Customer Reviews

Blood and Rubles

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4 star:		(2)
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Most writers of mystery in Soviet Russia are boring without the KGB "badguy" holding their hero back. Kaminsky does a terrific job with the new problems of Russia. Read his series from the beginning as the character development from book to book is worth it!

The Soviet Union under Yeltsin is beginning to disintegrate and the people are fearful of what will happen. Day by day there is less respect for the Government, Party and the Police. The ruble buys less every day and the old and war veterans are living on worthless pensions. Criminal gangs are taking over areas and neighborhoods, and nothing gets done without a little money to grease the wheels. Except for Rostnikov, Karpo, Tkatch and Zelach. As always there are three stories involved:

There is a mafia style shoot-out at a cafe, where a German is killed. He turns out to be a middle man interested in buying radioactive material from a gang, that he will turn over to 'third parties'. Unfortunately there are innocent bystanders who are killed and injured, and one turns out to be Karpo's friend Matilde. An American FBI agent,(who is a Russian speaking Black, so that he will blend in better) an expert in terrorism, is assigned to help Porfiry on this part of the case.

Tkatch and Zelach are assigned to find a gang of three young brothers (ages 11, 9 and 7) who have been mugging/killing drunks for their money. They know that they are kids, because every teenager now has a gun. During the case Tkatch is violently attacked by the kids and Zelach saves his life. The trial and court case tell alot about modern Russia.

Lastly, Elena is assigned to a high profile tax case, where first a warehouse full of icons and Russian antiques are found in the possession of an old woman who says that her brother saved/bought the stuff over the years. The house is put under police protection, but the next morning when the trucks come to take away the items, the warehouse is empty. Elena must find out what happened.

As an aside: Porfiry seems to be having a lot more trouble with his bad leg; Karpo is having trouble dealing with the dual loss of his friend and the fall of the Communist Party; Iosef (Porfiry's son) announce to Elena that he is in love with her and wants to marry, while at the same time he has put in his papers to join the Police.

The next book should be very interesting on the personal side.

Stuart Kaminsky's Blood and Rubles is the 10th book in his Porfiry Rostnikov series, and I enjoy each book even better than the last.

After the communist government has fallen, Russia finds herself in a state of unrest. As a result, crime is rampant and Moscow Special Crimes Investigator Rostnikov and his associates have more than enough to keep them busy. Rostnikov is probing the kidnapping of a wealthy businessman. Emil Karpo is searching for the Mafioso whose crossfire killed his innocent girlfriend. Elena Timofeyeva is investigating the theft of tsarist treasures. And Sasha Tkach and Akardy Zelach are trying to nab three youngsters who are suspected of beating, robbing and then killing men who are walking the streets drunk. Most of the crimes are a direct result of the economic hardships within Russian. Nobody has enough money, people can't feed their children and living conditions are grim. Even the police are not immune to this domestic downturn.

Once again, Rostnikov is amazing in his grasp of the situation and his intuition. But even when cases are solved, the Russian justice system is not a well-oiled machine, and Justine is not always done.

One of the most entertaining aspects of Blood and Rubles is the black FBI agent, Craig Hamilton, who is assigned to shadow Rostnikov. The FBI and the Russian police have very different ideas on crime solving. Russians are also amazed to see a black American who speaks perfect Russian. Rostnikov and Hamilton working together provide for some comical moments.

Kaminsky may be an American author, but he writes convincingly of the Russian condition, including the angst and irony that are a part of everyday life. He definitely has become one of my favorite mystery writers. I only wish that I could read these books in order, as their personal lives progress with each book. Unfortunately, some are out of print and hard to get.

As with all abridgements, this version by Sunset is very badly edited, and leaves out significant parts of the book that make it the 4star work it is. Whoever does these abridgements has no literary sense at all.

Stuart Kaminsky was a very prolific author. I followed with great interest his Russian series. This book is one of the best. After communism came anarchy. People victimized during the dictatorship were now being in even bigger peril.
The crimes discribed in this novel are distressing and hopeless, but the main characters are resilient and with typical Russian outlook, keep going and living. What other choice they have? As we are saying last farewell to Mr. Kaminsky, his powerful series with Inspector Rostnikov will stay with us as best in his remarkable opus.

Edgar Award-winner Kaminsky's Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov novel resonates with the "new capitalist" corruption and crime of modern Moscow.

Four cases send the inspector's team, augmented by black American FBI agent Craig Hamilton, assigned as an observor, delving into Moscow's seamiest and loftiest environs.

Inspectors Tkach and Zelach troll the slums for the extremely youthful killers of a drunk - only very young killers would have no guns. Inexperienced policewoman Elena Timofeyeva is, to her surprise, assigned to investigate the disappearance (after a tax-police raid) of a houseful of Czarist treasures worth billions of rubles. The enigmatic, dour Inspector Karpo, a devout communist, pursues the "Mafia" thugs involved in a street shooting which killed Karpo's lover. And for himself, Rostnikov keeps the case of the kidnapped capitalist. With Hamilton in tow, Rostnikov grapples with the police methods of East and West, borrowing when it suits him.

The mystery and challenge of survival in chaotic Moscow is as much the focus here as the various plot lines. Politics and bribery exert strong pressures as do crowded homes filled with troublesome relatives and smelling of poor food.

Kaminsky's laconic tone and colorful prose bring the city and its denizens to life - an often bleak and ruthless portrait. His story is deeply absorbing, full of character nuance and irony.

Kaminsky's novels aren't just about plot (I am referring to the Inspector Rostnikov mystery series - I haven't read the others), although their plots are tightly woven, ultra-suspenseful and keep one glued to the novels from beginning to end. He paints a fascinating and cynical portrait of post-communist Russia: the rise of the Mafia, the increase in crime, the corruption of the justice system. Police and government bribery became commonplace.

And in the middle of all this (deeply ensconced even) is the figure who is the heart and center of the novel. A burly, box-like man with a bad leg; a realist with a big heart; a pragmatist with unstopped intuition. It is the character development, finely drawn, that makes Kaminsky's stories so intriguing and powerful.

This novel follows three separate crimes, albeit with Inspector Rostnikov in charge of them all. He assigns three staff members that we have met in previous novels, to head up their investigations. One are street crimes performed by children (murders, no less), one involves the disappearance of very valuable Czarist treasures from a house, and lastly the murder of a prostitute who just happened to be the love of the third investigator's life. The story switches back and forth from one investigation to another easily, all sharing the thirst for justice in an increasingly unjust court system.

Stuart Kaminsky died in October 2009; he had been scheduled for a liver transplant but had a stroke, making him ineligible (probably too risky). A Cold Red Sunrise (another Inspector Rostnikov novel) received the 1989 Edgar Award for Best Novel. He earned six other Edgar nominations.

He was one of the best. And this book is another outstanding example of his talent.