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Most Helpful Favorable Review
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Arkady Renko returns!!!
Without a any hyperbole, I can honestly say I love Martin Cruz Smith. His writing style is so different than every other cookie cutter mystery writer out there. His characters all seem reasonable and distinct. I have never been anywhere remotely close to Russia but S...
Without a any hyperbole, I can honestly say I love Martin Cruz Smith. His writing style is so different than every other cookie cutter mystery writer out there. His characters all seem reasonable and distinct. I have never been anywhere remotely close to Russia but Smith makes it so easy to see. I feel like I've been there. Renko is classically sarcastic without even trying and a great hero without any reason to be. My only qualm with this novel is that the other Renko novels seemed to spend more time with the red herrings and here there were only a handful of possible killers. I still really enjoyed it!
posted by Sean_From_OHIO on August 24, 2010
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1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
The First Review
Well, the first review from someone who has actually read the book. Martin Cruz Smith takes us back to Moscow and the nitty gritty world of lost children- those both runaway and those stolen. It's a modest effort, never once really taking off and just about falling apar...
Well, the first review from someone who has actually read the book. Martin Cruz Smith takes us back to Moscow and the nitty gritty world of lost children- those both runaway and those stolen. It's a modest effort, never once really taking off and just about falling apart at the finish. We care somewhat for the children, but life has bad things in store, and Renko can only accompany us on the path through which these souls travel. It is a dark, bleak world, one in which the author makes no attempt to ease the way, other than to cut the story off at about page 243. Was that an act of mercy or did he have no more to say?
posted by KenCady on September 1, 2010
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Arkady Renko returns!!!
Without a any hyperbole, I can honestly say I love Martin Cruz Smith. His writing style is so different than every other cookie cutter mystery writer out there. His characters all seem reasonable and distinct. I have never been anywhere remotely close to Russia but Smith makes it so easy to see. I feel like I've been there. Renko is classically sarcastic without even trying and a great hero without any reason to be. My only qualm with this novel is that the other Renko novels seemed to spend more time with the red herrings and here there were only a handful of possible killers. I still really enjoyed it!
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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DaleGPS
Posted September 16, 2011
save your money, read his earlier books instead
I have anticipated each new book from Cruz-Smith until now. Unlike some of his other books, this one seems as if it was written purely to capitalize on the author's name. People wander in and out of the story and have no real relation to the plot. They are put there to add pages to the book which is already only about 200 pages long. Then at the end of the book, the author says "times up" and just wraps up the story. There is no evolving to the conclusion. He just writes a terse ending.
Save your money and hope Martin Cruz Smith returns to serious writing. His earlier books were well worth reading.1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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The First Review
Well, the first review from someone who has actually read the book. Martin Cruz Smith takes us back to Moscow and the nitty gritty world of lost children- those both runaway and those stolen. It's a modest effort, never once really taking off and just about falling apart at the finish. We care somewhat for the children, but life has bad things in store, and Renko can only accompany us on the path through which these souls travel. It is a dark, bleak world, one in which the author makes no attempt to ease the way, other than to cut the story off at about page 243. Was that an act of mercy or did he have no more to say?
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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rohomes
Posted August 31, 2010
Renko! What a guy!
I don't have to read it to tell you how good it is, but as soon as it came out I bought it, and am reading it now. As usual, it grabbed me right off. If it's by Martin Cruz Smith and about Arkady Renko, it's got to be good. (Polar Star is still my favorite, with Hanava Bay next.) I put Smith's Renko books at the very top of the list.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted October 3, 2012
Shining news request
I need you to put out a missing cat request for SageWhiskee at ':3' result one. I also need to put out a clan request for ShadeClan at ':3' result one.
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Anonymous
Posted September 29, 2012
K-9 unit dog house
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dugman50
Posted May 6, 2012
Typically good Martin Cruz Smith
Having read all of the Arkady Renko series, I was not dissappointed. Having an interest in Russian culture, Martin Cruz Smith gives insight to the way of life in a country we knew little about for so long. Can't wait for the next release.
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Tranicos
Posted December 19, 2011
Arkady returns
Moscow has become more corrupted by the Russian Mafia and Renko becomes involved in yet another squalid crime through his complicated relationship with Zhenya AND the Prosecutor's Office. Read "Wolves eat Dogs" before this one.
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AH54
Posted November 11, 2010
Re-read Gorky Park instead
It was basically a waste of money to buy this for my Nook. The beginning of the story sets the hook, but then it is as if the author lost interest. At about the same time, the reader does also. Characters wander in, are introduced, and then vanish. For the first time in a Renko novel, the plot seems forced as if the author forgot how to integrate the characters and plot.
The book is essentially a ghost of Gorky Park, Polar Star, Red Square, and Havana Bay.
Save your money and re-read the other novels in the series, which are much more complicated and engaging.0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted May 5, 2011
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Posted August 23, 2011
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Posted August 17, 2010
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Posted August 31, 2010
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Posted October 26, 2010
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Posted September 17, 2010
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Posted September 19, 2010
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Posted August 26, 2010
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Posted February 4, 2011
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Posted August 22, 2010
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Posted September 23, 2010
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