Author Martin Cruz Smith introduced Moscow police detective Arkady Renko in the novel 'Gorky Park' in 1981. There are nine more books in the series, and Renko has aged a bit over time. In 'Independence Square', Martin Cruz Smith, who has Parkinson's Disease, takes a leaf from his own life, and Renko is diagnosed with the same ailment. Thus the popular fictional investigator is a little slower and shakier, but still on the ball. I hope Renko keeps on truckin'.
In this 10th book in the 'Arkady Renko' series, set in the summer of 2021, the Russian police detective searches for the missing daughter of a gangster.
*****
Arkady Renko, who tends to have a mind of his own.....
.....has always been on the blacklist of his corrupt boss, Prosecutor Zurin.
Over the years, Zurin has sent Arkady to regions far from Moscow, such as Kaliningrad on the Polish border; Lake Baikal, halfway to the Far East; and the Siberian tundra. Now Zurin has relegated Arkady to a desk job, and the detective is chafing from the boredom.
In Renko's private life, his doctor tells him he has Parkinson's disease;
his long-time girlfriend Tatiana Petrovna - who says Arkady lacks ambition - has left him for her work as an investigative reporter;
and Arkady and his adopted son, a young chess whiz named Zhenya, tussle over Zhenya's future.
At the chess tables in Gorky Park, Zhenya introduces Arkady to his friend Alex Levin - a computer hacker and member of an anti-government group called 'Forum for Democracy' (Forum).
Meanwhile, a gangster nicknamed Bronson, who runs protection rackets all over Moscow, comes to Arkady for help. Bronson confides that his daughter Karina has gone missing, and the 'assholes' he hired to find her haven't gotten anywhere.
Bronson tells Arkady that Karina is a professional violinist and that she belongs to an anti-government group called Forum.
Karina's roommate Elena also belongs to 'Forum', and Elena and Arkady attend an anti-government rally to see what they can find out about the missing woman.
The Forum demonstration is disrupted by a right-wing, government-sponsored motorcycle gang called the Werewolves, who ride around, make noise, and threaten people.
Computer hacker Alex is at the Forum rally as well, and he offers his techie skills to help look for Karina. However, Alex is murdered soon afterward, and Prosecutor Zurin assigns Renko to investigate the homicide, to show that the government is (supposedly) doing something to find the killer.
Renko thinks Alex's death may be linked to Karina's disappearance, and Arkady and Elena - who are having a romance by now - set off to find the truth. The search for Karina takes the duo to the Ukraine - which Russia is on the brink of invading; and then to Crimea - where Karina was born. Along the way, Renko and Elena come across Arkady's former girlfriend Tatiana, who's reporting on the politics of the region.
Renko's search for Karina leads to discoveries that endanger the lives of both Arkady and Elena, and the last part of the book is a straight-up thriller.
As the story unfolds, we learn a little about the history and politics of the region, including Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014; Putin's plans to invade Ukraine; and the plight of the Tatars (a Turkic speaking ethnic group), who fear they'll be expelled from Ukraine if Russia occupies the country.
Tatar Festival
There are also portrayals of the cities visited by Renko and Elena, and descriptions of monuments and statues erected by the Soviets, who like to commemorate their past.
Mother Motherland statue in Kyiv, Ukraine
I would have liked to see more mystery in the book, which seems more like a thriller than a suspense story. However, Martin Cruz Smith's depictions of Russia seem very authentic, and I was intrigued by Arkady Renko's latest adventure.
Thanks to Netgalley, Martin Cruz Smith, and Simon & Schuster for a copy of the manuscript.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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