Just Finished Reading: Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith

Moscow 1991. State Special Investigator Arkady Renko receives information from a black-market banker. Moments later the informant is dead as his car explodes in flames. When the bankers flat is searched a fax is discovered with the cryptic message: Where is Red Square? The return phone number is in Munich, West Germany. As the Soviet Union enters its final moments of collapse the only recently reinstated Renko must battle against official interference and mistrust, the machinations of the Russian Mafia and the lack of any decent forensic equipment. All that he has are his years of experience and a determination to get to the bottom of things whilst each night he listens to the voice of his ex-lover on a pirate radio station based in Germany - a woman who cost him his career and caused him to suffer through years of internal exile.

As anyone who reads my book reviews knows, I’m a lover of good characterisation. Renko is one of the best characters I have come across in the genre of political/detective fiction. I ‘fell in love’ with him after watching the movie of the first book in this series - Gorky Park – where he was played marvellously by the truly wonderful William Hurt. Whenever I read any of the books in this series Hurt always plays Renko. This novel is beautifully atmospheric. The feel of a decaying Soviet Union in terminal decline is just awesome. The language is delightful in its knowing cynicism and unspoken hope. Renko is a man who is deeply aware of his situation and, despite the forces ranged against him, is still his own man. Buffeted by forces he cannot control or often understand he not only survives but lives to challenge the movers and shakers of his world. This is part political thriller, part detective and part love story. Renko basically put his existence on the line (in the first novel) to help his lover Irina to defect to the West and then sacrificed himself so that she could go free. The subsequent reunion, years later in West Germany, was handled superbly without sentimentality. Again it felt totally real. Indeed it almost felt embarrassing that the reader could intrude so much into the lives of these living breathing characters (there I go again). I honestly loved every minute I spent on this book and savoured every page. Thankfully there are another three books in this series to look forward to and I’m hoping that they all approach the excellence of this book. Highly recommend for anyone who simply wants a damned good read.