- Hardcover
- Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (Feb 24 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0517167344
- ISBN-13: 978-0517167342
- Shipping Weight: 390 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Kerr's most recent novel, A Philosophical Investigation , takes place in England in the near future, while his three-volume Bernhard Gunther series, begun with March Violets , is set in 1930s Berlin. Here he turns to modern-day Russia to trace an electrifying battle between the anemically funded Russian police and well-heeled ethnic Mafiosi who operate at will in post-Soviet St. Petersburg. An anonymous narrator--an Internal Affairs-type lawyer--monitors detective Yevgeni Ivanovich Grushko's efforts to nail mob thugs for the murder of an investigative journalist who had aired Mafia laundry and government scandal on TV. Grushko rousts the Ukrainian and Chechen mobsters, who rival the Georgians in the proliferation of scams, protection rackets and black-market action marking Russia's emerging private-sector economy. Struggling to investigate amid such impediments as red tape, public distrust of police, KGB rivalry, low police morale and minimal resources, Grushko even appeals for leads on a Geraldo Rivera-like show. While the detective inches toward a resolution connecting the Chernobyl disaster, the mob and a British-backed Russian capitalist venture, the narrator falls for the journalist's sexy widow and learns hard lessons from Grushko about fighting for justice in an unhinged society. In Kerr's literate dark novel, strains of romantic balalaika music blend with the sound of the sharp wind sweeping across the steppes. Readers will hope for more appearances of this new man from Moscow.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Mikhail Milyukin, Russia's first investigative journalist, is found executed Mafia-style. Finding his killers and the reason for the murder falls to relentless militia officer Yevgeni Grushko. This novel works both as a gritty cop novel in a unique setting and as a lens on a troubled and tragic country. Kerr really did his homework; he secured the cooperation of the St. Petersburg militia's organized crime unit, rode with its officers, and took part in several operations against the Mafia. His research gives the book special weight, for example, in his explanations of the ethnic foundations of Russia's gangs. The language of cops and thugs alike has a wonderfully quirky but authentic sound; strikes against the Mafia are "realisations." Equally important, however, Kerr lived with the incredible privations that nearly all Russians endure. His illumination of those hardships in the lives of his characters is almost painful at times, and the startling crime uncovered by Grushko has a terrible plausibility in grim contemporary Russia. Thomas Gaughan
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Is it Mystery, Russian Sociology or Political Science?, Dec 26 1996
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Phillip Kerr is starting to look like the Robert DeNiroof writing. In his previous book, he immersed himself in
every possible detail of pre- and post-war Germany, with his
mysteries unfolding within the thread of Nazism. Now, in
Dead Meat, he dissects post-Soviet Russia, with the optimism,
fatalism and corruption that riddle the society. Kerr has
captured the Russian psyche perfectly, while winding the plot
around the killing of a crusading journalist. How does a Brit
learn so much about what hides within the heart of today's
Russia?
I recommend this book for both the mystery and the sociology
behind it.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
on the shelf with Martin Cruz-Smith, Jan 20 2009
By Christopher A. Meli - Published on Amazon.com
Similar to another review here: if you like Martin Cruz-Smith's Renko novels, you'll like this. The writing and the black post-Soviet humor shouldn't be missed. Right behind Berlin Noir: March Violets; The Pale Criminal; A German Requiem as far as the Kerr books that I've read.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Adds a whole new meaning to the expression-fell off the truck, Dec 28 2005
By Grey Wolffe "Zeb Kantrowitz" - Published on Amazon.com
Ce commentaire est de: Dead Meat (Hardcover)
Kerr has written a provocative post-communist book that truthfully factors in the destructiveness of 70 years of Red Rule and the destitution of a super-power. He has captured the nuance of Russian Slang and the private language used in the criminal/police world. Lastly, the twists and turns of the plot are all plausible while at the same time comical for their surreal and absurd situations.Unfortunately, Kerr has never touched this subject or characters again. If you love this book, and you will, "Wolves Eat Dogs" by Martin Cruz Smith, is a great companion novel.
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