Arkady Renko is introduced in this book as a Moscow investigator. There is a bizarre triple murder in Moscow. Three bodies are found, frozen, with their faces and fingers gone. Renko is the chief homicide investigator. He's brilliant, indefatigible, honest and, as cops everywhere are, cynical. He is heading through dangerous territory in his investigation, confronting the KGB, FBI and other authorities to find the truth.

I just finished reading Child 44 -- so excellent, the best book I've read this year and highly reccomended! On the dust cover it says that critics would compare it to Gorky Park, and because I liked Child 44 so much, I picked up a copy.

I primarily read literary works, and my standards for language and content are high. I do not usually read mysteries, so maybe I'm just not in the loop about what to expect from the genre. There are a lot of glowing praises for Gorky Park. I'm in a minority here, so if you read and love police fiction, please do not let me deter you.

I was not impressed that the killer is identified very quickly in the book and that there isn't really any doubt as to whodunit. Why the killer did it is more evasive but in the end, the true story of how everything came to be seemed unlikely to me. I will admit that the triangle relationship between killer, contact, and Arkady was intriguing. In my opinion, the ending reeked; I found *her* to be hypocritical and reprehensible. I disagree completely with the reviewer who said that this is the greatest novel in the last century. That's like saying that ham and swiss on rye is as good as filet mignon! They both might fill your stomach, but one is markedly better than the other. Of course there are better books than this on the shelves, including but not limited to: The Secret History, Gone with the Wind, Lord of the Flies, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Human Bondage, The Last Lion, I could go on and on. I digress, but I think that this illustrates how my idea of what constitues an enjoyable read may be different from other people's.

I will agree with other reviewers that it was interesting and mind-boggling to read about Russian policy regarding crime. However, the time period in which this takes place is far from the most interesting period of Russia's communist era. There were many unneccesary characters that contributed very little to the story and could have been removed completely with absolutely no detriment to the plot. BEFORE YOU READ ON, PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS THE FIRST IN A SERIES ABOUT ARKADY RENKO. I found it unrealistic that the pitiless government that, as the author went to pains to reiterate, would summarily persecute its citizens would permit Arkady to continue in his quest. I got bored reading it about halfway through because the whole thing felt futile and pointless. You knew that ultimately everyone was going to cross everyone else, the question was only why and how they would do it. That's not interesting to me. Except for Arkady, all the characters might as well have been cut out of the same mold.

Unfortunately for me, I must be missing some element that is intriguing and provocative to Cruz's readership. All I know is that I feel like I wasted a week reading this when I could have been reading something I enjoyed so much more.

This is hands down his best book. You cannot beat this through out any of his other books. I am a Martin Cruz Smith fan as I have read most of his books and I still continue to re-read this book.

This is, quite simply, the greatest novel of the last century. Not only is this a work of literary genius, the recorded reading by Henry Strozier is exceedingly well done.

Buy this, read it, read it once a year till you die.

Jon

The author introduces the reader to crime fighting in the USSR. In a land of subversion, and deceit, our hero is an earnest, truthful, and non malleable cop. The book captures the nuances of Soviet, and Russian humor. I was literally laughing out loud in the middle of a crime novel. It was fantastic. The characters are richly drawn, and tell the tales of living in the USSR at the height of the Cold War. I will certainly add him amongst my must reads: Harry Bosch, Lucas Davenport, Elvis Cole, and Jack Reacher.