Gorky Park (Arkady Renko, #1)

Posted on 11 February 2017 by Martin Cruz Smith

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 to stay alive doing it. New Read [ Gorky Park (Arkady Renko, #1) ] Author [ Martin Cruz Smith ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Between watching the 80s era Soviet spies in FX s The Americans, and tensions running high over Russian activity in the Ukraine, it almost seems like Cold War never ended In fact, because of a European consulting firm being brought into my workplace, I m seeing Russians all over my building Hopefully things don t hit the point where I have to take to the hills and go all Red Dawn Wolverines With all this red scare stuff going on, it seemed like a great to time revisit this old favorite It Between watching the 80s era Soviet spies in FX s The Americans, and tensions running high over Russian activity in the Ukraine, it almost seems like Cold War never ended In fact, because of a European consulting firm being brought into my workplace, I m...There are not many road signs in Russia, you know He laughed If you don t know where the road goes, you shouldn t be on it Arkady RenkoWhen Gorky Park was first published in 1981, it was immediately banned in the then Soviet Union because of its apt depiction of everyday Soviet life Though I ve never been to Russia my only immersion into the culture was the year I spent trying unsuccessfully to learn the language , its image is intricately linked with the glamorous Moscow of the fil There are not many road signs in Russia, you know He laughed If you don t know where the road goes, you shouldn t be on it Arkady RenkoWhen Gorky Park was first published in 1981, it was immediately banned in the then Soviet Union because of its apt depiction of everyday Soviet life Though I ve never been to Russia my only immersion into the culture was the year I spent trying unsuccessfully to learn the language , its image is intricately linked with the glamorous Moscow of the film, The Saint, in my mind s eye Smith s depiction is the polar opposite It s gritty, dark and dangerous Everyone fears being sent to political prison, or worse Siberia And they would be right to be afraid the murky past of a close relative, one whisper from a vengeful neighbor, or even owning a Bible would be enough to get one into trouble with the KGB.Detective Arkady Renko lives a simple life Though the son of a decorated war general, and a member of the communist party, he prefe...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 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 pain...This novel was originally published in 1981 Almost 36 years ago I believe that I attempted to read the book once before, perhaps shortly after it s publication, but did not finish I wish I had read it then Reading it today I find it is dated The author demonstrated talent in describing scenes in the story whether it is in Moscow, a Russian dacha, or a dingy New York hotel room you could visualize it and feel as though you were right there What I found difficult to believe was the level of This novel was originally published in 1981 Almost 36 years ago I believe that I attempted to read the book once before, perhaps shortly after it s publication, but did not finish I wish I had read it then Reading it today I find it is dated The author demonstrated talent in describing scenes in the story whether it is in Moscow, a Russian dacha, or a dingy New York hotel room you could visualize it and feel as though you were right there What I found difficult to believe was the level of corruption and conspiracy Basically everyone Arkady Renko, a chief homicide investigator, is assigned to a case involving three corpses found in Gorky Park, an amusement park in Moscow, who have had their faces and fingertips cut off It is a cold case no pun intended The victims had been buried in the snow and only revealed when the snow started to melt Renko is smart and sensitive He is also a ...A little bit of actual research would ve been nice I am very forgiving when it comes to getting things wrong about USSR after all, not everyone lived there and not everyone knows the culture I was able to forgive the misuse of names and the word comrade I was able to forgive the fact the the author seems to think that Moscow is located at the north pole Factories suing each other though come on Who doesn t know that in communism all factories belong to the state That would mean that t A little bit of actual research would ve been nice I am very forgiving when it comes to getting things wrong about USSR after all, not everyone lived there and not everyone knows the culture I was able to forgive the misuse of names and the word comrade I was able to forgive the fact the the author seems to think that Moscow is located at the north pole Factories suing each other though come on Who doesn t know that in communism all factories belong to the state That would mean that the government was suing itself Also couldn t forgive the idea that kgb would have to cover up killing people accused in treason I had a family mem...Well Sigh I m deciding what to write Ok Truth.I m disappointed with Gorky Park , book one in the Soviet Union s Inspector Arkady Renko series Oh, it s a fine inventive entertainment for a mystery, with a lot of twists and near death escapes, tons of corrupt cops and officials, and so many betrayals and hidden motives I am amazed the body count wasn t higher considering the undrained swamps that Renko wades through in not just Russia, but also in New York City In Russia, many different off Well Sigh I m deciding what to write Ok Truth.I m disappointed with Gorky Park , book one in the Soviet Union s Inspector Arkady Renko series Oh, it s a fine inventive entertainment for a mystery, with a lot of twists and near death escapes, tons of corrupt cops and officials, and so many betrayals and hidden motives I am amazed the body count wasn t higher considering the undrained swamps that Renko wades through in not just Russia, but also in New York City In Russia, many different official police, prosecutor and spy departments want Renko to not really solve the murders of the three bodies found in Moscow s Gorky Park, but instead they each want him to say he solved the crimes in the way each department head wants Each has a plan to force or trick Renko into filing a report that each of the representatives of the different Russian departments want, and afterwords they each ...I ve been wanting to read this book for a very long time so it was disappointing t0 find that it wasn t quite as enjoyable as I d hoped Some characters were well fleshed out and Smith was great at describing the locale, making it easy for readers to visualize their surroundings, be they a Russian General s dacha or a dingy New York hotel room What did bother me was its pacing and it s labyrinthine conspiracy where it seems that almost everybody was colluding with everyone else For a book with I ve been wanting to read this book for a very long time so it was disappointing t0 find that it wasn t quite as enjoyable as I d hoped Some characters were well fleshed out and Smith was great at describing the locale, making it easy for readers to visualize their surroundin...Martin Cruz Smith s novels featuring Chief Investigator Arkady Renko have long been favourites of mine As there hasn t been a new Renko book since Tatiana in 2013 I thought I d return for the fourth time to the beginning Yet again I m still thrilled by the excellent plotting, the well drawn characters the author s ability to create a fascinating portrait of Russia.Gorky Park is not only one of my favourite novels it is also one of my all time favourite films When I was young I had the Martin Cruz Smith s novels featuring Chief Investigator Arkady ...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...This is probably my most favorite detective novel read to date, because it is so muchthan a mystery it is really a masterfully written, poignant, cynical, realistic, and all too palpable portrayal of life behind the Iron Curtain Having been born and raised in this part of the world before 1989, I almost cannot believe how well an American author was able to capture the dreary, corrupt, existentially dispiriting and hopeless atmosphere of the era, without moralizing and without futile a This is probably my most favorite detective novel read to date, because it is so muchthan a mystery it is really a masterfully written, poignant, cynical, realistic, and all too palpable portrayal of life behind the Iron Curtain Having been born and raised in this part of the world before 1989, I almost cannot believe how w...

English
11 February 2017

Martin Cruz Smith