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Stalin's Ghost

Author: Martin Cruz Smith
Publisher: Pan Books
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

8 reviews
Sales Rank: 5279

Media: Paperback
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.1

ISBN: 033044493X
EAN: 9780330444934
ASIN: 033044493X

Publication Date: March 7, 2008
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Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

Well-written, but the plot could have been stronger..... July 28, 2008
I like Martin Cruz Smith's writing and I have enjoyed prior novels with Senior Investigator Arkady Renko as the lead character.

In common with the prequels, the book is instructive on life in Russia and contains some rich observations. I liked lines like "as he was leaving Moscow and driving into Russia.....".

The plot is not all that deep but takes Renko to Tver and very nearly sees him killed. I found the book to be populated with strange scenarios, relationships and interactions as Renko tries to solve a couple of mysteries. The relevance of a couple of Americans who played bit parts still escapes me and the Stalin's Ghost angle in the metro seems to have done more for others than it did for me.

Here too, Renko struggles with his own demons and his relationships with his adopted son and partner. To get the most out of this book, I suspect a reader would need to have built a strong relationship with Renko from prior novels.

For whatever reason, I judged this book first as crime novel and I didn't feel it was as strong as other Cruz Smith books I have read. 7/10

4 out of 5 stars

Pleasantly surprising July 17, 2008
Having never read a Martin Cruz Smith book, but having been impressed by the film of Gorky Park I actually bought this book in desperation. I was travelling back from Istanbul to the UK via Munich and had run out of books to read before reaching Istanbul airport. A quick trawl of the bookshop persuaded me to purchase Stalin's Ghost.

What impressed me was the quality of the writing as much as anything. Phrases like "Time nibbled away at the afternoon" and "Night crouched outside the casino" show a real talent for writing. Add to this a densely plotted thriller in modern Russian and it was an excellent page-turner.

I finished it in "one" go - Istanbul to Munich, 4 hours in Munich, Munich to Manchester and then a 25-minute queue for passport control. I read the last page walking through the baggage reclaim section. The fact that I was really tired (early start, long day, two time zone changes) underlines the quality of the book - I could not stop reading it. The author has a clear eye for the detail of post-communist Russia and the spectre of Stalin pervades the novel.

I'll probably buy the other Renko books now, perhaps even Gorky Park - having seen the film it will be interesting to see how the book holds up.

4 out of 5 stars

"In Arkady's experience, when the snow melted, bodies would be discovered. In Moscow, that was spring." July 13, 2008
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 mid-1940s is found at a construction site, obviously a place for the disposal of those executed under Stalin's rule, with the help of Renko's father, one of Stalin's trusted deputies. No modern investigation results, 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. As 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 his lover, Eva, begins sleeping with Isakov, and Zhenya, the twelve-year-old street orphan to whom Renko has offered a home, disappears, presumably to hustle at chess.

Cruz Smith's immensely satisfying 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 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. Even secondary characters, like Zhenya become fully rounded, their motivations clear. 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 a long-term justice. Mary Whipple

4 out of 5 stars

They took the dragon June 25, 2008
Martin Cruz Smith is a former journalist and magazine editor. He has won the CWA Gold Dagger for Fiction in the UK, and has twice won the Hammett Prize in America. "Stalin's Ghost" is his sixth novel to feature Arkady Renko - a series that began with "Gorky Park" - and was first published in 2007.

Renko works as an Investigator with Moscow's militia - more or less the standard police force - and has something of a chequered career. Under Communist rule, Renko had never a truly 'practising' member of the Party and had never been highly though of by those in authority. Although the Party is no longer what it was and Russian society has changed a great deal in recent years, Arkady still manages to tread on powerful toes. This is largely because he has always wanted to catch the people responsible for the crimes he's investigating, regardless of the 'political' consequences or how well-connected his prey is. It's now got to the point where Renko and his boss, Prosecutor Zurin, can't stand the sight of each other. Arkady always remained something of a disappointment to his father - a very famous ex-General, and one of Stalin's favourites. However, his father's name does occasionally prove helpful - particularly when Arkady has to work with soldiers of a certain age.

Arkady's home-life isn't going too well either. He had arrived home from a previous investigation in Chernobyl with a lover called Eva. Although they are still technically together, it's no real secret that she has also been enjoying the company of a detective based in Arkady's office. Furthermore, there have been some difficulties with Zhenya...now twelve, he still officially lives at the shelter where Arkady first met him. In reality, he's been dividing his time between Arkady's apartment and a life on the streets. Zhenya left the house with his chess set four days before the book opens - Arkady had assumed he'd been on his way to a match, but the boy has yet to return. Zhenya remains a gifted player, though is only interested in playing for money. Grandmaster Ilya Platonov - who runs the city's chess club - believes this attitude is ruining his game. Platonov is one of the few who remain devoted to the Party. He is, however, a likeable - if slightly paranoid - character.

The book opens with Arkady and his sidekick, Victor Orlov, following up a phone call from a successful businesswoman called Zoya Filitova. Filitova has been married for three months and, after one beating too many, wants her husband dead, buried and never found. Naturally, she has contacted the police...who can guarantee just what she needs for the right price. However, her husband doesn't look the sort of guy who would be easily killed - and his prospective widow wants proof that he's been satisfactorily dealt with. (Initially she wants his nose, but will settle for a very distinctive tattoo he sports - it includes the name of his hometown Tver, and a tiger standing up on its hind legs).

Filitova's call, of course, hadn't been intended for Arkady and Victor. Victor had actually answered another detective's phone - he'd been waiting for a snitch to phone, and the numbers are very similar. (Filitova says a message was left on her answering machine, offering to deal with her husband should he ever cause any trouble. No names were ever given, though there weas no mistake with the number). The intended recipient was a detective called Marat Urman, who had served with the Black Berets in the Chechnya War. He and his partner, Nikolai Isakov, are widely viewed as heroes. Although Arkady hasn't met Isakov face-to-face, the detective has already caused his a good deal of bother...given that he is the detective Eva has been enjoying on a regular basis.

Renko's official case is something he, initially, just can't take seriously. Shortly after talking to Mrs Filitova, he is summoned to the Chistye Prudy metro station. Here, in the station used by Stalin as a war room during the Second World War, people have claimed to have seen Stalin's ghost for the second night running. The initial stages of the investigation were - surprise ! - handled by Urman and Isakov...and, naturally, they botched it. Arkady later catches up with them at a domestic...only to find the official line smelling as bad as the corpse...

I love the Renko books, and this one doesn't disappoint - with the political implications of his investigations, they always provide that little bit more than your average murder-mystery book. Stalin, a new, very nationalistic, political party and a couple of adversaries who also happen to be noted war heroes ensure Arkady has his hands full in this instalment...and that's even before he stops to think about his personal life. Another cracking read.

5 out of 5 stars

SOVIET GHOSTS IN MODERN RUSSIA June 8, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

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!