Just Finished Reading: Havanna Bay by Martin Cruz Smith (FP: 1999) [453pp] 

The Soviet Union has collapsed, Russia is in chaos and Arkady Renko, Moscow Militia Investigator, finds himself in Cuba. On arrival in Havana, he is informed that his missing friend KGB Colonel Sergei Pribluda has been found in the harbour, dead from a suspected heart attack. It is now Arkady’s only task to identify the body and return with it to Moscow. But Renko is far from happy to comply. First, he has questions – what was Pribluda doing in the harbour in the first place? What caused the so-called ‘heart attack’? Most importantly, why were the Cuban authorities so reluctant to investigate the death fully? Questions built on questions with no answer's forthcoming. Renko knows he’s out of his depth here. Far from home, no knowledge of the area and unable to speak the local language there is little, indeed nothing he can do about his friend. Whilst packing for his return flight home a mistake is made. Answering the door, thinking it is his ride to the airport, Renko is attacked and has to fight for his life. Now he knows for certain something is very, very wrong. Why, at the very moment he was leaving does someone panic and try to kill him? What was Pribluda really up to and what do ‘they’ think Renko already knows? With a week until the next flight to Moscow, it’s time to start doing what Renko does so well – asking questions, ruffling feathers and making trouble. 

This is my 4th Arkady Renko novel and I loved it. I’ve loved Renko since seeing him (played by William Hurt) in the 1983 movie adaptation of the first novel in this series ‘Gorky Park’. He’s such a sad character, a man with a strong sense of justice and with deep personal integrity forced to operate in a world were power is truth and the truth can get you killed. Here, in Cuba, we find him completely out of his depth and, initially at least, alone and fighting against shadows. Late 90’s Cuba is a fascinating place – recovering from the financial, political and psychic shock of the Soviet collapse and full of hatred for anything Russian (including Renko himself). Here Renko must not only figure out how and why his friend died but he also needs to figure out Cuba itself – and in the process discovers it for the reader too – in order to unravel the central mystery that drives the plot. This is a rich novel, not only with a brilliant central character full of tragedy and pathos, but with a host of interesting secondary characters each with a fully fleshed out back story and easily believable motivations. Both the good guys and the bad guys make sense (from their own positions) and gain a certain amount of sympathy because of that. What I’m trying to say is that the world we temporarily inhabit between the pages of this excellent novel feels real – you can feel the sun on your face, the smell of cooking food as you pass through a marketplace, the sounds of music and laughter as you pass an open window and feel the sand beneath your feet as you walk on the beach. There’s some (non-explicit) sex and some reasonably nasty periodic violence (or threats of violence) but that’s few and far between. Mostly we follow Renko as he uncovers the story behind the death of a friend and here the journey is well worth it. Another really good novel and I mustn’t wait so long [2009 when I read the last one!] before scheduling the next book in this brilliant series. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to lose themselves in a very good book.  

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