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Book summary and reviews of The Siberian Dilemma by Martin Cruz Smith

The Siberian Dilemma by Martin Cruz Smith

The Siberian Dilemma

The Arkady Renko Novels #9

by Martin Cruz Smith

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Published:
  • Nov 2019
    288 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

From the award-winning, bestselling author of Gorky Park and Tatiana comes a breathtaking new novel about investigator Arkady Renko - "one of the most compelling figures in modern fiction" (USA Today) - who travels deep into Siberia to find missing journalist Tatiana Petrovna.

Journalist Tatiana Petrovna is on the move. Arkady Renko, iconic Moscow investigator and Tatiana's part-time lover, hasn't seen her since she left on assignment over a month ago. When she doesn't arrive on her scheduled train, he's positive something is wrong. No one else thinks Renko should be worried—Tatiana is known to disappear during deep assignments—but he knows her enemies all too well and the criminal lengths they'll go to keep her quiet.

Renko embarks on a dangerous journey to find Tatiana and bring her back. From the banks of Lake Baikal to rundown Chita, Renko slowly learns that Tatiana has been profiling the rise of political dissident Mikhail Kuznetsov, a golden boy of modern oil wealth and the first to pose a true threat to Putin's rule in over a decade. Though Kuznetsov seems like the perfect candidate to take on the corruption in Russian politics, his reputation becomes clouded when Boris Benz, his business partner and best friend, turns up dead. In a land of shamans and brutally cold nights, oligarchs wealthy on northern oil, and sea monsters that are said to prowl the deepest lake in the world, Renko needs all his wits about him to get Tatiana out alive.

The Washington Post has said "Martin Cruz Smith is that rare phenomenon: a popular and well-regarded crime novelist who is also a writer of real distinction." In the latest continuation of his unforgettable series, he brings us to the inside world of shadowy political figures and big wig oil oligarchs providing us with an authentic view of contemporary Russia, infused with his trademark wit.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Smith does his usual superior job of blending plot and setting. This is a must for any crime fiction fan interested in the underside of Putin's Russia." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Everything just feels Russian, as though the author hikes to his hut from the taiga, warms his frozen fingers at the wood stove, pours himself a vodka, and sits down to type. This is vintage Martin Cruz Smith. Fans of Arkady Renko will be pleased." - Kirkus Reviews

This information about The Siberian Dilemma was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Martin Cruz Smith Author Biography

Martin Cruz Smith was born in Pennsylvania in 1942. He is an American mystery novelist. He earned a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Pennsylvania in 1964.

Cruz Smith first burst onto the literary landscape with his critically acclaimed Gorky Park, which went on to become an international bestseller. He is also the author of Stallion Gate, Nightwing, Polar Star, Stalin's Ghost, Rose, December 6, Tatiana, The Girl from Venice, and The Siberian Dilemma. He is a two-time winner of the Hammett Prize, a recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award and Britain's Golden Dagger Award, and a winner of the Premio Piemonte Giallo Internazionale. He lives in California.

Link to Martin Cruz Smith's Website

Name Pronunciation
Martin Cruz Smith: krooz-smith

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