Customer Reviews

Red Square

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Martin Cruz Smith is a former journalist and magazine editor. "Red Square" is his third novel - after "Gorky Park" and "Polar Star" - to feature Arkady Renko and was first published in 1992.

Renko, the hero, works as an Investigator with Moscow's militia - more or less the standard police force - and has something of a chequered career. Never a truly 'practising' member of the Party, Renko hasn't always been thought highly of by those in authority. He has always wanted to catch the people responsible for the crimes he's investigating, regardless of the 'political' consequences - as a result of this, he was once dismissed from the Party for a lack of 'political reliability' and sentenced to a life in Siberia. He also appears to be something of a disappointment to his father, a very famous ex-General. (Arkady's opinion of his father - who is very ill as the book opens - isn't too high, either). However, after the events outlined in "Polar Star", he was reinstated to his former position - but is now working in a new Moscow that he barely recognises. "Red Square" is largely set in Moscow, Munich and Berlin in 1991 and is set in turbulent times : Germany has been re-unified and the breakup of the USSR is closing in.

The book opens in August 1991, with Renko and his partner - an Estonian called Jaak Kuusnets - on their way to a meeting with Rudy Rosen. Although Rosen operates as a banker for the various factions of the Russian Mafia, he has agreed to Renko planting a transmitter in his car for the duration of a Mafia-sponsored illegal market. (This is largely due to the fact that the militia have enough to put Rosen away for a very long time). Despite turning informer, Rosen appears to feel relatively safe. The Chechen faction, headed up by Makhmud, constitutes his only real enemy, but - since all the factions require his services - he doesn't think he's under any real threat. His sense of security is reinforced by Mikhail Kim, his fearsome-looking Korean bodyguard, and his business partnership with Borya Gubenko - the head of the Long Pond Mafia. Unfortunately, shortly after a quiet conversation with Arkady at the market, Rudy is killed when his car goes up in flames - changing Renko's case from surveillance to a murder inquiry. One of the witnesses points the finger at Kim - and it seems clear the Korean was responsible for at least one of the two explosions.

Although Arkady works most closely with Jaak, there are a couple of other members on the team he has assembled. Polina deals with the forensic work and is nearly as dedicated to her job as Arkady Renko is to his. Minin, on the other hand, is practically the anti-Renko : he remains devoted to the Party and is, in fact, the only Party member on the team. Renko's boss is a man called Rodionov - the City Prosecutor and an elected member of the People's Congress. When Renko meets with Rodionov to inform him of the investigation's progress, he's also introduced to General Penyagin - the recently appointed head of CID. Unlike his predecessor, Penyagin is a bureaucrat - not a detective risen from the ranks. Renko is stunned to discover that the third person attending the meeting, Max Albov, is a journalist. As the investigation unfolds, developments take Renko far and wide - even to the recently reunited Germany. However, Albov proves to be someone Renko just can't avoid.

This is a hugely enjoyable book - in fact, the Renko series is just getting better and better as it goes along. The book is set in the USSR's dying days, a difficult time for all those used to playing the political game. As such, it's probably even more dangerous that it had been - especially for someone like Renko who only cared about catching the villain, rather than doing what was politically 'correct'. Highly recommended.

The thing I like most about Smith's work is how well developed and deep his characters are. This isn't just straight action like the disasters I've read by John le Carre. Arkady Renko is up against corrupt bureaucrats, powerful businessmen and rival police organs. They provide him with inept assistants, the bare minimum of support and outdated equipment, yet somehow he still manages to get his man using his tenacity and brains. Renko's attitude is what drives this whole series of books-the sardonic, poetic, romantic and brilliant musings of our hero reveal such a deep character, which keeps us intrigued during any slow parts of the action. Arkady always makes some kind of funny mental comment while he's getting beat up in a subway tunnel or shot at or feasting on a russian dinner of stale bread, yogurt and a cucumber, and it just cracks me up. The plot is also amazing, twisting and turning in so many ways. The first three books are essential, but don't bother with havana bay, it's pathetic compared to these. All things must come to an end, though, and it was great while it lasted.

The third Arkady Renko novel by Martin Cruz Smith, Red Square is as strong as the first two. Smith's writing rises far above the typical spy / thriller genre. His characters are fully developed, flawed and nuanced. The dialogue is wonderful, down to Renko's self-effacing honesty and Irina's protective lies. Moscow detective Renko is heroic in a underdog sort of way. Here he confronts Russian mobsters in Moscow and Germany after the murder of an underworld financier and a fellow cop. It's simply good writing, good research, and a good plot. And Arkady's fans will be happy to see Irina again.

This book is not only a terrific action/mystery novel that is beautifully written, it provides significant insights into the transition of Russia from a communist to a capitalist state.
And it makes a very significant statement about how the Russians feel about the new Russia. After hundreds of pages of predominantly negative portrayals of the problems of new Russia, you get a very poignant portrayal of how much the people of Russia want to defend that society.

The Third in the Inspector Arkady Renko series in Martin Cruz Smith's series of Russian intrigue. The series includes Gorky Park, Polar Star, Red Square and Havana Bay, SO FAR. We can only hope there will be more. (Smith is on schedule of a book every FIVE years. But the resulting work is worth it!)
Most writers today find a successful formula and stick to it... over and over. The only thing the same from Martin Cruz Smith's works are their high level of excitement, interesting characters and plot development. Arkady Renko is one of the most interesting characters in all of mystery fiction.
What Smith does best is gives the reader an insiders' view of a society totally different than what the audience is used to.
Whether it be Los Alamos during the development of Man's deadliest weapon in Stallion Gate, Cuba in Havana Bay, Japan on the brink of World War II in December 4th: A Novel, or Moscow in Gorky Park, with his characters on the verge of an exciting adventure for the reader to be a part of.Smith then introduces characters to his readers as if we had been their friends (or enemies) for years.
I judge other mysteries and mystery writers byMartin Cruz Smith's works. Some mysteries I consume like potato chips or pretzels. Very, VERY few do I savor each page as I do Martin Cruz Smith's excellent thrillers!

John Row

Although Havana Bay has been out a few years now, its predecessor Red Square and the two previous Arkady Renko mysteries should never be forgotten. Martin Cruz Smith is a master of place and mood. He is absolutely convincing that he's personally been in the places he describes and has absorbed the atmospherics of the setting. With a background of deprivation and impending chaos, the predominant mood of this book is suspense. Arkady himself is never safe, even when working the murders at hand with his own staff. Every sentence contributes to the feeling that only one's mental alertness and puny physical skills stand between survival and disaster.

It would be a serious understatement to refer to a "crime" in this book. As the Soviet Union dissolves and, with it, law and order, the spoils of the former Communist state are being gobbled up by the most nimble of the mafias. Among these, the most vicious are the Chechens, but every neighborhood of Moscow has spawned its own. Where is there not crime?

As the story opens, Arkady has been reinstated as investigator in good standing in the Moscow police. Once he has launched a murder investigation in the normal course of his duties, however, he is forced to continue, not so much in the name of justice, of which there is very little hope, but to keep a step ahead of palpable threats to his own career and safety. With action taking place in Russia and Germany, Red Square will appeal to readers with a taste for spy fiction. Although this book is fiction, it describes Russia in the turmoil of USSR collapse as well as any piece of non-fiction could. Creating a new society in Russia will be one the great events of the early 21st century. Smith takes you there, to be present at the conception.

This book is great, a very good book in a wonderful series. You know this is a great series because of all the other books that claim to be just like it. This was really the first series that I believed the dark disgruntled cop roll - he really sells it well. I like the plot twists and the pace. There is also a lot of time dealing with life in the USSR, which is great background. Once you read this you will search out the rest in the series. I only hope he continues to put them out.

Please don't read this book before you read Gorky Park and Polar Star. And please read Havana Bay after this book.
There is no relation between the books. But you have to follow the love story of Arkady and Irina. Each book introduces a stage in this relation.
A love between two people can be sensitive this much.
After reading first 3 books, when you turn the last page of Havana Bay, you will thank me. Not for the books, but for the love story I reminded you.

All I have to say is if you are thinking of buying this book, do it. If you have not read Gorky Park or Polar Star first, then I strongly suggest you do so. The excellent aspect, I believe, of this book is its connection with the past two. While I enjoyed Gorky Park, Polar Star is where I fell in love with reading about Renko. By the time I read through Red Square, I came immediately online to see if there is another Renko novel to read. There is, Havana Bay, thank goodness, I don't know what I would have done if there wasn't. This is the perfect series of books to read, for anyone who does not mind a little challenge. Enjoy!

The title is a play on words, and things have really changed in Arkady Renko's Moscow. He's an Investigator again; he has been rehabilitated. His concerns are the different mafias that rule the city's underground (and plenty of the above-ground) trade, and a radio program from Germany that connects him to his past. There are "bankers" in this new Moscow, and trade is in full swing. There are Audis, markets, chemical bombs, and charming Party-members who look like movie stars and get along with Americans because Americans love people who look and act like they do. The murder of a Jewish banker-informer takes Arkady and his partner to the outskirts of Moscow, to a collective farm that has not done much farming, to a Volvo ("a compact, well-made car" as Arkady thinks while looking for his partner) and to Stalin's villa. From there, right before the August putsch, Renko will go to Germany after the trail of the Russian mafia, after "Red Square," after the voice he listens to on the radio every night, alone in his apartment.

Full of intrigue and with a great plot, "Red Square" is also the most romantic of the Arkady Renko novels. Again, where so many of the genre writers fail miserably, Smith soars: the love between Arkady and Irina is poignant, believable, adult, and a bit childlish at the same time; the dialogues are realistic; the description is never trite or tired, but vital and fresh. Once again, Smith proves that he is not only a good genre writer who can churn out a superior mystery novel, but a great writer, period. In Arkady Renko he has created a person, not just a character, and his prose flows with ease. In "Red Square" Smith mixes the reality of the August coup and the barricades with the story of Arkady and Irina, and the pursuit of the truth regarding the deaths of an informant, a policeman, an affable Trabant-lover, and the smuggling of art. A Russian in Germany, a poor man from a poor country in a rich country not known for its hospitality to others, the real victors and the real losers from World War II, all this is part of the intricate but rewarding story of "Red Square." Whatever else Martin Cruz Smith decided to do with his detective in the next novel ("Havana Bay," most of which I did not approve of), he created a very tough-to-follow act with his Renko trilogy: genre novels, detective stories, that are well-written and presented with respect to the reader. These are true rarities in the crowded, low-quality mystery shelf. "Red Square," like "Gorky Park" and "Polar Star" before, stands out as top writing by a top writer.