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Gorky Park (Arkady Renko #1)

3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 · rating details · 20,393 ratings · 360 reviews

A triple murder in a Moscow amusement center: three corpses found frozen in the snow, faces and fingers missing. Chief homicide investigator Arkady Renko is brilliant, sensitive, honest, and cynical about everything except his profession. To identify the victims and uncover the truth, he must battle the KGB, FBI, and New York police as he performs the impossible--and tries...more

Mass Market Paperback, 433 pages

Published February 12th 1982 by Ballantine Books (first published 1980)

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Jun 12, 2011 Joel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, audiobooks

There's this concept in fantasy writing, world-building? Sci-fi too. It's pretty self-explanatory: because these books are not taking place in our universe, it's up to the author to give us all the details -- to paint the picture, provide shading in just the right places, ensure we can tell what we are supposed to be looking at. Economics, politics, interpersonal relations, language, gender roles, humor... This can be done well, emphasizing just here and embellishing just there, so the empty spa...more

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Mar 16, 2008 April rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: russia

If only there were Russian men like Arkady Renko! What a hero. Martin Cruz Smith, despite making up an implausibly wonderful Russian man in Arkady Renko, just totally nails some things about Soviet Russia. I get nostalgic even thinking about it.
Got a plane ride coming up? If you haven't read this - GO NOW! BUY IT! I promise you won't regret it.

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Jan 08, 2011 Dan Kearns rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-crime-noir-pulp, mystery-sub-detective-in-a-series

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. UPDATE 1/8/11: I'm moving this to a 5star. It has aged very nicely for me, and I've forgotten my quarrels with it while still remembering how brilliant the moral examination being waged in it is. Sometimes genre rises to greatness, and this is one of them. In a way, genre rising above itself might even be more of a favorite for me than literature that starts from a high level already.
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This is a stunningly good book that is more than just a top-notch thriller. It aims higher than that, an...more UPDATE 1/8/11: I'm moving this to a 5star. It has aged very nicely for me, and I've forgotten my quarrels with it while still remembering how brilliant the moral examination being waged in it is. Sometimes genre rises to greatness, and this is one of them. In a way, genre rising above itself might even be more of a favorite for me than literature that starts from a high level already.
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This is a stunningly good book that is more than just a top-notch thriller. It aims higher than that, and, in acts 1 & 2 (Moscow and then the Russian countryside section) it achieved its aims. Those sections were 5/5s for me.

Unfortunately, the last section didnt hit the mark so squarely. It's not that I dont think the theme of "corrupt America" isnt true, but it didnt hit the correct notes to age right. 1981 just couldnt see where the problems of 2010 would be. But, here's the irony that made the book so wonderful for me: the great themes of Brezhnevian decline, deprivation, and decadence from act 1 are the great bits for illuminating the America of 2010! An honest man, here and now, IMHO, knows the similarities to the time and place of Investigator Renko! I know that physical coercion underpinned the system then more than now, and so was far worse, but as for the need to avoid making waves and the need to dance around the truth of the society? There's a connection, I say! What you might ask is an example of truths to be avoided saying aloud in modern America? How about the truth that Zoya might be meaningful in a larger sense? Even more, how about trying to make the one simple point that Investigator Renko is after in all of act 2 in terms of the modern American cultural scene? I think the religious imagination that organizes that point is relatively obvious. But, see, I'm not as strong as Arkady. I cant even do more than allude evasively to things so sensitive.

I simply love a fun, exciting read that aims high, uses moral questions to underpin its framework, and and illuminates as well as entertains. This book was only the barest smidgen away from a 5star for me. What a great, lucky find picked up only because it was on sale for $4.95 at Audible.

