Customer Reviews

Havana Bay (Arkady Renko Novels, No 4)

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Martin Cruz Smith is the Dante of post-Soviet Russia, and Arkady Renko, Mr. Cruz Smith's protagonist in the "Gorky Park" series is our guide to the nether regions. Renko is the perfect Russian: tortured, haunted, romantic, and in need of a square meal. The problem is, if you fed him he'd probably go into shock from the nourishment. In "Havana Bay" Renko doesn't seem to consume much more than strong cigarettes and the left-over pickles in a recently murdered (?) friend's refrigerator. And how a Russian in Cuba gets home-style pickles is a mystery unto itself.

Mr. Cruz Smith is a master of atmosphere and character. In his series he takes us from Moscow, to the Bering Sea, to Havana, and each locale is another vision of hell on earth. He has a detailists eye, and whether it's the slick of oil on water, the tactile pleasure of a cold can of beer, or the sound of cloven hooves on marble he awakens each scene with particulars. Havana is a city being slowly strangled by economics and regressing to the corruption and lust for the tourist dollar of the Batista era.

Mr. Cruz Smith's characters are neither black nor white, but the moral gray of humans under stress. Yes, the good guys are good, but they are also flawed, and that accounts for much of their attraction. Renko, Orfelia his Cuban detective inamorata, George Washington Walls an ex-pat US radical, and the sundry other characters in this well written, literate, mystery are all worth watching. Mr. Cruz Smith doesn't sketch, he paints.

Settle back, read, and you are there - have a good time in hell!

This is the latest installment in a series starring the Moscow investigator Arkady Renko. For those familiar with this series, this book is most similar to the second installment, Polar Star. Like all of Cruz Smith's books, this is a well written and capably plotted mystery. As with all the books in the series, the plot involves murder, political intrigue, and official corruption. Neither Havana Bay nor its two predecessors approach the quality of the original book in the series, Gorky Park. That book was a particularly stylish and imaginative variation of the classic American detective novel developed by Raymond Chandler in which the protagonist is the only decent individual, or at least the only individual interested in the truth, in a corrupt milieu. In Gorky Park, Renko's preoccupation with finding the truth makes him into a virtually heroic figure in Soviet Moscow. In the subsequent books, Renko appears more passive. This is particularly true in Havana Bay, where the suicidal Renko's grip on life has become tenuous and his interest in the truth seems more a matter of habit than passion. Cruz Smith does not apparently have the ability to make Renko's despair realistic enough to make the characterization compelling. The most interesting character is Renko's Cuban counterpart and love interest, a female detective caught in the contradictions of her idealism and the reality of post-Cold War Cuba. Still, this is a decent read and better than most books in this genre.

Havana Bay, like many of Martin Cruz Smith's books, works becasue he recreates the milieu of his story so well - and because it is so interesting a setting. The plot itself is so dense that it recedes behind the scenery. Arkady Renko, Russian and self-conscious to the core, stands out like a sore thumb in Havana. His clothes, his attitude, his singular search for the truth about what happened to his late 'friend', all set him apart from those around him and propel him to the less than exciting conclusion that Cruz serves up for the reader. Far from the best of the Renko series, Havana Bay is still an interesting story and deserves to be read. Cruz can conjure up locale and scene better than any writter I know. If for no other reason than a vicarious trip to contemporary Havana, I would recommend this book.

The first three novels about Arkady Renko were strengthened by a powerful story arc that developed throughout the books--his banishment from and return to mainstream Russian society and the slow development and eventual cosummation of his romance with Irina. Irina's presence figured heavily in Arkady's life throughout those books; even when she was not present, her presence was strongly felt.

With those story arcs concluded, "Havana Bay" feels a bit superfluous. Worse than that, Irina has been eliminated before the events of the novel even begin. Was this really necessary? For those of us who followed Arkady as he struggled through that difficult romance, this is a very disappointing choice on the part of the author. Couldn't Irina have been waiting at home while Renko had his Cuban adventure? Is the idea of a happy Renko so intolerable? Cut the man a little slack, Mr. Smith!

Nevertheless, this book is very enjoyable. The mileau is perfect: decadent, sleazy opportunists scheming in the midst of a crumbling society. Although Martin's Cuba isn't as fully realized as his European locales, his eye for telling detail and interesting local color remains sharp. Arkady's ally, Ofelia Osorio, is a fascinating protagonist--I would be happy to read a book about her alone. She possesses the passion for finding the truth that seems to be somewhat dimmed in Renko this time around.

