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A review by plantbirdwoman
Wolves Eat Dogs by Martin Cruz Smith
3.0
What would cause a privileged member of Russia's new billionaire class, one of the fabled "New Russians," to leap to his death from the palatial splendor of his ultra-modern Moscow condominium? And what on earth does the mound of salt on his closet floor mean? And the salt shaker that he took with him on his leap? And why do the dosimeters go crazy when they are brought near that mysterious mound of salt? These are some of the questions Arkady Renko must answer in Wolves Eat Dogs.
The question of the chattering dosimeters is easiest to answer. That salt contains radioactive cesium, but that doesn't explain what it is doing in Pasha Ivanov's condo.
Soon after Ivanov's death, one of his associates turns up in Pripyat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with his throat cut, his body appearing white and drained of blood. Renko's superiors send him there, ostensibly to investigate, but mostly just to get him out of Moscow. Arkady Renko is a thorn in their sides, but Arkady with a mystery is like a bulldog with a bone. He just won't let go. He delves deeper and deeper until he threatens to uncover secrets about the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown that some might prefer to stay hidden. Uncovered, those secrets might cost Arkady his life.
Again, in Arkady Renko, Martin Cruz Smith gives us a character that we can care about and root for. The plot was a bit convoluted and difficult to follow, but we go with Renko willingly as he attempts to trace the loose string of his investigation to its source. Somehow, we always know he'll get there in the end.
The question of the chattering dosimeters is easiest to answer. That salt contains radioactive cesium, but that doesn't explain what it is doing in Pasha Ivanov's condo.
Soon after Ivanov's death, one of his associates turns up in Pripyat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with his throat cut, his body appearing white and drained of blood. Renko's superiors send him there, ostensibly to investigate, but mostly just to get him out of Moscow. Arkady Renko is a thorn in their sides, but Arkady with a mystery is like a bulldog with a bone. He just won't let go. He delves deeper and deeper until he threatens to uncover secrets about the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown that some might prefer to stay hidden. Uncovered, those secrets might cost Arkady his life.
Again, in Arkady Renko, Martin Cruz Smith gives us a character that we can care about and root for. The plot was a bit convoluted and difficult to follow, but we go with Renko willingly as he attempts to trace the loose string of his investigation to its source. Somehow, we always know he'll get there in the end.