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Apr 20, 2010 Joyce Lagow rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Written in 1981, this book has had something of a cult status as one of the first popular entries in the international mystery/thriller genre. It is the first in the Arkady Renko series, the second being published much later, in 1988.[return][return]Arkady Renko is a chief investigator in the Moscow militia, the police section of the MVD. As opposed to the KGB, which investigates cases related to security, the militia are usually concerned with domestic violence, drunkenness and the occasional m...more Written in 1981, this book has had something of a cult status as one of the first popular entries in the international mystery/thriller genre. It is the first in the Arkady Renko series, the second being published much later, in 1988.[return][return]Arkady Renko is a chief investigator in the Moscow militia, the police section of the MVD. As opposed to the KGB, which investigates cases related to security, the militia are usually concerned with domestic violence, drunkenness and the occasional murder. Moscow, under communist rule, is ostensibly one of he safest cities in the world, since crimes that don� fit the socialist definition of acceptable are merely defined out of sight. But Renko� s job is usually fairly dull.[return][return]Until 3 bodies, clearly homicides, are found in Gorky Park, a popular amusement center in Moscow� s heart. The KGB shows both an unusual interest and a complete lack of willingness to step in and investigate these murders, particularly odd since one of the victims is most likely a foreigner. Renko, who smells a rat, is determined to make a case that will force the KGB to take the case off his hands.[return][return]The plot is excellent, building up in tension and with enough twists to keep the interest high. Set in 1977, Russian life under Brezhnev was not as bad as in the Stalinist era, but was still highly regimented and repressive; dissent was not allowed, although the mass murders and purges of the Stalinist era were gone. But rigid allegiance to the party line was necessary for any kind of decent life, and obligatory for career advancement. Smith ,as part of the story, shows what daily life for Muscovites was like� the hardships, the lack of decent consumer goods, the regimentation� and it is very well done.[return][return]What is a very nice surprise is that 27 years later, the writing is still good� not dated, but taut and spare, portraying both the mood of the average Soviet citizen and the lives they were forced to lead and an excellent plot line. Even given the events over the past 3 decades, the story line does not seem outdated at all� merely a Russian police procedural set in a particular era, which I think is an achievement. His characters seem almost contemporary, and are well-drawn.[return][return]Almost 30 years old, this is still a good read. Highly recommended.(less)

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Dec 05, 2012 CC rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Originally published in 1981, I wasn't sure whether to give this one a try or not. I'm glad I did.

It's communist Russia. Anti-semitism reigns and hunting dissidents is a sport. The KGB would rather trump up charges on you and kill you than find the truth and set you free. Everybody looks over their shoulder, all the time, including Chief Investigator, Arkady Renko.

Arkady's called to Gorky Park -- three bodies are dead in the snow, frozen solid. Shot, their faces and fingertips have been sliced...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Sarah Sammis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Although I love thrillers and "man books" as I often heard them called, I usually avoid the Soviet Union based stories. For whatever reason, the KGB bores me. There are a few exceptions to the rule like From Russia with Love and The Red Fox. Gorky Park isn't exactly a KGB thriller but they are there as foils to Moscow detective, Arkady Renko. In fact it is their role across so many books as foils and cardboard cutout villains that contributes to so much of my boredom in the sub-genre of the KGB...more Although I love thrillers and "man books" as I often heard them called, I usually avoid the Soviet Union based stories. For whatever reason, the KGB bores me. There are a few exceptions to the rule like From Russia with Love and The Red Fox. Gorky Park isn't exactly a KGB thriller but they are there as foils to Moscow detective, Arkady Renko. In fact it is their role across so many books as foils and cardboard cutout villains that contributes to so much of my boredom in the sub-genre of the KGB thriller.

The bulk of Gorky Park's mystery could have happened anywhere. It is a triple murder where the bodies have had most identifying features removed and the bodies left to freeze out in the middle of a park. Those working on the case must: identify the bodies, determine cause of death, find and interview potential "persons of interest" and hopefully track down a suspect with enough evidence to warrant an arrest. These tasks require time, skill, a degree of luck, and resources. By choosing Moscow at the nadir of the Soviet Union, Smith forces a number of restraints on his mystery: corruption, a meddling police state, and no financial support for a large case.

