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Investigator Arkady Renko, the pariah of the Moscow prosecutor's office, has been assigned the thankless job of investigating a new phenomenon: late-night subway riders report seeing the ghost of Joseph Stalin on the platform of the Chistye Prudy Metro station. The illusion seems part political hocus-pocus and also part wishful thinking, for among many Russians Stalin is again popular; the bloody dictator can boast a two-to-one approval rating. Decidedly better than that of Renko, whose lover, Eva, has left him for Detective Nikolai Isakov, a charismatic veteran of the civil war in Chechnya, a hero of the far right and, Renko suspects, a killer for hire. The cases entwine, and Renko's quests become a personal inquiry fueled by jealousy.
The investigation leads to the fields of Tver outside of Moscow, where once a million soldiers fought. There, amidst the detritus, Renko must confront the ghost of his own father, a favorite general of Stalin's. In these barren fields, patriots and shady entrepreneurs — the Red Diggers and Black Diggers — collect the bones, weapons and personal effects of slain World War II soldiers, and find that even among the dead there are surprises.
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
June 12, 2007 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780743561204
- File size: 176427 KB
- Duration: 06:07:33
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Moscow investigator Arkady Renko fights demons, some imagined and some real. In this outing he must investigate recent sightings of Stalin, which coincide with a political campaign that backs his nemesis. As Renko digs deeper into the case, an ugly episode in his country's past comes to the fore, pitting truth against patriotism. In addition, a teen chess prodigy he cares for must determine his allegiances. Furthermore, his lover's fate is intertwined with his rival's. Ron McLarty's voice varies enough to distinguish character traits, but his forte is his deliberate pacing. McLarty gives Renko a sense of calm rationality through all of his travails. M.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine -
Starred review from April 2, 2007
Moscow-based Senior Investigator Arkady Renko, in his outstanding sixth outing (after Wolves Eat Dogs
), investigates a murder-for-hire scheme that leads him to suspect two fellow police detectives, Nikolai Isakov and Marat Urman, both former members of Russia's elite Black Berets, who served in Chechnya. Isakov, a war hero, is now running for public office. Renko must also look into reports that the ghost of Stalin has begun appearing on subway platforms and why several bodies of Black Berets who served in Chechnya with Isakov have turned up in the morgue. Despite repeated threats to his life, Renko stubbornly perseveres, seeking justice in a land that has no official notion of that concept. Smith eschews vertiginous twists and surprises, concentrating instead on Renko as he slowly and patiently builds his case until the pieces fall together and he has again, if not exactly triumphed, at least survived. This masterful suspense novel casts a searing light on contemporary Russia. 250,000 first printing.
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