The theme of the ninth book in Smith’s Arkady Renko Russian thriller series is Bears and Oligarchs. Bears cause they have always represented Mother Russia, because they are big and ferocious, and when you are in their world, you know there’s not much that can stop them. Indeed, the book opens with a pair of giant bears on a jailbreak from the Moscow Zoo.

Moscow investigator Renko heads to Siberia in chase of a confession he doesn’t quite trust and in chase of girlfriend and investigative reporter Tatiana. In the vast depths of Siberia, particularly along the banks of Lake Baikal, the deepest freshwater lake in the world, away from Moscow, we see a barren empty world where only bears and oligarchs can feel at home.

The pace of much of the book is about setting the stage for the conflicts that come later. You kind of zip along waiting to find out what’s going to happen and, when it does, it’s quick and understated and shocking. In the end, it’s about survival and what it takes to survive among the bears and the oligarchs.

This detective fiction is a slow burn. It is as much about life in Russia as it is about solving crime. I enjoy this series . and this one especially because I find Siberia fascinating.

A quick read that gives life to Siberia and the oligarchy. A new character is introduced who Arkady meets on the plane who is a shaman and substitute Victor. Good but not on par with some of the other Renko mysteries. Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley.

I never tire of Inspector Arcady. His adventures are always thrilling.
the latest, taking place in Siberia is a breath holder.
Highly recommend.

I' met Arkady Renko in 1981 in Gorky Park. He describes himself in a later book as "a cynic" . . I believe in car wrecks, airline disasters, missing children, self immolation, suffocation with pillows." He has appeared at intervals since then with evidence that supports that outlook in a Soviet Union/Russia where politics are never far from everyday life for a detective who chooses or feels compelled to operate within that system. This latest book is a must read for his fans and not a satisfying stand alone. Start at Gorky Park and you may want to go on from there.

4 stars for another enjoyable read by Martin Cruz Smith. This is #9 in the Arkady Renko series and it can be read as a stand alone, but would probably work better if you have read the previous books in the series. Arkady is a police investigator for the Moscow Police. His supervisor is Prosecutor Zurin, who is a cunning, ruthless man willing to break the rules if it helps his career. Arkady, on the other hand, is a honest man who struggles to do the right thing in Putin's corrupt Russia.
Arkady is concerned about his lover Tatiana's disappearance to someplace in Siberia. He goes to her newspaper supervisor Obolensky and asks where she is. Obolensky doesn't know where she is. She told him that she was working on a story and did not tell him any more. She has done this before. Obolensky says that she disappears for a few weeks and comes back with a story--usually about corruption.
Then Prosecutor Zurin sends Arkady to Irkutsk, Siberia, to transport a prisoner to a transit prison, interrogate and prosecute him with a resulting good long sentence. Arkady finds Tatiana and 2 rich oil barons, Boris Benz and Mikhail Kuznetsov, both connected to the story that Tatiana is working on. Arkady is first shot at and later left for dead in the Siberian wilderness but survives both times. There are twists and turns in the story and a Siberian dilemma for Arkady.
One quote from Arkady's Siberian factotum, Bolot, speaking to Arkady: ""Isn't it time for dinner? Distances are longer when you haven't eaten," said Bolot as they got back to the car "You never eat, do you.? I've noticed that when you do, you just rearrange your food. You know, you need calories to stay warm."
Thank you Martin Cruz Smith and Simon and Schuster for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

Published by Simon & Schuster on November 5, 2019

The Siberian Dilemma feels like an interlude in Arkady Renko’s fateful life. He is still involved with Tatiana, a fiercely independent journalist in a dangerous occupation. Tatiana has gone to Siberia to cover the political campaign of an oligarch named Mikhail Kuznetsov. When she does not return to Moscow as expected, Renko worries that something bad might have happened to her. From Renko’s perspective, “something bad” might include a romantic attachment to Kuznetsov.

Renko is therefore pleased, more or less, when Zurin, his boss, sends him to Irkutsk to pick up a Chechen named Aba Makhmud and transport him to a transit prison before prosecuting him and assuring he receives a long sentence. Makhmud has already confessed to attempting to kill Zurin. Renko knows that confessions in Russia are worthless and promptly gets to the bottom of the crime. In the meanwhile, his trip to Irkutsk gives him an opportunity to look for Tatiana.

