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Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novel
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Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novel
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Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novel
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Long live Arkady : Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novel
I've read four of the five previous books in the Arkady Renko series, and while some are more thriving than others as thrillers, each takes the reader into an intriguing part of Soviet/Russian modern history. So it was only a matter of time before Chechnya appeared as part of a Renko plotline. In this sixth installment, the increasingly creaky Renko doesn't in fact go to Chechnya, but the breakaway republic looms in the shadows at the heart of the book. Instead, the story stays mostly in Moscow, with a trip to Tver (a nondescript small city about 150km Nw of Moscow).
The story begins with Renko and his partner Victor investigating a murder-for-hire scheme that may involve two fellow detectives, Isakov and Urman. These two served in Omon (aka the Black Berets, a militia extra soldiery outfit possibly best known in the West for their ineptitude in the Beslan hostage crisis) in Chechnya, and are certified war heroes. At the same time, Renko is told to look into alleged sightings of Stalin on a metro platform. These plotlines dovetail, as Renko swiftly discovers the Stalin sightings to be a stunt organized by two American political consultants working for the fringe ultranationalist party Isakov is running as candidate for. A third thread involves the deaths of some of the men who served under Isakov in Chechnya. A fourth plotline involves Renko's connection with the Ukrainian physician Eva (from the previous book in the series), who also happens to have a history with Isakov from Chechnya. A fifth plotline involves the chess prodigy road kid whom Renko is semi-foster parent to.
All of becomes a bit much, as the plotlines interweave to the point of excess. As always, Renko doggedly pursues the truth against the orders of his superiors, and even against his own best interests. He appears especially detached in this outing, and there's a good deal of backstory given about his connection with his father, who was a favorite of Stalin. It's in fact not a bad book, but it lacks the focus and deep texture of some the previous in the series.