Over all I liked the change of scenery from the usual cities the mysteries I read take place: London, San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York, but Smith seemed to take much too long building his world and commenting on the bleak life style of the typical detective in Moscow. After a while, all this commentary from various characters on what life in the city was like seemed artificial and a hindrance to the story.

Arkady Renko is an overworked, underpaid, under-resourced Moscow detective faced with a triple murder. Thus begins Arkady's fight against the KGB, FBI and NYPD and his trip from the Soviet Union to the United States. Everyone has his own agenda and everyone is working at cross purposes leaving Arkady to pick his allies as he best he can to solve the case.

While I enjoyed the intrigue, the story drags in parts where the author spends too much of his time describing just how bad things are for working class stiffs in Moscow under the Communist regime. Especially early on, every new scene begins with a description of the set and how bad things are. While these descriptions are good for creating the setting and building the mood, they also hinder the flow of the story. It also takes the story a long time (more than 100 pages) to introduce all the characters and set up the dynamic of their interactions. The story doesn't really hit its stride until all the players are in place.
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Mar 17, 2011 Mommalibrarian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, russian-literature, historical-fiction

Seems like only yesterday. The U.S.S.R. in all its convoluted communist doublespeak, committees, special classes in its 'classless' society, Your coworkers, teachers even your children could be spies and informers. This is before organized crime and the usual crime is drunk on drunk. The investigator gets the call to investigate a triple homicide.

"There were quotas. A militiaman [policeman] on the beat was expected to report officially only so many crimes; otherwise he would put his fellow milit...more

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Jan 23, 2011 Natalia Pì rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mentre leggo: mi vien già da dire MEH.
Allora, è vero che io mi sono avvicinata a questo libro piena di aspettative, ma se tutti te lo vendono come leggenda, come geniale, come il thriller degli anni 80 e compagnia bella, è normale che un po' di aspettativa si crea, giusto?
La storia è interessante, ma niente di sconvolgentemente originale. Quello che fa bene l'autore, sicuramente, è ricreare l'atmosfera di una Mosca livida e piena di intrighi, schiacciata dall'apparato di sicurezza dell'URSS. E'...more

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Nov 08, 2010 David Jackmanson rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of my favourite noir novels ever, a story I keep coming back to. The first time I read this book I thought it was just typical USAian triumphalism over the Soviet Union, but I was wrong. The USA is shown as a place where it's a little easier to breathe, but it's dominated by the rich and powerful just as the Soviet Union is.

Arkady Renko is a prosecutor's investigator for homicide in Moscow in the late 1970s. He is called to a murder scene in Gorky Park, Moscow's favourite place to forget the...more One of my favourite noir novels ever, a story I keep coming back to. The first time I read this book I thought it was just typical USAian triumphalism over the Soviet Union, but I was wrong. The USA is shown as a place where it's a little easier to breathe, but it's dominated by the rich and powerful just as the Soviet Union is.

Arkady Renko is a prosecutor's investigator for homicide in Moscow in the late 1970s. He is called to a murder scene in Gorky Park, Moscow's favourite place to forget the world for a little, where three bodies with their faces cut off and their fingertips sheared have lain for several months. He desperately tries to get out of the case, supposing that the victims were killed by the KGB, whose Major Pribluda is an enemy of Renko. But the case sticks to him like a friend who needs a loan, and Renko is forced into intrigue and lies so he can either do his job, or avoid it.

Suspicion falls on a visiting USAian businessman, a fur dealer, whose aura of money and power make the drabness of Moscow even duller than it really is. But while this seems the perfect excuse to shunt the case over to the KGB, Renko still is stuck with it.

Gorky Park is a book about power, about what people who have it are like and what they get to do to people who don't. The details of everyday life in Moscow are fascinating, and the murder is gruesome enough to excite people who like that sort of thing but these are ultimately side issues. Martin Cruz Smith's book is about what it's like to live in a world where the rich and powerful can get away with almost anything - and he's not just talking about the Soviet Union.