After dealing with Makhmud, Renko meets Tatiana, Kuznetsov, and Kuznetsov’s friend and business associate, Boris Benz, another oligarch in the oil business. Benz plans to inspect some oil rigs that have been sabotaged. He invites Renko to accompany him so they can hunt bear. As the reader might expect, bear are not the only hunter’s prey on the trip.

The story that Martin Cruz Smith tells in The Siberian Dilemma is a bit more sparse than is typical of his Renko novels. Smith keeps the story in motion and creates tension with vivid scenes in the frigid environs of Siberia, but after setting up a dramatic moment near the novel’s end, Smith resolves it with a fortuitous coincidence that departs from his customary realism. This might be the most contrived ending in the series. For that reason, it is less powerful than most of the other Renko novels.

My complaint about the ending doesn’t stop me from recommending the novel. As he has been developed over the course of nine novels, Arkady Renko is one of the most complex and sympathetic characters in crime fiction. Mild disappointment with the plot didn’t prevent me from enjoying Arkady’s most recent battle with Russian corruption or from cheering his reunion with Tatiana. I’m not sure that any crime fiction character is a more endearing representation of the struggle to overcome adversity than Arkady Renko. Smith always writes from the heart, making even a lesser Renko book a better choice than most crime fiction.

RECOMMENDED

Arkady is back

Arkady Renko burst onto the scene in 1981 in "Gorky Park" and he has been a favorite of mine over the decades. After a gap of 6 years after "Tatiana" in 2013, he is back following Tatiana on an assignment to wintertime Siberia where he dances with a bear and meets a shaman.

This is less a mystery than a meditation on today's Russia, where life is cheap and power is everything. We meet all of the archetypes with Mr. Putin's shadow over everything.

It's not a long book, or a heavy one, but for anyone with connections with Russia, it's quite a treat.

The Siberian Dilemma by Martin Cruz Smith-In Arkady Renko's ninth outing, we find him drawn to the frigid wastes of Siberia to locate his journalist lover. Most of the first half of the book is a travelogue of the oppressive climate and its exotic inhabitants. But we've seen this kind of thing before when he traveled to Havana, the Arctic seas, Chernobyl(my favorite!), even the Moscow train stations. Never boring but sometimes you just want something to happen instead of the plodding investigator's approach. In the last half you get what you've been waiting for: snipers, helicopter crashes, and bear attacks. Near the end Renko is faced with an impossible task with no outcome that he can walk away from- a Siberian Dilemma. I found some of the new characters well done and welcome, while the two main heavies rather bland. I'd say this series is probably running out of steam. Shame. I don't know where Renko will go next. The Far East? New York City? LA? We'll see.

5 stars

Arkady Renko is an investigator for the Prosecutor's Office in Moscow. There is talk about sending him to Cuba, mostly by his boss who does not like him. Arkady is not thrilled about the idea, but neither is he too worried.

His girlfriend Tatiana Petrovna is missing. Or is she? She is overdue to arrive home and with all the death threats against her, Arkady is worried. He learns that she is in Irkutsk in Siberia with an oligarch named Mikhail Kuznetsov who is labeled a criminal and political dissident. Arkady fears that she is in danger.

He gets an assignment to go to Irkutsk to transport a prisoner and while he is there he may as well find out the truth about Tatiana's disappearance. He leaves his chess wizard ward, Zhenya and his girlfriend Sosi in charge of his apartment.

While he is in Irkutsk, he becomes interested in and involved in another investigation. It seems someone is sabotaging another oligarch Boris Benz' oil wells and trains.

Arkady and Tatiana become embroiled in a dangerous mission with Arkady's factotum and new friend Bolot. Things do not turn out well and their plans get sidetracked.

This is an exciting and action filled entry into the Arkady Renko series. I have read Mr. Smith's books from “Gorky Park” and have enjoyed each one. This one is exceptional, however, and will stick with me for some time. The author exposes the corruption that is taken for granted in not only the government but in the prosecutor's office. I imagine this extends to the police and all levels of government service. He describes the beauty and deadliness of the Siberian wastes as well as the everyday people that Arkady meets. I also liked that the Russian (I use the term to include the Chechens as well as the other native peoples), citizens were so close to nature and took for granted what life gave them. Beautifully done, Mr. Smith! Keep it up.

I want to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.