He made too many enemies. He lost his party membership. Once Moscow’s top criminal investigator, Arkady Renko now toils in obscurity on a Russian factory ship working with American trawlers in the middle of the Bering Sea. But when an adventurous female crew member is picked up dead with the day’s catch, Renko is ordered by his captain to investigate an accident that has all the marks of … murder. Up against the celebrated Soviet bureaucracy once more, Renko must again become the obsessed, dedicated cop he was in Gorky Park and solve a chilling mystery fraught with international complications.
Praise for Polar Star
“Stunning.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Impossible to put down . . . a book of heart-stopping suspense and intricate plotting, but also a meticulously researched, ambitious literary work of great distinction.”—The Detroit News
“Martin Cruz Smith writes the most inventive thrillers of anyone in the first rank of thriller writers.”—The Washington Post Book World
“Gripping . . . absorbing.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
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I originally read Martin Cruz Smith’s Polar Star when it first came out in 1989, having already read his first Arkady Renko book, Gorky Park. I remembered it as a fine read, with the type of sardonic protagonist I enjoy. I decided to read it again because one of my current works in progress is set above the Arctic Circle, and I wanted to see how …
Am really enjoying this one with Renko investigating a body that turns in a fishing net on a Soviet fishing ship in the Bering Straight..Excellent!
One of the best books I have ever read (and I have read many!), despite having no prior interest in the setting, etc. The author achieved a peak that he has had difficulty reaching again.
Disappointing. I am a big fan of Gorky Park but this novel was not nearly as well written.
Fun author and you should read Gorky Park
Wonderful follow-up to Gorky Park. This poor damn Russian is just trying to do his job and survive the regime–a great read.
This one was well worth the read. The author did a great job spinning a tale that kept the reader interested from the start to the finish. My compliments to the writer on this one
Well plotted, engaging characters and a setting that was, for me, new and strange and fascinating.
One of my favorite fictional characters of all time. What’s not to like? An anti-system, tongue-in-cheek critic of communist regimes one knows would likewise find problems with any bureaucracy. His descriptions of out-of-date infrastructure, environmentally ignoring officials tied up within great mysteries is priceless.
I will read and enjoy any Martin Cruz Smith book. This one had me mesmerized.
Not as good as some of his others
As good as Red Square!
I enjoy this series of books just for the small window of what a detective may encounter in Russian politics.
I read Gorky Park previously and enjoyed it immensely so I was happy to find Polar Star by the same author available at a discounted price. It did not disappoint as it was very gripping and extremely well written. I enjoyed it completely and was sorry to get to the end.
Second in this Arkady Renko series. Might be the best. Very well written, excellent descriptions, and wonderfully paced.
I like this series.
Smith always delivers a complex tale full of twists and turns, false leads and blind alleys. He also hammers away at the rigidity, failures, and corruption of Soviet society.
Here, Renko, reduced to working the basest job on a factory fishing ship after falling from grace in Gorky Park, is asked to look into the death of a …