NB: For an essay that perfectly explains why I enjoy noir fiction, see Raymond Chandler's The Simple Art of Murder:

The realist in murder writes of a world in which gangsters can rule nations and almost rule cities, in which hotels and apartment houses and celebrated restaurants are owned by men who made their money out of brothels, in which a screen star can be the fingerman for a mob, and the nice man down the hall is a boss of the numbers racket; a world where a judge with a cellar full of bootleg liquor can send a man to jail for having a pint in his pocket, where the mayor of your town may have condoned murder as an instrument of moneymaking, where no man can walk down a dark street in safety because law and order are things we talk about but refrain from practising; a world where you may witness a hold-up in broad daylight and see who did it, but you will fade quickly back into the crowd rather than tell anyone, because the hold-up men may have friends with long guns, or the police may not like your testimony, and in any case the shyster for the defense will be allowed to abuse and vilify you in open court, before a jury of selected morons, without any but the most perfunctory interference from a political judge.

It is not a very fragrant world, but it is the world you live in, and certain writers with tough minds and a cool spirit of detachment can make very interesting and even amusing patterns out of it. It is not funny that a man should be killed, but it is sometimes funny that he should be killed for so little, and that his death should be the coin of what we call civilization. All this still is not quite enough.

In everything that can be called art there is a quality of redemption. It may be pure tragedy, if it is high tragedy, and it may be pity and irony, and it may be the raucous laughter of the strong man. But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective in this kind of story must be such a man. He is the hero, he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.

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Jul 25, 2011 Manu Prasad rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: review

Gorky Park is the first of the Arkady Renko series - 2 others in the Soviet era, and three after the fall of the Soviet Union.
The book is as much a story about people and places as it is a crime thriller. The book starts with 3 bodies found in Gorky Park, in Moscow, with their faces and fingertips cut off. The investigation is led by Arkady Renko, who, after initial attempts to pass the case on to the KGB, sets out in dogged pursuit of the killer.
Renko, the son of a famous general, battles his...more

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May 12, 2011 Leftbanker rated it 5 of 5 stars

Anyone not giving this the highest rating should perhaps read it again.

I read Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith back when it first came out and loved it. As part of my new fitness program I’m doing a lot of brisk walking as my doctor says this will balance out the crazy amount of cycling that I do. I hate walking and running but if I have to do it I want to kill two birds. On my walks I have been listening to recorded books. Unfortunately, I haven’t found much in French and Spanish to improve my l...more Anyone not giving this the highest rating should perhaps read it again.

I read Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith back when it first came out and loved it. As part of my new fitness program I’m doing a lot of brisk walking as my doctor says this will balance out the crazy amount of cycling that I do. I hate walking and running but if I have to do it I want to kill two birds. On my walks I have been listening to recorded books. Unfortunately, I haven’t found much in French and Spanish to improve my language skills. English books I got, and lots of them. I have been listening to Gorky Park on my recent walks and I have to say that I underappreciated this book the first time around. His skill as a writer is apparent in every paragraph.

I don’t think the author had visited the Soviet Union before writing the novel yet he seems to totally nail the communist mentality. Maybe he served in the American military where this extreme version of kiss-ass careerism is de rigueur. The Soviet anti-hero in the book, Arkady Renko is a police investigator who almost completely against his will is forced into a murder investigation. He has no use for the communist party or its trappings of benefits and promotions for the elite. Arkady hates the system yet he is ironically the best communist in the story, right down to the shitty soviet cigarettes he smokes. The story in Gorky Park takes a backseat to the descriptions of Soviet life and the characters. But it’s not like the story is lacking at all, it’s just that the protagonist steals the show in almost every passage.

There are almost countless memorable scenes in the book and one of my favorites is when Arkady visits a friend who has just purchased a new Soviet-made washing machine that he waited ten months to get. “Very highly rated,” his friend tells him to which Arkady replies, “And not in the least bourgeois.” Arkady is definitely not bourgeois, not in the least and he continues to be underwhelmed by the washer.

Misha had crammed four underpants into the spin dryer. At that rate,
Arkady estimated, moving laundry from the agitator tub to the spin dryer and on to the
communal clothesline, a week's wash could be done in . . . a week.

