# When is Martin Cruz Smith going to give us Arkady Renko in post-Communist Russia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-martin-cruz-smith-going-to-give-us-arkady-renko-in-post-communist-russia/250618 "2004-06-16T05:05:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-martin-cruz-smith-going-to-give-us-arkady-renko-in-post-communist-russia/250618/1 "2004-06-16T05:05:17Z")
I enjoyed Martin Cruz Smith’s literary portrayals of life in the Soviet Union in _Gorky Park, Polar Star,_ and _Red Square._ The last ended with the failed coup that led to the collapse of the Communist system. Arkady Renko was a Moscow Militia (police) detective whose character was, essentially, the Honest Man Struggling to Do the Right Thing Within a Corrupt System. I was really looking forward to seeing what Smith would do with Renko in a \*\*post-\*\*Communist Russia – I really haven’t encountered any good literary accounts of life in Russia in the past ten years. But instead, when he came out with another Renko novel, _Havana Bay,_ it was set in one of the remaining Communist states, Castro’s Cuba. I think this shows failure of creativity. We’ve had enough “Communism is bad” books. Let’s have a look at life after Communism! How are the Russians adjusting to it? Surely there’s plenty going on in contemporary Moscow to keep a police detective busy! Has anybody read or heard of Smith making any statements relevant to this? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-martin-cruz-smith-going-to-give-us-arkady-renko-in-post-communist-russia/250618/2 "2004-06-16T17:07:06Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But instead, when he came out with another Renko novel, _Havana Bay,_ it was set in one of the remaining Communist states, Castro’s Cuba. I think this shows failure of creativity. We’ve had enough “Communism is bad” books. Let’s have a look at life after Communism! How are the Russians adjusting to it? Surely there’s plenty going on in contemporary Moscow to keep a police detective busy! > > Has anybody read or heard of Smith making any statements relevant to this? I’ve not heard anything on this, but I don’t agree that _Havana Bay_ lacked creativity. I thought it was just a way to open up a new venue. Maybe Arkady could show up next in war torn Iraq on the presumption of tracking down Russian contracts with the former Saddam regime but become embroiled in the Abu Ghraib case on loan to whoever is investigating instead. He can duck plots from Neocons to discredit him, etc. Has Smith put out any other books recently? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-martin-cruz-smith-going-to-give-us-arkady-renko-in-post-communist-russia/250618/3 "2004-06-16T21:40:58Z")
Well, until M.C. Smith delivers, you might enjoy the made-for-HBO (but widely available on DVD) [Citizen X](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112681/). Highly enjoyable and based on a true crime story over a period spanning the last years of Soviet Communism, through Glastnost. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-martin-cruz-smith-going-to-give-us-arkady-renko-in-post-communist-russia/250618/4 "2004-06-16T21:43:09Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Has Smith put out any other books recently? Yes: _December 6_ (Pocket Star Books, 2003), about an American living in Tokyo on the eve of WWII; and _Rose_ (Ballantine Books, 2000) a detective story set in northern industrial England in 1872. And guess what! The same [amazon.com](http://amazon.com) search I ran to find the above two titles also lists a forthcoming Arkady Renko novel! (It wasn’t there yesterday!) It’s called _Wolves Eat Dogs_ and it’s coming out November 9, 2004, by Simon & Schuster. But the blurb says nothing about what this book is about, or where it’s set. Has anybody heard anything? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-martin-cruz-smith-going-to-give-us-arkady-renko-in-post-communist-russia/250618/5 "2004-06-16T22:08:47Z")
According to a blurb > [@](#): > > Best known for his Cold War bestseller Gorky Park , Martin Cruz Smith is beloved by his fans for reliably delivering a mesmerizing read. In Wolves Eat Dogs (S&S, Nov.; booth 2223- 2123), he focuses on the New Russia, taking detective Arkady Renko on a suspenseful journey into the criminal underworld that revolves around Chernobyl. That’s from here, btw, but you need to give them your e-mail to read it [http://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do?itemID=462581&extID=10032&oliID=213](http://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do?itemID=462581&extID=10032&oliID=213) ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-martin-cruz-smith-going-to-give-us-arkady-renko-in-post-communist-russia/250618/6 "2004-06-16T22:46:58Z")
Nothing left to say except \*December 6 \* blew me away, very good book and that I will (not quite but almost) sleep overnight 11/8 to 11/9 at Borders to get another Arkady Renko book! Thanks **Captain.** Thanks **Brainglutton.** ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-martin-cruz-smith-going-to-give-us-arkady-renko-in-post-communist-russia/250618/7 "2004-11-03T22:12:41Z")
_Wolves Eat Dogs_ come out Nov. 16! 🙂 > **[Amazon.com: Wolves Eat Dogs (5) (The Arkady Renko Novels): 9780671775957: Smith,...](https://www.amazon.com/Wolves-Dogs-Arkady-Renko-Novels/dp/0671775952)** > > Amazon.com: Wolves Eat Dogs (5) (The Arkady Renko Novels): 9780671775957: Smith, Martin Cruz: Books ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-martin-cruz-smith-going-to-give-us-arkady-renko-in-post-communist-russia/250618/8 "2004-11-03T22:15:24Z")
Sorry, that’s [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684872544/qid=1099520194/sr=2-1/ref=pd\_ka\_b\_2\_1/102-1604192-4016912](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684872544/qid=1099520194/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/102-1604192-4016912)