko must be what? in his late 40s-Mid 50's? Yet survives attacks that would have ended a man half his age?
Only a small flaw, but hopefully there will be more Renk books as good as this for years to come!
Good book, just not as good as what's gone before - Rated
"Gorky Park" - Great convoluted murder mystery set in the Soviet Union. It's a bit overlong. The film version is a simplified travesty.
"Polar Star" - My favourite of the books. It's a bit more like a traditional murder mystery as it has everyone trapped together on a fish processing ship.
"Red Square" - Perhaps the most inventive of the books. I always thought it was a great idea what the red square of the title actual is, and what it does. If memory serves me right it was the first post-Soviet book in the series.
"Havana Bay" - Arkady goes to Cuba. This was the first of the books that I read. If I read it in chronological order I might like it a lot more. As it was, I felt utterly confused by the book as it had two alien cultures meeting each other, and a lot of backstory. I enjoyed it enough to read the others so I think it must be a good book.
"Wolves Eat Dogs" - Another excellent setting. This time Arkady Renko goes into modern day, semi-deserted radioactive Chernobyl. I thought this was probably the most purely enjoyable book of the series as the first two or three feel quite weighty even if they're not.
"Stalin's Ghost" - It's probably the lesser of the six books but considering the quality of the previous novels, that's not really a critiscism. It's fairly short and not half as labyrinthine as the earlier books. I'm also slightly puzzled by the logic of it:
*OBSCURELY WORDED SPOILER*
I don't quite understand why the men had to be killed, instead of paid off or intimidated, for their silence; and why they would go to such lengths if he was only considered to be a paper candidate to begin with?
Time for the Reichenbach Falls? - Rated 
Just as British reviewers enjoyed The Simpsons Movie, but were still disappointed, Martin Cruz Smith is well below form with "Stalin's Ghost". It is just as well-crafted as the best of his previous works, but it is strangely predictable and uninspired. Unlike his fictional chess prodigy, Smith telegraphs his moves miles in advance. Had I never read any of his masterpieces, on current form I would never go out of my way to read anything else he has written. Certainly Stalin's Ghost would be a welcome diversion on a flight from London to Moscow, but unlike his previous works, it fails to transcend the genre. I can think of any number of thrillers by lesser writers which are far better books.
Smith has probably gone as far as he can with Arkady Renko. In books like Gorky Park, Polar Star, Havana Bay and Wolves Eat Dogs, he created a wealth of ordinary and completely believable characters and put them in extraordinary situations. He researched corners of human life which are alien to our quotidian existences, and explored themes which put his works well above mere 'literature' of the type which routinely wins literary prizes. But in Stalin's Ghost, his limitations--his anti-Americanism and his adolescent longing for communism without commisars--become more apparent.
|
