Didactylos reviewed Stalin's Ghost by Martin Cruz Smith
Review of "Stalin's Ghost" on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Promised more than it delivers, disappointing at the end, and overly convoluted plotting.
333 pages
English language
Published Jan. 8, 2007 by Simon & Schuster.
A high-stakes tale set in Moscow follows the machinations of a group of reactionaries who harbor a nostalgic loyalty to the regime of Joseph Stalin and who plot to create a groundswell for a new dictatorship.
Promised more than it delivers, disappointing at the end, and overly convoluted plotting.
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 …
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.
It's winter in Moscow, and Stalin is appearing on Metro stations, waving genially to commuters , making many of them nostalgic for a simpler time. Stalin's appearances are embarrassing for the authorities. When Arkady Renko investigates, he finds two American marketing specialists are on hand to film a well-rehearsed spontaneous demonstration honoring Uncle Joe. The Americans are employed as consultants by a hero of the war in Chechnya who is now the charismatic leader of a newly hatched nationalistic political party. Renko learns the hero's actions in Chechnya may not be so heroic after all, and the hero's comrades are disappearing, one by one, along with any other evidence of what really happened. History rubs up against the present throughout the story as we learn more about Renko's father, a general close to Stalin, and as the people of Tver dig up a battlefield seeking their patriotic past. It's not …
It's winter in Moscow, and Stalin is appearing on Metro stations, waving genially to commuters , making many of them nostalgic for a simpler time. Stalin's appearances are embarrassing for the authorities. When Arkady Renko investigates, he finds two American marketing specialists are on hand to film a well-rehearsed spontaneous demonstration honoring Uncle Joe. The Americans are employed as consultants by a hero of the war in Chechnya who is now the charismatic leader of a newly hatched nationalistic political party. Renko learns the hero's actions in Chechnya may not be so heroic after all, and the hero's comrades are disappearing, one by one, along with any other evidence of what really happened. History rubs up against the present throughout the story as we learn more about Renko's father, a general close to Stalin, and as the people of Tver dig up a battlefield seeking their patriotic past. It's not just the Metro that is being visited by ghosts. This book, like others in this excellent series, is a brilliant picture of contemporary Russia, contrasting the flash and dazzle of money in Moscow with the depopulated countryside and the sullen decay of smaller cities. Renko's semi-adopted twelve-year old son plays a significant role in the story, as does the ambiguous Eva from Wolves Eat Dogs. As usual, Renko doesn't investigate in a straight line, but rather slips through the gaps sideways, leading the reader through a tangled mix of history laced with irony, told with a finely-tuned and poetic voice. This will be one of my top books of the year.