Martin Cruz Smith’s Arkady Renko books are a series of mysteries set at various points in late 2oth century Russian history, starting with the last death throes of Communism. This is the second book in the series. I’ve read Stalin’s Ghost (#6) and watched the film version of Gorky Park (#1). Here, Renko, a former criminal investigator, has fled Moscow after the events of Gorky Park and is on the run from the KGB. After a series of awful jobs, he ends up gutting fish on a trawler in the Bering Sea. A fellow crew member is murdered and because of Renko’s unique skill set, he’s asked to help with the investigation.What sets these books apart for me, beyond the glimpses into current Russian society, is Smith’s exemplary character building of Renko. Renko has a quick mind and a dark, mordant wit. He clearly sees the cracks in the Soviet/Russian system and he’s not afraid, to his continual regret, to speak his mind and buck authority. William Hurt did a credible job in Gorky Park, but I picture a young Alan Rickman with the line readings in the book. Take a line like “Good luck”. This is how it’s written by Smith. He doesn’t embellish it with, “he said sardonically” or “he said cryptically” or “he said with withering sarcasm”. Renko’s character has been so firmly established that the reader can add his own inflections as he reads the books.This book offers up plenty of interesting characters (Russian and American), plot twists and political intrigue. The crimes in these books always start off with seemingly “grand” motivations but usually end up being about something petty and tawdry. This is not a bad thing.If you’re looking for a nice blend of police procedural, mystery and an “exotic” locale, I’d recommend this and the other Renko books.
Every bit as good as I remembered. Highly recommended! I worship MCS for his grittily vivid scenes, lovable shady characters, and wonderfully surreal landscapes. (Not to mention his Russian soul!) If you haven't read Gorky Park, read that one first! As usual, Arkady Renko is reluctant to begin a murder investigation--this time into the death of a popular young woman on board the Soviet fish-processing factory ship, the Polar Star.As he discovers one shady operation after another--smuggling, spying, sleeping around--Renko is drawn into the intrigue as much as we are, until he can't rest without finding the answers he wants. And there is nothing we want more than for him to continue probing the mystery; though we might care a bit more for Renko's personal safety than he seems to himself.This Renko has nothing to lose--a life of running across Siberia from the KGB, stuck gutting fish at the bottom of a factory trawler, dead to the world. He has retained his habit of wandering into dangerous places unprepared, and narrowly escaping death.Also as usual, the people who want Renko dead turn out to the most interesting characters in the story. A powerful criminal on the ship may want to kill the investigator, but he also wants to know what happened to Zina, the murdered girl. Curiosity stays his hand more than once.Investigator, officers, criminals and spies wander circles around each other on this small, ice-bound world in the middle of the Bering Sea. Through all this, Arkady Renko is surprised to find that he has something to live for after all.
What do You think about Polar Star (1990)?
I re-read this as part of my ongoing plan to read all of the Arkady Renko novels (though out of order). I first read this one back in 1995 while visiting Bangkok for the first time. I found it as a discount book at a shop. I liked it then, and I think I liked it even more now. It's essentially a murder mystery set on a large Soviet fishing ship in the Bering Sea. The feel of being on a Soviet vessel is intriguing, and the twists and turns are surprising enough. The only drawback at all, in my opinion, is how the author never lets Renko say anything that could help himself. It's as if he wishes to be a martyr, always allowing people to think the worst of him when a few simple words could let them know they are wrong. Still, the series is great and anyone interested in stories set in Russia should love it. I only wish they had done a whole series of good movies based on this series.
—Ted Cross
I read this book when it was first published, being already a MCS fan then, and I enjoyed it so much that I re-read it to see if my first impression was confirmed. It was. This is a highly unusual, gripping crime thriller with a unique hero in Arkady Renko, and some unique villains in -- well, I won't give that away!Renko, once the pride of Moscow police's investigative unit, finds himself in a floating hell -- gutting fish on a Soviet trawler as punishment for exposing corruption. It seems that nothing could be worse than this life below decks.From the moment a young woman's body is brought up in the trawler's stern net, however, Renko's life gets hourly more dangerous. He finds himself in a familiar situation -- asked to "solve" a murder without implicating the guilty.But Renko's addiction to the truth makes that an impossible task to follow.This novel is as fresh and thrilling now as when it was first written. Very highly recommended.
—Marius Gabriel
I read Gorky Park in 1981 or 1982 and loved it. I don't know why it took me so long to get to the second book in the series featuring Arkady Renko, former Moscow police investigator.That said, Polar Star presented me with a conundrum. I like the Renko character and love the Russian storyline. I can understand why Renko's life has fallen apart and how he landed in horrid circumstances doing one of the worst jobs imaginable. But on the murder front - which is kind of important in a murder mystery – the story just lacked credibility in some key areas.I didn't buy the rationale that transformed Renko from a guy who wanted to escape everything and at first didn't want to investigate a young woman's murder to someone totally dedicated to resolving the mystery at his personal peril.Secondly, while Renko's vulnerability and every man's physicality – he's no James Bond or Jason Bourne – makes for an appealing character, the author leaves it to plain dumb luck that he survives a couple of key moments. It would have been better to leave some of these events out and find interesting situations where his life wasn't in peril as often. Other characters whose brains supersede fighting ability manage to avoid these near lethal encounters or use a neural-driven escape.The awful Robert Downey Jr. portrayal of Sherlock Holmes as a martial arts expert aside, Holmes almost always used brain power to extricate himself from the worst situations.
—John Matsui
