This was my first Arkady Renko book, though I had read several other books by Martin Cruz Smith. Now I'm eager to go back to the first book in the series, Gorky Park—that's how much I enjoyed his take on life in Russia and Ukraine. Fortunately you need not have read the previous titles in the series to appreciate this; Smith has a rare gift for providing just enough back story from previous adventures to keep the readers in the know without bogging them down. The pace was zippy, crucial exposition was disseminated artfully, and perhaps best of all, we were shown what the characters were like, rather than told. I could have done without a certain romantic element, but I get what it's there and it wasn't dwelt on.

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.