Excerpt
“[Smith] takes what in essence is a police procedural and elevates it to the level of absorbing fiction.”
—Nicholas A. Basbanes, Los Angeles Times “A continuing adventure that in terms of popular fiction is surely a work of art.”
—Patrick Anderson, Washington Post “Martin Cruz Smith knows his Russia. Every page reeks of Moscow: dirty snow, the stink of cigarette and vodka fumes, the cynicism and tasteless opulence of the mafia, the all-pervasive corruption.”
—The Economist “The sustained success of Smith’s Renko books is based on much more than Renko. This author’s gift for tart, succinct description creates a poisonous political backdrop, one that makes his characters’ survival skills as important as any of their other attributes. . . [This is] one top-flight series, still sharply honed, none the worse for wear.”
—Janet Maslin, New York Times “There are few thriller practitioners indeed who can weld a story to a graceful chassis of literature and send it barreling away at top speed. Martin Cruz Smith is one of them.”
—Andrew Z. Galarneau, Buffalo News “As always, Smith elevates a police procedural story to a taste of Russia, a glass of vodka poured quivering to the brim.”
—Jennifer Kay, Associated Press