Rostnikov's Vacation (An Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov Novel) [Mass Market Paperback]

Stuart M. Kaminsky (Author), Tass/Sovfoto (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 23, 1992

Inspector Rostnikov is vacationing by the seashore, tending to his recuperating wife and reading American crime novels, when a vacationing fellow officer meets with a mysterious demise. Suddenly, Rostnikov is back at work . . . and on the trail of a murderer whose footsteps may lead straight to the heart of the Kremlin.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The central element of this seventh in a series (including 1988's Edgar-winning A Cold Red Sunrise ) pits the wise, humane, brave Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov against proto-Stalinist bureaucrats in the KGB, MVD and GRU who seem to be plotting to assassinate Grobachev and other reformers, with the blame to be put on the CIA. Quite aside from the cliched nature of the plot, the novel is highly manipulative, borrowing Hollywood's jump-cut technique to fracture the story into short takes that leave the reader mystified as to who's doing what to whom and why. The recently demoted Porfiry has been ordered to take a vacation. Accompanying his wife, who is recovering from brain surgery, to Yalta, he becomes involved in investigating the murder of another senior investigator. Meanwhile, back in Moscow, Porfiry's associate Emil Karpo is also ordered on vacation, although he's closing in on a flaky teenage killer who is being egged on by a purported American whose lures include drugs and promises of Madonna records and a fling in Las Vegas. The background of misery, seediness and anti-Semitism as a byproduct of perestroika reflects today's headlines, but the story, although entertaining, strains credibility.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Series fans should appreciate Inspector Rostnikov's latest adventure. While on forced vacation in Yalta, Rostnikov chances upon the murder of an acquaintance from military intelligence. He also befriends an American policeman, who points out the man tailing Rostnikov. Back in Moscow, meanwhile, Rostnikov's subordinates track a beautiful young woman and two accomplices connected with the murder of a German businessman. Kaminsky solidly and ably controls all these complications, meanwhile providing some political vagaries, a cold-blooded atmosphere, and a certain dry humor.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 199 pages
• Publisher: Ivy Books/Ballantine; Reprint edition (August 23, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804106940
• ISBN-13: 978-0804106948
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #969,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No rest for the weary (or Rostnikov)!, May 9, 2000

By 

Billy J. Hobbs "Bill Hobbs" (Tyler, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rostnikov's Vacation (An Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov Novel) (Mass Market Paperback)

It's Yalta, and it's not a peace conference between heads of state!

Following orders from headquarters, Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov is taking a vacation in this resort city. (Some say, it's because they want him out of Moscow for a while!) With his wife, he is all set to take some needed rest and recuperation.

But this is a Stuart Kaminsky work and his fictionalized inspector is not about to be left alone in peace and quiet. In no time, naturally, he is involved in another murder--a fellow policeman is killed in less than honorable circumstances. So, Rostnikov's dreams of beach-side relaxation, of making sure his convalescent wife follows the doctors' orders, and of reading his favorite novels (American Ed McBain!), are put on hold.

The circumstances, indeed, are harbingers of what is happening in Moscow as the Iron Curtain is rapidly being packed away. The USSR is falling apart! Meanwhile, back in the capital, Rostnikov's pair of assistants, Emil ("The Vampire") and Sasha Tkach, are investigating crimes dealing with computers and psychos! "Rostnikov's Vacation" is yet another installment in a very exciting series set in the USSR.

The eighth in the series, readers have come to recognize--and respect--Kaminsky's penchant for detail, for finely-tuned characterization, and for thrilling resolutions.

The major fault in Kaminsky's work is that he doesn't produce his Rostnikov stories fast enough!

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Characters, March 30, 2003

By 

Bagelchip "Bagelchip" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Rostnikov's Vacation: An Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov Novel (Hardcover)

Perhaps this story requires a little "willing suspension of disbelief" as to the story line more than some of the others of this series, but the characters are drawn with Kaminsky's usual excellence. No reader will be disappointed!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Hard to Tell the Bad Guys, Even with a Program, September 12, 2006

By 

Grey Wolffe "Zeb Kantrowitz" (North Waltham, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Rostnikov's Vacation: An Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov Novel (Hardcover)

Once again, Kaminsky has written a very fine detective story with all of the warts and smells of the decaying Soviet system. As always there are three stories here (with two or three minor ones). Porfiry is ordered (by the Grey Wolfhound) to take his wife on vacation to the Crimea (Yalta). While there he meets an acquain- tence from the GRU (military intelligence) who has a secret to tell him but is murdered first.

Sasha is on a stakeout trying to nab a group that has been robbing Jews of their computers. They rob the Jews and then beat them up. So Sasha goes undercover as a Jewish computer analyst to try and catch them. (You would have to be a ex-Russian or Soviet Jew to understand the robbers logic, but take my word for it, to them it makes sense.)

Meanwhile, Karpo is busy looking for the murderer of a German businessman. A bartender gives him the name of a woman who knows who the killer is (it's her boyfriend). After following her to her apartment one evening, while waiting to see if the boyfriend shows up, she comes flying out of her sixth story window and lands naked on top of a car. Standing at the broken window is a man with glowing eyes, and spiked orange hair, screaming down at her.

Two of the three cases end up being tangential to each other while the other turns into a lesson in Russian sociology and long term national antagonisms.