The machine is a total piece of crap and as he is showing Arkady how it works it goes haywire and is on the verge of exploding before Arkady has the sense to pull the plug.

'A little problem, love,' Misha said. 'The washer isn't quite working.'
'That's all right. We can still show it to people.'
She seemed genuinely content.

Don’t ask me why—it’s a long story—but I speed-read a chic lit novel on Sunday morning called Something Borrowed that was evidently some sort of best seller and is not a movie. This book is absolutely one of the biggest pieces of shit I have ever read. I defy anyone to point out one paragraph that has any sort of craft in the writing, and forget about the plot. The entire book reads like a run-on sentence written by a spoiled suburbanite teen, which probably isn’t far from the truth. Gorky Park is probably filed under thrillers in by librarians yet it completely transcends the genre. It was popular and, like the ridiculous chic lit novel, was made into a film but what a difference in artistic merit between these two books. (less)

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Oct 16, 2009 Marieke rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, read-in-2007

I picked up Gorky Park at the library because I had been wanting to read Polar Star, its sequel, again.

I listened to Polar Star on tape years ago on a road trip to Burning Man and it was grippingly real, gritty, rusty and bloody. Murder on a Russian fishing vessel out in the Arctic. I felt as if I had been on that ship for months after the book ended. I could see the characters in front of me, as real as my friends.

I knew I must start with Gorky Park. There were a few things in Polar Star that I...more

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Feb 20, 2011 Colin Guy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found this book a little disapointing as it seemed very slow plot wise, and the central characters were not as grounded and believable as in others novels of this genre. It is well written with an intricate plot, however, and it is clear that Cruz-Smith knows his stuff when it comes to all things Russian. It does not help that several of the better characters are killed off quite early in the book (I particulary liked Pasha, Renko's partner) and most of the remaining ones are little more than...more

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Jul 31, 2009 Elizabeth K. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008-new-reads

Would you believe I have owned a copy of this book for more than 20 years, and never read it until now? I grabbed it from my parents' house when I was in college, I think to read on the train back to school, and apparently didn't get around to it until a few weeks ago. I think this was probably more fascinating to read now than it was when it came out, in some ways at least. It's very much a standard police thriller novel -- there's a crime and a police investigator has to solve it, but the nove...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Superiu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Directo de mi blog:

Apenas vi una película de esas que tenía ganas de ver desde hace mucho y no se había presentado la oportunidad. Afortunadamente mi hermano se la compró y me la prestó: Gorky Park

Gorky Park es, originalmente, una novela de Martin Cruz Smith, novela que hace ya un buen tiempo que leí y que había gustado mucho y de ahí mi interés por ver la película. Una de las mejores novelas de intriga policiaca y que tiene su secuela en el libro de Estrella Polar. La película en sí, es la mejo...more Directo de mi blog:

Apenas vi una película de esas que tenía ganas de ver desde hace mucho y no se había presentado la oportunidad. Afortunadamente mi hermano se la compró y me la prestó: Gorky Park

Gorky Park es, originalmente, una novela de Martin Cruz Smith, novela que hace ya un buen tiempo que leí y que había gustado mucho y de ahí mi interés por ver la película. Una de las mejores novelas de intriga policiaca y que tiene su secuela en el libro de Estrella Polar. La película en sí, es la mejor adaptación al cine que he visto de una novela... prácticamente la novela fue el guión, ya que no tuvieron que hacerle muchas modificaciones para plasmarla en la pantalla y quedé muy complacido con la película.

Cuando mi hermano me la prestó, pensé que si la película era la mitad de buena e interesante que el libro, ya iba de gane. Mucha fue mi sorpresa cuando vi que el único cambio significativo es que el final de la trama terminá en Estocolmo en la película, cuando en la novela terminá en Nueva York, si mal no recuerdo.

