Red Square (Arkady Renko Novels) [Hardcover]

Martin Cruz Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1993 | Series: Arkady Renko Novels

A thriller set in Russia and Germany, from the author of POLAR STAR, GORKY PARK and HAVANA BAY.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

America's preeminent writer of Russian-based thrillers explores international crime and political upheaval in this 10-week PW bestseller
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

12 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: San Val; 1 edition (November 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417708085
• ISBN-13: 978-1417708086
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,320,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Martin Cruz-Smith's novels include Stalin's Ghost, Gorky Park, Rose, December 6, Polar Star and Stallion Gate. A two-time winner of the Hammett Prize from the International Association of Crime Writers and a recipient of Britain's Golden Dagger Award, he lives in California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another riveting Arkady Renko tale..., April 30, 2005

By 

Cynthia K. Robertson (beverly, new jersey USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Red Square (Mass Market Paperback)

Red Square is the third Martin Cruz Smith mystery in the Arkady Renko series. After Polar Star, Renko finds himself back in Moscow and restored to his former position as an investigator. The Soviet Union is on the brink of collapse, and five or six different groups of Russian Mafia are vying for control in Moscow. One man, Rudy Rosen, is a tie to these many groups as he serves as a "banker" to them all. He also is an informer for Renko. When Rosen is brutally murdered, Renko has the difficult job of trying to find the killer.

Renko's search takes him from Moscow to Germany, where the possible suspects include gang members, the KGB, a Russian businessman and even a Russian prosecutor. There are many shady situations in Russia as communism begins its freefall, and the waters are definitely clouded. But Renko is extremely intelligent and also, very observant. Through hard work and perseverance, the waters start to clear for him.

Reading about this period of Russian history is always fascinating. It is also interesting to read how Radio Liberty (sponsored by Americans) broadcast out of Germany. This was the only way Russians could discover what was really happening in the USSR.

My only complaint about Red Square is that it seemed rather disjointed for the first one hundred pages or so. It was often difficult to keep characters straight and to follow the plot. But things really picked up halfway through, and the remainder of the book was riveting. I couldn't put it down.

So while I think Red Square fell just a little short of Gorky Park and Polar Star, it is still a fine effort by Cruz Smith.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Again, tops by Smith., March 11, 2001

By 

Sergio Flores (Orange, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Red Square (Mass Market Paperback)

The title is a play on words, and things have really changed in Arkady Renko's Moscow. He's an Investigator again; he has been rehabilitated. His concerns are the different mafias that rule the city's underground (and plenty of the above-ground) trade, and a radio program from Germany that connects him to his past. There are "bankers" in this new Moscow, and trade is in full swing. There are Audis, markets, chemical bombs, and charming Party-members who look like movie stars and get along with Americans because Americans love people who look and act like they do. The murder of a Jewish banker-informer takes Arkady and his partner to the outskirts of Moscow, to a collective farm that has not done much farming, to a Volvo ("a compact, well-made car" as Arkady thinks while looking for his partner) and to Stalin's villa. From there, right before the August putsch, Renko will go to Germany after the trail of the Russian mafia, after "Red Square," after the voice he listens to on the radio every night, alone in his apartment.

Full of intrigue and with a great plot, "Red Square" is also the most romantic of the Arkady Renko novels. Again, where so many of the genre writers fail miserably, Smith soars: the love between Arkady and Irina is poignant, believable, adult, and a bit childlish at the same time; the dialogues are realistic; the description is never trite or tired, but vital and fresh. Once again, Smith proves that he is not only a good genre writer who can churn out a superior mystery novel, but a great writer, period. In Arkady Renko he has created a person, not just a character, and his prose flows with ease. In "Red Square" Smith mixes the reality of the August coup and the barricades with the story of Arkady and Irina, and the pursuit of the truth regarding the deaths of an informant, a policeman, an affable Trabant-lover, and the smuggling of art. A Russian in Germany, a poor man from a poor country in a rich country not known for its hospitality to others, the real victors and the real losers from World War II, all this is part of the intricate but rewarding story of "Red Square." Whatever else Martin Cruz Smith decided to do with his detective in the next novel ("Havana Bay," most of which I did not approve of), he created a very tough-to-follow act with his Renko trilogy: genre novels, detective stories, that are well-written and presented with respect to the reader. These are true rarities in the crowded, low-quality mystery shelf. "Red Square," like "Gorky Park" and "Polar Star" before, stands out as top writing by a top writer.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Who can we be, if we get out alive?", January 27, 2007

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Red Square (Mass Market Paperback)

First published in 1992, _Red Square_ illustrates the complexities which have emerged as the Russians allow some private enterprise but have not yet become a democracy. Hardliners want to perpetuate their own way of life, while young people and the hungry proletariat want reform and their own piece of the pie. Arkady Renko, who has appeared in two previous Cruz Smith novels (Gorky Park and Polar Star), has returned to Moscow from exile and has resumed his job as a detective, this time investigating corruption and criminal fraud in the city as private enterprise takes illegal turns.

Rudy Rosen, who engages in money-changing, gambling, and other felonies, some of them involving citizens of foreign countries, is cooperating with Renko by allowing him to record conversations. Immediately after Renko leaves Rudy in his car, however, Rudy's car explodes, incinerating Rudy and a suitcase full of cash. As Renko investigates who might have killed Rudy, the complexity of this mystery parallels the complexities of a Russian society in which it's every man for himself in terms of financial transactions.

All the characters are at loose ends, wondering who they are and how they are perceived. Renko is just back from exile, the love of his life having defected to Germany years ago, and she believes that he has abandoned her. Rudy Rosen wants to have it both ways--to cooperate with Renko and to continue his shady dealings. The Chechens who appear in the story are blamed for everything that is violent or illegal, but they remember the horrors of mass relocation and the killings through which the Russians annihilated their villages and left them homeless. As the investigation of Rudy's death leads Renko from Moscow to Munich and Berlin (and to a meeting with Irina, his long lost love), Renko meets with other Russians who live abroad but still regard themselves as Russian.

Renko is a sad case--morose, love-starved, and without any reason for living--and as he tries to do what is right, his essential goodness comes through. As the case becomes an investigation of stolen paintings, many of them owned by Jews at the outbreak of World War II (and earlier), Renko's own superiors and the Russian Mafia abroad threaten his life. The body count rises and who-did-what-to-whom becomes confusing, but many readers will be focused on the character of Renko. As he tries to navigate the minefield of his own life, he resembles a modern version of some of the great Russian tragic heroes. This is not the most unified of the Renko mysteries, but it is fascinating, nevertheless. n Mary Whipple