Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novel
by Martin Cruz Smith
List Price:
Our Price: $0.48
You Save: $14.52 (97%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Martin Cruz SmithEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-03
ISBN: 0743276736
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Pocket
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: Stalin's Ghost Comes Alive
Summary: 5 Stars
Martin Cruz Smith (hereafter MCS) has given us another Arkady Renko novel in the best sense of the word--new, original, fresh. And again he takes readers where they've never been before, something MCS has been doing brilliantly for quite a few years now.
Fans of Arkady Renko know him as a Russian police investigator who bucks the system to get to the truth and is invariably troublesome to the hierarchy. In Stalin's Ghost, he's up against Nikolai Isakov and Marat Urman, former Black Berets (Russian Special Forces) who have come into the police as detectives and are using their position to cover the bloody tracks they left in Chechnya. Renko, investigating the hoax of the appearance of Stalin in the Moscow Metro, gets in their way. Adding to the tension is the rivalry between Renko and Isakov for the affections of Eva Kazka, a Ukranian one-woman version of Doctors Without Borders. (Eva first appeared in Wolves Eat Dogs.)
MCS again gives us a rich cast of characters--Ilya Platonov, the old chess master, Victor Orlov, Renko's sidekick, Zhenya (from Wolves Eat Dogs), the teenage runaway chess prodigy, Elena Ilichnina, a brain surgeon, Sofia Andreyeva Poninski, a forensic pathologist who doubles as a real estate agent, Tanya the harp player, Wiley and Pacheco, American political consultants (!), Vladimir Zelensky, porn film producer and . . . well, it's impossible to imagine how they all fit together, but that's part of the adventure of Stalin's Ghost.
MCS puts them in play in the frosty glitter of post-Soviet Moscow and the rural (but historic) backwater of Tver, each wickedly sinister and dangerous for Renko. To say more about Tver would risk giving away the game.
I can't leave this review without a word about Martin Cruz Smith's body of work. He is never complacent about giving readers their money's worth and more and his range is truly phenomenal--Russia and things Russian, of course, but also prewar Japan, the coal country of England, Cuba . . . where will he take us next? How he writes so convincingly, originally and insightfully about such an array of times and places so radically removed from any single person's experience would be a book as fascinating as his fiction.
Summary of Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novel
Investigator Arkady Renko, the pariah of the Moscow prosecutor's office, has been assigned the thankless job of investigating a new phenomenon: late-night subway riders report seeing the ghost of Joseph Stalin on the platform of the Chistye Prudy Metro station. The illusion seems part political hocus-pocus and also part wishful thinking, for among many Russians Stalin is again popular; the bloody dictator can boast a two-to-one approval rating. Decidedly better than that of Renko, whose lover, Eva, has left him for Detective Nikolai Isakov, a charismatic veteran of the civil war in Chechnya, a hero of the far right and, Renko suspects, a killer for hire. The cases entwine, and Renko's quests become a personal inquiry fueled by jealousy.The investigation leads to the fields of Tver outside of Moscow, where once a million soldiers fought. There, amidst the detritus, Renko must confront the ghost of his own father, a favorite general of Stalin's. In these barren fields, patriots and shady entrepreneurs -- the Red Diggers and Black Diggers -- collect the bones, weapons and personal effects of slain World War II soldiers, and find that even among the dead there are surprises.
Contemporary Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Contemporary Books
The Neverending Storyby Michael Ende
G K Hall & Co; Published: 1984-09; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Mark of the Lion : A Voice in the Wind, An Echo in the Darkness, As Sure As the Dawn (Vol 1-3)by Francine Rivers
Tyndale House Publishers; Published: 1998-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $25.36
Price in other shops:
The House of the Scorpionby Nancy Farmer
Recorded Books; Published: 2003-03; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $6.30
Price in other shops:
Brown bear, Brown bear, what do you see?by Bill Martin
Seedlings; Published: 1987; Unknown Binding; Book
Phantomby Susan Kay
Llumina Stars; Published: 2005-10-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $36.80
Price in other shops:
Lonesome Doveby Larry McMurtry
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1985-06-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $40.00
Redeeming Loveby Francine Rivers
Multnomah Books; Published: 1997-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.82
Price in other shops:
Seabiscuit: An American Legendby Laura Hillenbrand
Published: 2007-05; Unknown Binding; Book
Best price: $29.99
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabanby J. K. Rowling
Raincoast Book Dist Ltd; Published: 2000-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fireby J. K. Rowling
Raincoast Book Distribution; Published: 2000-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.95
Similar Books and other products
A Most Wanted Manby John le Carre
Scribner; Published: 2008-10-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops:
Polar Star: A Novel (Mortalis)by Martin Cruz Smith
Ballantine Books; Published: 2007-06-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.14
Price in other shops:
Havana Bay: A Novel (Mortalis)by Martin Cruz Smith
Ballantine Books; Published: 2008-05-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.39
Price in other shops:
The Overlook (Harry Bosch)by Michael Connelly
Vision; Published: 2008-01-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.96
Price in other shops:
The Spies of Warsaw: A Novelby Alan Furst
Random House; Published: 2008-06-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.97
Price in other shops:
Red Square: A Novel (Mortalis)by Martin Cruz Smith
Ballantine Books; Published: 2007-09-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.24
Price in other shops:
Bangkok Hauntsby John Burdett
Vintage Books; Published: 2008-06-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.90
Price in other shops:
The Secret Servant (Gabriel Allon)by Daniel Silva
Signet; Published: 2008-06-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.44
Price in other shops:
The Tin Roof Blowdown (Dave Robicheaux)by James Lee Burke
Pocket; Published: 2008-06-17; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.06
Price in other shops:
Wolves Eat Dogs (Arkady Renko Novels)by Martin Cruz Smith
Pocket; Published: 2006-01-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops: