A review by janetlun
Stalin's Ghost by Martin Cruz Smith

Another splendid Arkady Renko novel. Smith just does not give this poor police detective a break. His past journeys to a fish trawler slime line and Chernobyl seemed bad, but he gets it even worse this time. Nonetheless, I can't say I've found any of the mysteries particularly depressing. Maybe that's because Renko has such low expectations. [return][return]This is set in modern Russia, with its struggling politics and economy. He's dealing with corruption (as usual), an elusive lover, and his sort-of-adopted son, the chess hustler. I gulped it down in a day. As usual, I've got strong images lingering in my mind's eye. He does that to me far more than most writers. [return][return]I've enjoyed all Smith's novels. It was a long time ago that I read his early ones with a Gypsy setting, so it could be that they wouldn't hold up as well now. The Renko ones set in the Russian world of police investigation are splendid. I recall the one set in the American southwest featuring vampire bats scared me silly. Japan during WWII, the Manhattan project, he's hit a lot of different settings, and always delivers a good novel.