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skhuter's review
4.0
I liked the main character Renko Archady. The Russian setting was my favorite. I'm a big fan of getting my geography and culture lessons from fiction! The author's sparse style is not quite my taste. More than a few times I had to go back to the beginning of a conversation to figure out who was talking. Apparently the author doesn't believe in dialogue tags. I think I'll read another one and see if the books are an acquired taste.
bookie936's review
4.0
Beaches, bicycles, oligarchs, corruption, murder, journalists, neonazis, and submarines!
stevem0214's review
5.0
WOnderful as always. This one ends with Arkady in love as well as his son...I thought the series ended with this one, but The Siberian Delima came out in 2019. I need to read that one again I suppose!
hedread's review
2.0
Somewhat entertaining but not one of this author's better books. Not smoothly written
sandin954's review
3.0
Investigator Renko takes on another case that his superiors do not want him to solve when a journalist falls to her death. Always a fascinating look at Russian society. Listened to the audio version which was well narrated by Henry Strozier.
constantreader471's review
4.0
I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. Martin Cruz Smith's books are enjoyable mysteries. His Moscow police investigator Arkady Renko is a determined man in investigating a death already ruled a suicide. Tatiana was a crusading reporter and fell to her death off a balcony. Somehow Renko connects her death to a murder of an organized crime figure. His investigation takes him to Kaliningrad, a part of Russia that used to be Koeingsberg, Germany, prior to 1945. It is now an enclave of Russia, bordered by Poland and Lithuania.
One quote from the book that made me laugh: "Judges can be expensive...
They should put an ATM in the courtroom and eliminate the middleman."
A minor quibble--one of the characters drives from Moscow to Kaliningrad, and has to go through Lithuanian and Polish customs. This book is set in 2012, after Poland and Lithuania joined the Schwengen agreement--meaning only 1 customs check.
One quote from the book that made me laugh: "Judges can be expensive...
They should put an ATM in the courtroom and eliminate the middleman."
A minor quibble--one of the characters drives from Moscow to Kaliningrad, and has to go through Lithuanian and Polish customs. This book is set in 2012, after Poland and Lithuania joined the Schwengen agreement--meaning only 1 customs check.
liberrydude's review
4.0
This should be called "The Unbearable Pervasiveness of Moroseness." The sense of overwhelming gloom and despair is thick. Tatiana is a crusading reporter who "falls" off her balcony in Moscow. Obvious suicide. Renko doesn't think so. He and Tatiana are kindred spirts who both seek out the impossible in corrupt Russia-the truth. Renko goes on a road trip to Kalingrad to see Tatiana's sister and is once again being attacked. Smith seems part Russian as he continues to capture the spirit of the place during the course of this 32 year series. It's like I'm reading a modern mystery written by Chekhov. Lots of twists and turns in this one and often times I'm asking myself why Renko isn't dead. He just walks away from encounters with the Russian Mafia.
heritage's review
2.0
On the same day as the funeral of a Russian gangster, Investigator Arkady Renko hears of the death of Tatiana, a journalist noted for tackling corruption in Moscow. The two events don't seem entirely coincidental to Renko and, as usual, he decides to ask a few questions.
Martin Cruz Smith has long been a favorite author of mine--starting with Gorky Park right on until Wolves Eat Dogs. However, he had lost his way with his next two novels, and so I approached Tatiana with apprehension. What I got was a slightly better story, but it felt like Martin Cruz Smith-lite. The narrative is lighter and the subject matter is less weighty and less thought-provoking. Part of this can be explained by his recent revelation that he has been suffering from Parkinson's disease for almost two decades and that the last several years have been quite difficult for him. However, the novel is what it is: a shadow of his former greatness.
We get a more interesting setting this time round--Kaliningrad, a Russian oblast physically cut off from the rest of the country. We learn about the area, the buildings, the birdwatchers, and the amber--none of which play much of a part in the plot, but interesting to learn about nonetheless. The plot has devolved into too much coincidence and taken a boring tangent again by featuring Arkady's pseudo-adopted ward, Zhenya, as his unwilling sidekick of sorts. Most of the events occur in the novel with little note of significance, even though we know they should be either important or suspenseful.
Not as dreadful as his two preceding novels, this one still pales in comparison to Gorky Park and Rose.
Martin Cruz Smith has long been a favorite author of mine--starting with Gorky Park right on until Wolves Eat Dogs. However, he had lost his way with his next two novels, and so I approached Tatiana with apprehension. What I got was a slightly better story, but it felt like Martin Cruz Smith-lite. The narrative is lighter and the subject matter is less weighty and less thought-provoking. Part of this can be explained by his recent revelation that he has been suffering from Parkinson's disease for almost two decades and that the last several years have been quite difficult for him. However, the novel is what it is: a shadow of his former greatness.
We get a more interesting setting this time round--Kaliningrad, a Russian oblast physically cut off from the rest of the country. We learn about the area, the buildings, the birdwatchers, and the amber--none of which play much of a part in the plot, but interesting to learn about nonetheless. The plot has devolved into too much coincidence and taken a boring tangent again by featuring Arkady's pseudo-adopted ward, Zhenya, as his unwilling sidekick of sorts. Most of the events occur in the novel with little note of significance, even though we know they should be either important or suspenseful.
Not as dreadful as his two preceding novels, this one still pales in comparison to Gorky Park and Rose.