I have read all of the previous Arkady Renko books by Martin Cruz Smith, as well as the enjoyable change of pace Rose, so I eagerly looking forward to reading this latest installment in the Renko series. While a subpar effort by a skilled mystery writer like Smith is still better than most novels in the genre, Havana Bay is definitely not his best work.

The book takes place in Havana, as the title would suggest, although it is never really explained to the reader's satisfaction exactly what compelled Arkady to travel to Cuba, on his own dime, to investigate the death of an old comrade.

As is usual in the series, Arkady meets his share of corruption at higher levels, attempted cover-ups, attractive mysterious women who somehow are drawn to him and his rumpled appearance, etc. Renko seems to be going through the motions even more than usual here, driven to seek the truth by some sense of duty to ascertain whether his friend was murdered or died naturally , (even if it kills him), in a strange land with no cooperation by the authorities.

I thought the strongest character of the novel was Cuba itself, in all its faded glory. The sights, sounds and smells of the island come alive in Smith's talented hands, as did the frozen skating pond of Gorky Park and the arctic fishing boat of Polar Star. The problem here is that the other characters in the novel are a forgettable bunch, and the plot is more convoluted than even Smith fans can expect.

I enjoyed passages of this book, and I feel like I know Cuba almost as if I visited the island. However the story of the novel was pretty forgettable, and I would only recommend this one to real fans of the Renko series. For all you others, if you've already read Gorky Park, read Rose instead.

O.K., the combination of Martin Cruz Smith and Arkady Renko pretty much generates two stars by default. The intriguing setting gets another (although Havana is rendered with considerably less authority than Moscow was...or even a fishing trawler), but the author struggled with much of the rest.

The cast of characters was weak. New Renko readers will particulary suffer from a sketchy portrait of the (dead) Pribluda. Renko's actions lack motive, and something more creative should have been done with the narrative to bring their relationship back to life. The love interest seems to be thrown in as an after thought. (The climate seems to generate most of the steaminess despite myriad references to, and descriptions of, nubile Cuban women.) Again, those who missed the original depiction of Irena will wonder about what kind of nut would constantly wear a cashmere coat in the Carribean. I didn't struggle with the plot as much as others, but the "peeling the layers of an onion" feeling was not rewarded by the conclusion. It was literally an anticlimax. On the other hand, if you read Smith for fireworks, you're missing most of the pleasure anyway. This book is not really a mystery; still less is it a thriller. It's a novel set in an exotic local with an archtypal Russian detective.

Read it for the mix of familiar (Arkady) and exotic (Havana), plus some high grade commercial prose, and you won't be disappointed...but if you are not already a friend of Renko, read Gorky Park and be utterly captivated instead.

After a few uneven novels, compelling story teller Martin Cruz Smith has plucked Arkady Renko, the hero of "Gorky Park," "Polar Star" and "Red Square," out of freeze to take on the rouges once again.

By sending Detective Renko to Havana to identify the body of his old friend Sergei Pribluda, Smith sets himself a considerable challenge: Not only must he provide the sophisticated whirls of intrigue for which "Gorky Park" is famous; he has to make the country seem real from a Russian's perspective. Arkady has to assimilate language, customs and even a little Cuban forensicology at a dizzying rate. But the tropical locations of "Havana Bay" reward both the author -- who meets the challenge by grounding the book with precise, credible detail -- and his inexhaustible protagonist.

In Havana, a cabal of Cuban police officers wants to prevent Arkady from identifying the body, and, if possible, to prevent him from going home alive. Only one officer, a single mother named Ofelia Osorio, comes to his assistance, and together the two try to get to the heart of an international conspiracy of venal, murderous thugs.

Smith has a delicately layered touch with this novel. Along with a love story, he takes the reader along with Arkady on a hairpin-curve tour through the topics of Russo-Cuban relations, Santeria and the local conventions of hustling with the unsentimental deftness of a seasoned guide. Smith, like other Cold War writers, has had some difficulty in the past few years finding the emerging markets for intrigue. His 1992 novel "Red Square" was an interesting but somewhat shallow dive into Moscow's organized crime problem; his novel, "Rose," was an ambitious piece of historical fiction about the perils of coal mining in England.

