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Summary: A spellbinding read! Smith triumphs again!
Review: Martin Cruz Smith is surely among the most underrated authors today! His character Renko is so endearing, humble yet strong, dryly hilarious. (PRODUCERS! WAKE UP! Read this and picture Stephen Rea as Renko. Forget how William Hurt muddled the character in Gorky Park) In POLAR STAR Smith expertly sets the tone of the forboding factory ship and icy waters of the north. There are passages where you will laugh out loud and others that will make you glance over your shoulder.
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Summary: Feels like real!!!
Review: Martin Cruz Smith is the best writer of thriller novels. His character Arkady Renko was a real person if you turn the first pages of this book and into the world of words. He perfected the art of storytelling. This book is one of his great books I've read.This is the series of his best book, Gorky Park.You will never put it down until to the last sentence.
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Summary: More mastery from Smith
Review: Part 2 of the holy Renko trilogy finds Arkady stuck in the belly of a Soviet trawler off the coast of Alaska. He again stumbles upon more than he bargained for as he investigates the murder of a Georgian girl. As a sometimes-writer myself, I always rue the time that I spend re-reading my Smith novels rather than something new, but they're so good. The attention to detail and complex characters that Smith fills his book with are just so realistic and accurate, he absolutely nails it. Renko's inner thoughts are golden-whether he's getting thrown across a room by the trawlmaster Karp Korobetz or intellectually sparring with Party slug Volovoi, Arkady never fails to amuse or enchant with his musings. You can taste the salt spray get enveloped by the intrigue. I should stop memorizing these books and go do something productive-but it's just too much fun!
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Summary: More into the heart and soul of Arkady Renko
Review: Polar Star is the first sequel to Gorky Park. In this version Arkady Renko has paid the price of principle and is a man on the run east through Siberia. We meet him in his ultimate hiding place, a "slime line" in the bowels of a huge Russian fish processing ship working in joint venture with the Americans in the Bering Sea. Of course a murder brings Arkady out of a year of obscurity into the light of day as the discredited former chief investigator. As with Gorky Park we are presented the man of principle against people and a system that really doesn't want to be challenged. After reading Gorky Park, you can't help but wonder why Renko tortures himself by obsessively getting deeper and deeper into the investigation of a young woman's murder. You will read this because you have identified closely with the character of Renko. The story also serves to be part two of a lesson in Soviet thinking and and indirect commentary of Western capitolism as Communism nears collapse. I enjoyed the book because of my interest in Renko and the hopes of finding out more of what happened in the days following the conclusion of Gorky Park. A little disappointing was the derth of information of what was transpiring with Irina, his Gorky Park love interest. If a person comes to this book before reading Gorky, they will be somewhat lost. You might also notice as I did just how little dialogue the character Renko had. He never really enters a conversation, is constantly evasive. While I understood that to be the manner of the investigator's character, I found myself hoping he would just sit down one time and really say something substantial. Conversations always start but are interupted. You feel like if he could just one time fully share his story their would be some form of catharsis and perhaps a few more friends on his horizon. If you have started into Gorky Park and perhaps one of the other sequels, you have to read this one as well. I did enjoy it, though it does not match the level of the first book.
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Summary: Smith captures Soviet Russia once again.
Review: Polar Star was better than Gorky Park, introducing a more diverse array of characters. I especially like the accurate portrayal of Americans and Russians. Finally, a Cold War book by an American that doesn't glorify Americans and villify Russians! Arkady Renko is a character that one can relate to. Great work Mr. Smith!
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Summary: Solid Atmospheric Glasnost-Era Thriller
Review: Set at the start of Glasnost in the late '80s, this second book in the Arkady Renko series (following Red Square) finds the gruff Soviet ex-policeman aboard a factory ship deep in the Bering Sea. Having antagonized powerful figures in that previous adventure, he's been on the run inside the Soviet Union, trying to hide in its deepest darkest corners. And it doesn't get a whole lot deeper or darker than the "slime line" on the factory ship, where he spends his long shifts gutting fish and avoiding any attention. The ship is part of a U.S. Soviet joint venture operation, and when a 40-ton fishnet disgorges the body of a female Russian crew member, someone decides it would be handy to have former cop Renko look into the matter.
Eager to keep a low profile, Renko tires to duck out of the duty, but in the end is ordered to comply-thus setting off an a highly atmospheric and very complicated story involving a long cast of characters. Almost immediately, Renko discovers that the woman's woman's death was no accident, and that she was stabbed. However, the implications of this are politically incorrect, and the ship's slimy political officer tries to squash any investigation until to ship returns home to Vladivostok. Yet, a mysterious "ship electrician" somehow manages to ensure Renko's continued involvement, and soon Renko is consumed by the matter.
