Andrew K. (kuligowskiandrewt) -
Tatiana, the 8th appearance of Russian investigator Arkady Renko, shows that Martin Cruz Smith is still on his game and still has something to say about the world's largest country through the eyes and experiences of this character.
This novel shows glimpses into the current situation between the government and dissenters, the importance of chess, the opening of formerly closed cities, and the current state of organized crime in the former Soviet Union both outside and inside of official channels. As usual, this Renko novel is very much dependent on its location; it would require extensive rewrites to shift this novel to any other country.
This novel ALSO carries on an unfortunate trend, in that the author had more to say about the government in the former Soviet Union than he does about what Russia has currently evolved to. This is mild criticism, as those early works were absolutely wonderful in my opinion, while the follow-ups have been merely MERELY very, very good. (Smith's bad days at the word processor are still much better than most people's genius periods!)
In my opinion, this novel left some subplots dangling. Let's start off with Piggy (readers will learn who this is in the prologue). Smith treats him as a minor character, who shows up on a few occasions to provide major advances to plot. In my opinion, Piggy should have been fleshed out and given not just a subplot BUT a parallel main plot to the one that is described in the novel. Secondly, Anya. Smith paints a very interesting (and effective) verbal portrait in her last meeting with Renko then totally forgets that she exists. I was waiting for closure; two days after finishing the novel, I'm still waiting.
I'm going to grade on a curve. Normally, a work like this would rate a solid 4 stars, if not higher. However, as Smith has shown he's capable of much more, I'm not going to be as generous.
RATING: 3 ½ stars, rounded down to 3 stars.
This novel shows glimpses into the current situation between the government and dissenters, the importance of chess, the opening of formerly closed cities, and the current state of organized crime in the former Soviet Union both outside and inside of official channels. As usual, this Renko novel is very much dependent on its location; it would require extensive rewrites to shift this novel to any other country.
This novel ALSO carries on an unfortunate trend, in that the author had more to say about the government in the former Soviet Union than he does about what Russia has currently evolved to. This is mild criticism, as those early works were absolutely wonderful in my opinion, while the follow-ups have been merely MERELY very, very good. (Smith's bad days at the word processor are still much better than most people's genius periods!)
In my opinion, this novel left some subplots dangling. Let's start off with Piggy (readers will learn who this is in the prologue). Smith treats him as a minor character, who shows up on a few occasions to provide major advances to plot. In my opinion, Piggy should have been fleshed out and given not just a subplot BUT a parallel main plot to the one that is described in the novel. Secondly, Anya. Smith paints a very interesting (and effective) verbal portrait in her last meeting with Renko then totally forgets that she exists. I was waiting for closure; two days after finishing the novel, I'm still waiting.
I'm going to grade on a curve. Normally, a work like this would rate a solid 4 stars, if not higher. However, as Smith has shown he's capable of much more, I'm not going to be as generous.
RATING: 3 ½ stars, rounded down to 3 stars.