So while Smith's writing hadn't suffered much, it hadn't excelled, either. Now it has. Enjoy this solicitous, lascivious, at times, sleek-sleaze ride.

Martin Cruz Smith brings his unusual Russian detective back for a fourth time in Havana Bay, set in Cuba during the special period of the late 90's. Fortunately for Renko, he is not aging as fast as the rest of us, since it has been a full two decades since he first appeared on the scene.

Renko has been fully through the cycle at least twice now, from star of the Moscow prosecutor's office to hopeless outcast. And for a Russian to be down on his luck, that is truly a state reminiscent of a day in the life of Ivan Denisovich. Renko attempts without success some things in this novel, that are truly out of character for the fighter and survivor that he has shown himself to be.

One almost gets the sense that Smith has grown weary of Renko, and wants to get rid of him in an inappropriate way (similar to Conan Doyle dumping Holmes over a cliff in Switzerland) so that he can get on with his life's work. Fortunately for us, and unfortunately for Smith, his non-Renko books haven't sold, so we will have Renko to kick around a bit longer.

Havana Bay starts out mildly enough. A former associate of Renko, one of the last of the Stalinist patriots and a spy, is found dead in Cuba, maybe murdered. Renko agrees to go to Cuba to identify and return home with the body.

Ultimately he does that, but it is not a linear progression. First he encounters anti-revolutionaries and revolutionaries, corrupt and violent police, beautiful policewoman working undercover in vice, religious cults, demolition experts turned mechanics, fishermen employing unorthodox techniques, and Americans on the lam trolling for investment opportunities from Capone's yacht and Hemingway's Cadillac.

This is the time of the special period. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Cuba finds herself lacking allies and sponsors. Russians become very sparse and more hated than Americans. Renko crosses paths with the best characters in the story, two of the 84 Americans living in exile on the island. One hijacked a plane to Cuba 20 years ago, and has not figured out what to do since, and the other is a Robert Vesco type financier on the run from the US law, planning real estate developments in Havana.

Renko should have known he was in trouble when his hosts start introducing him as the new Russian, since the last Russian turned up dead. But of course, he puts all the pieces together, despite resistance and worse from the authorities. He even witnesses the last supper, where the menu was lobster or nothing, and even those ordering the lobster would not eat or drink.

Though "Havan Bay" takes place far from the cold and inhospitable climes braved by intrepid investigator Arkady Renko in Martin Cruz Smith's other Renko novels ("Gorky Park", "Polar Star" and "Red Square"), the famed and unloved Moscow detective finds himslef feeling right at home - which is to say that nobody wants him around. Ostensibly in Cuba to identify the body of Renko's one-time enemy and savior, KGB Col. Pribluda, Renko meets expatriate Russians, exiled American hippies and a host of Cubans who endure their island nation's gradual disintegration. The body Pribluda, who saved Renko's life after "Gorky Park", is barely recognizable, but nobody expects the visiting Moscow detective to challenge official Cuban story that the washed up, disintegrated body is Pribluda's, or that the old KGB officer's death was anything more than an accident. Renko, all but clinically depressed folowing the sudden death of his wife, is in no mood to make friends or follow official decisions on anything. Unlike previosu novels, Renko has no official responsibility to find the truth, or any ulterior motive to do so. Unlike the situation in "Polar Star", set aboard a floating fish factory in the Glasnost days before the collapse of the USSR, there is no hidden room where KGB officers control the situation. Nevertheless, Renko presses on. The clues don't fit together as neatly as they do in "Polar Star", and the portrait of a decayed Havana doesn't offer the reader as much as say the newly reunified Germany of "Red Square" (for that matter, it doesn't offer much to the Cubans either), but the plot never dips and Smith's prose never cease to surprise.

Havana Bay is the first Arkady book I've read, and it really makes me feel like I've been missing out on something great. The quality of the prose is so much better than most books of this type, and the authors rendering of time and place is phenomenal. I've been to Cuba and spend a lot of time absorbing Cuban culture through music, dance, reading, etc. Havana Bay is without a doubt the most comprehensive and knowledgable treatment of Cuba in a popular novel maybe ever. P.S. If you liked this book you'll love Outcast by Jose Latour, a Cuban writer and practitioner of 'Cuban noir.'