A review by jimbowen0306
Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith
3.0
I'm sorry, but I couldn't really get into this book. It's set in Russia and Germany in 1991, when the Soviet Union has started to cruble (the attempted coup happens during the book), and Germany has been unified. That in and of itself makes the book feel dated.
What I didn't like about the book was the core story. It is the third Arkady Renko book, the first, called Gorky Park caosed a bit of a sensation because of its' depiction of Russia at the time. This book is no Gorky Park, however, and deals with Renko's rehabilitation and gets back to Moscow, as an investigator, and investigates what happens when the car of a Russian money lender explodes, with the lender inside. The death of the lender leads Renko to Germans smugglers (not good), Chechens (even worse) and his own corrupt police force as it teeters on the end of collapse (the worst).
The thing I don't like about the series is that you get the sense that there's a lot of back story from Gorky Park going on here that you're missing out on (I read that book close on 20years ago, and can't remember much about that story). If you can remember the story, or don't mind the feeling you're missing something, you'll probably like the book better than me.
What I didn't like about the book was the core story. It is the third Arkady Renko book, the first, called Gorky Park caosed a bit of a sensation because of its' depiction of Russia at the time. This book is no Gorky Park, however, and deals with Renko's rehabilitation and gets back to Moscow, as an investigator, and investigates what happens when the car of a Russian money lender explodes, with the lender inside. The death of the lender leads Renko to Germans smugglers (not good), Chechens (even worse) and his own corrupt police force as it teeters on the end of collapse (the worst).
The thing I don't like about the series is that you get the sense that there's a lot of back story from Gorky Park going on here that you're missing out on (I read that book close on 20years ago, and can't remember much about that story). If you can remember the story, or don't mind the feeling you're missing something, you'll probably like the book better than me.