La película es estelarizada por William Hurt y Lee Marvin, además de Joanna Pacula, una actriz rusa que está preciosa; la trama empieza cuando tres cadáveres sin rostro ni huellas dactilares son encontrados en el parque Gorky y a partir de minúsculas pistas, se van develando los motivos, asesinos, tratos y cómplices de este multicídio que dejan a cualquier capítulo de CSI corto.

El dilema del detective de la policía rusa, Arkady Renko, entre seguir la investigación a la vez de poner a salvo su vida que ha sido comprometida por sus superiores, en un marco de la Rusia de la Unión de Repúblicas Soviéticas Socialistas, es bien llevada y no se "sacan de la manga" explicaciones o soluciones impresionantes.

El tráfico de animales para su explotación de parte del norteaméricano Osbourne y el hecho de que Arkady le muestre de frente la evidencia y no pueda ejercer su autoridad le da un toque de realismo como el que sufrimos ante el abuso de autoridad.

Mi calificación para esta película es de 10, ya que, a pesar de no ser de 1983, los productores Gene Kirkwood y Howard W Koch y el director Michael Apted hicieron un trabajo impecable al plasmar la escencia de la novela sin grandes presupuestos, pero con las locaciones perfectas para la realización de esta película.(less)

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May 06, 2011 Jess rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, read-in-2011

After the discovery of three mutilated corpses in the snow of Gorky Park, Chief Investigator Arkady Renko sets out to find the killer and bring him to justice, uncovering political and institutional corruption in Soviet Russia and America alike.

The investigation of the crime, while relying on Renko's quick wits and intuition, is fast paced and quite exciting but I felt like Gorky Park loses momentum once the central crime was solved. The bloody justice that followed seemed like an unnecessarily...more

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Nov 12, 2010 Sarah O. rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought this was a very well written book, as it should've been, as it took the author a number of years to complete it. It is a slower read, because the atmosphere and setting of the book are so rich. The crimes committed in the book are complicated enough, but then when you add the highly charged political history of the time, this combination is like a lit powder keg. Something just has to happen - and it happens big. While not full of explosions, the tensions between the U. S. & Russia...more

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May 13, 2013 Mathew rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think if I were a better reader I might give this 5 instead of 4 stars. But there are a lot of Russian names and a complicated plot that involves a cast of bit players as well as the essential ones and requires several passages of explication toward the end to clarify. Plus I'm not sold on Part 2 which seems a complicated (perhaps necessary?) way of saying "Time passed".

But Renko is an fascinating character: a man of principle in a world where principle is meaningless. In such context, his ac...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Deborah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audible

Excellent mystery/spy novel. I honestly don't know enough about the Soviet Union to know if it's completely realistic, but it presents a believable Soviet society in which corruption flourishes. Indeed, it MUST flourish given the impossible conditions of the revolution. In particular, the assumption that the State is perfect means that all questioning is considered mental illness. Arkady Renko is the detective who works, often cynically, within this system to solve a murder. One could come away...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Abhinav rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-reading-saga, the-cj-library, crime-fiction, romance, noir, i-own-a-copy

3 to 3.5 stars. Would've been 4 stars probably if I had not come across Child 44 first, which meant this was always gonna be compared to Tom Rob Smith's novel.

I think if John le Carre wrote crime novels instead of espionage ones, it would end up being something similar to 'Gorky Park'. What is admirable about this book is its scope - how it starts with a triple murder in the heart of Moscow, transcends through places like Leningrad & Shatura and finally culminates in a riveting finale in New...more

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Mar 07, 2012 Nancy Ellis rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is definitely an excellent book, wonderfully written, and it just draws you right in, even though it's extremely dark and pretty depressing! Obviously it takes place in Moscow long before the collapse of the Soviet Union, so you wouldn't expect a sunny, cheerful story. Nobody is happy or has a sense of humor. :/ Our "hero" is the investigator of a crime involving three gruesome murders in Gorky Park (what a coincidence....). Naturally there's all the intrigue, vodka, black market activity,...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Hikachi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-or-detective-work, mystery-or-thriller

Judging from the thickness, I thought it'd be another boring book like Clancy's Patriot Games, in which, I still couldn't bring myself to finish.
But I was wrong. Like, greatly wrong. Arkady Renko was more like a Chekovied + Dostoyevkied version of Kurt Wallander.

