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When GORKY PARK first appeared in 1981, it was hailed as a “highly original work of international crime fiction” by Publishers Weekly, and the San Francisco Chronicle called it “the most dazzling breakthrough in the suspense field since THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD.” It went on to win the Golden Dagger that year and is now regarded as a classic thriller. GORKY PARK made history in another publishing arena as well: Smith was one of the first genre authors ever to earn an advance of a million dollars. I loved GORKY PARK when I read it in the 1980s, but I wondered how the book would hold up 25 years later. I’m happy to report that GORKY PARK seems every bit as fresh today as it did when it was first published. This is due in no small part to the brilliant characterization of the protagonist, Arkady Renko, a chief inspector in the Moscow police force, and surely one of the most sympathetic characters in all of crime fiction. Renko is a melancholy man, bitterly cynical by nature, but not so cynical that he has lost his deep-seated faith in justice. His intelligence, perceptive sensitivity and analytical skill combine with his dogged tenacity to make him a very dangerous man to those entrenched in the corrupt Moscow power structure. GORKY PARK opens on a winter day in Moscow. The homicide squad has been summoned to a park near a skating rink where three corpses have been discovered frozen in the snow, their faces and fingers removed to prevent identification. The KGB is already at the scene, putting Renko instantly on his guard. The KGB deals with grander crimes than ordinary murder, and their presence at the scene means that larger forces are already in play. It also means that the crime scene is now contaminated. As Renko begins to work the case he expects it to be taken over at any moment by the KGB. When that doesn’t happen, Renko realizes that he is being used as a pawn in a much bigger game. The nearer he comes to solving the murders the closer he comes to exposing a criminally corrupt power structure. Every weapon at the disposal of the militia and KGB is used against him except assassination. Still he perseveres. At the same time, his wife decides to leave him for another man, a gymnast with whom she’s been having an affair. He arrives home one day to find that everything has been removed from his apartment. His loneliness and the depth of her betrayal are powerfully rendered. The man is already under siege and this abrupt separation would be enough to break just about anyone but Renko. Arkady’s vulnerability and perseverance under incredible stress puts the reader even more squarely in his corner. Moscow is every bit as vivid a character as Renko, though. The city is portrayed with such care that when a car turns down a deserted country road on the outskirts of town, the reader knows exactly what the landscape feels like. The vegetation, the animals, the smells, the cold – all are visceral and integral to the story. Smith’s Moscow is almost Dickensian in its privations and those privations shape and motivate the characters in ways that are not always obvious. When Arkady begins to suspect that an American fur trader named Osborne might be connected to the murders, the suspense ratchets up even further. And when Renko becomes smitten with a beautiful dissident, the stakes suddenly become personal. The climax of the story is surprising, inevitable and deeply satisfying. There’s no question about it, GORKY PARK is tour de force writing. A book this wonderful deserves to be read and re-read every few years. With current headlines screaming about the deaths of five journalists in what might be a concerted government campaign to intimidate and silence the press, we only hope that someone like Arkady is working to bring those responsible to justice. The magnificent and tragic story of current Russian history is well served by Martin Cruz Smith. If you haven’t read this series yet, get busy.
Reviewed by Carroll Johnson, March 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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