Renko's quasi-official investigation revolves around trying to understand the dead woman, a Soviet Georgian with a yen for life on the other side of the Iron Curtain, Western consumer goods, Pink Floyd, etc. As Renko pokes around the ship and interviews everyone aboard it and the smaller fishing vessels that accompany it, the plot gets increasingly complicated. Unseen assailants try and kill Renko, Cold War espionage enters the picture, drug smuggling crops up, as do several more bodies. Indeed, the book's one flaw is that it's perhaps too complicated for its own good, with so many angles crammed in. There's even an obligatory unlikely romantic interlude that rings a very false note.
Which is a bit of a shame, since the book is otherwise very strong in atmosphere and characters. The claustrophobic atmosphere of the Soviet ship is palpable, along with the freezing cold, the rank smells, and bitterness all around. The fishing operation and the ship itself are very well-described, making an oppressive setting that would work wonderfully on film. It's also somewhat surprising some 15-20 years later to be reminded of how Soviet people would yearn for Western goods, and how even the junkiest watch or cassette tape was like gold for them. The awkwardness with the Americans is well-handled too, with the Soviets hearty and desperate to please and appear magnanimous as the Americans smirk. The book is reminiscent of thrillers such as Smilla's Sense of Snow, where the plot pales in comparison to the atmosphere and attention to detail the author brings. Definitely worth reading for the unusual setting, cast of characters, and glimpse into the recent past.
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Summary: Interesting and entertaining, start to finish
Review: Smith finds all the right notes in 'Polar Star.' The Arkady Renko character is really unique in popular fiction--a mix of resignation, reluctance, intelligence, and doggedness is tough to describe. The subject matter hooked me--disgraced Soviet citizen in exile to Siberia and a fish-processing ship, coupled with late-Cold-War espionage and murder in the Bering Sea. The plot development never felt forced or artificial to me. The characters, even the Americans, feel Russian, because of the distinct atmosphere of the book. I particularly enjoyed the characterizations in the book--lots of people, all distinctive, with their own histories and agendas. It's not often that "#1 bestsellers" deliver all the goods, but this one did for me. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and entertaining, start to finish
Review: Smith finds all the right notes in 'Polar Star.' The Arkady Renko character is really unique in popular fiction--a mix of resignation, reluctance, intelligence, and doggedness is tough to describe. The subject matter hooked me--disgraced Soviet citizen in exile to Siberia and a fish-processing ship, coupled with late-Cold-War espionage and murder in the Bering Sea. The plot development never felt forced or artificial to me. The characters, even the Americans, feel Russian, because of the distinct atmosphere of the book. I particularly enjoyed the characterizations in the book--lots of people, all distinctive, with their own histories and agendas. It's not often that "#1 bestsellers" deliver all the goods, but this one did for me. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Sequel
Review: The second in Martin Cruz Smith's wonderful Russian-themed detective series, Polar Star lives up to the promise of the first book, Gorky Park. Polar Star is a Russian fishing ship off the coast of Alaska, working in conjunction with a team of US trawlers. Moscow detective Arkady Renko is being rehabilited after the events in Gorky Park and finds himself on board when a murder takes place. The setting, on a freezing fishing ship in the icy Bering Sea, lends a heavy pressurized feeling to every page. Smith has done the research, his writing is self-assured but not self-conscious. He doesn't show off, but casts plot and dialogue and characters and scenery with the true ring of authenticity. Renko's self-deprecating honesty and Columbo-like detective style brings a smile. Smith is a good writer and this is a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Sequel
Review: The second in Martin Cruz Smith's wonderful Russian-themed detective series, Polar Star lives up to the promise of the first book, Gorky Park. Polar Star is a Russian fishing ship off the coast of Alaska, working in conjunction with a team of US trawlers. Moscow detective Arkady Renko is being rehabilited after the events in Gorky Park and finds himself on board when a murder takes place. The setting, on a freezing fishing ship in the icy Bering Sea, lends a heavy pressurized feeling to every page. Smith has done the research, his writing is self-assured but not self-conscious. He doesn't show off, but casts plot and dialogue and characters and scenery with the true ring of authenticity. Renko's self-deprecating honesty and Columbo-like detective style brings a smile. Smith is a good writer and this is a good book.
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