The story opened with three bodies found in Gorky Park. Two males, and one female. Those bodies were disfigured that it took a while to identify them. And the detective Arkady Renko as the chief investigator has to find out who they were...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Virginia rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

p.133 in my paperback is the start of the scene with Arkady in William Kirwill's hotel room and it's so perfectly Renko that I just have to say why: We don't know what Renko is looking for, 'though Renko probably does (he's supposedly looking for Russian-made clothing). Underneath the bed he finds a locked case which, when forced open, appears to be an American camera case. But, again, Renko knows exactly what he's looking at . When Kirwill returns to the room suddenly Arkady is startled but not...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Steve In Ludlow rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, crime

Nearer a 4.5 really but I liked Renko so much that I could allow for a slight dropping of pace for the middle bit of the book.

This had been on my radar for ages but assumed it might be lightweight stuff given its early adaptation for film. However, pleasantly surprised to find a dense and authentic slab of crime fiction dripping with Soviet gloom and black humour.

It kept me gripped most of the way (despite a bit of a lull somewhere just after the middle) and I was suitably drawn in by the perfu...more

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Dec 17, 2011 Maureen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

i think gorky park is a great example of research building into a real and relevant world: author cruz smith is not russian yet he provides enough context and types that i buy his soviet union, and believe in the characters that people it, especially his chief inspector, arkady renko, but he doesn't overdo it either: he doesn't layer in a lot of factoids that he learned along the way. it's a well-plotted book, and i was really engaged right until late into the last part, where kirwill and arkady...more

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Mar 20, 2010 F.R. rated it 3 of 5 stars

The first two-thirds of this Moscow-based police procedural are riveting, both a character study of a painfully diligent detective and an indictment of a system. Beyond that point it’s rather heavy handed on the differences between the USSR and the USA, while the thriller elements become exceedingly preposterous.

The bodies of three young people are found buried in the snow of Gorky Park, and Chief Investigator Renko – even whilst trying to pass the case over to the KGB – becomes increasingly obs...more

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Jun 07, 2007 Don Rea rated it 5 of 5 stars

The only downside to the end of the monolithic USSR was the end of the possibility of novels like this. The author uses the backdrop of the Soviet machinery to show, bit by bit, that decent people are decent and corrupt people are corrupt in much the same ways on both side of the iron curtain.

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Mar 14, 2012 Mart rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller

The book starts slowly while it brings in a considerate number of different threads into the fabric of the book. New characters are introduced, new stakeholders, more background stories. At some point it really seems that the stage is set for something really sophisticated and thrilling. Sadly, the stage is set at the last 1/5 of the book or so. Then it appears that the author is either running out of paper or getting tired, so the threads are being tied to knots really hurriedly, resulting in t...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Maureen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

I recently read this book for the second time. The first time I read it, many years ago, I did not "get" it and missed a good deal of the story. The second time through I found it very engaging and full of exciting misguided characters.

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Mar 16, 2012 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio-books

I can't remember when I've read a more scathing indictment of the Soviet Union. I can understand why this book was banned there when it was first published. Of course, the Americans--specifically the FBI--don't fare well either.

I was initially tempted to give this book four stars, but I found myself tiring of the twists and turns (there can be too much of a good thing, after all) and mystified by the motivation of the protagonist, Arkady Renko. That Renko is complex--and a self-described quinte...more

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About Martin Cruz Smith

AKA Simon Quinn, Nick Carter.

Martin Cruz Smith (born Martin William Smith), American novelist, received his BA in Creative Writing from the University of Pennsylvania in 1964. He worked as a journalist from 1965 to 1969 before turning his hand to fiction. His first mystery (Gypsy in Amber – 1971) features NY gypsy art dealer Roman Grey and was nominated for an Edgar Award. Nightwing was his breakt...more

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Gorky Park (Arkady Renko #1)

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