Martin Cruz Smith – författare

Stalin''s GhostInvestigator Arkady Renko, the pariah of the Moscow prosecutor''s office, has been assigned the thankless job of investigating a new phenomenon: late-night subway riders report seeing the ghost of Joseph Stalin. The illusion seems part political hocus-pocus and also part wishful thinking, for among many Russians Stalin is again popular; the bloody dictator can boast a two-to-one approval rating. Decidedly better than that of Renko, whose lover, Eva, has left him for Detective Nikolai Isakov, a charismatic veteran of the civil war in Chechnya, a hero of the far right and, Renko suspects, a killer for hire. The cases entwine, and Renko''s quests become a personal inquiry fueled by jealousy. Wolves Eat DogsThe death of one of Russia''s new billionaires leads Arkady Renko to Chernobyl and the Zone of Exclusion—closed to the world since 1986''s nuclear disaster. It is still aglow with radioactivity, now inhabited only by the militia, shady scavengers, a few reckless scientists, and some elderly peasants who refuse to relocate. Renko''s journey to this ghostly netherworld, the crimes he uncovers there, and the secrets they reveal about the New Russia make for an unforgettable adventure. Three StationsIn Three Stations, Renko’s skills are put to their most severe test. Though he has been technically suspended from the prosecutor’s office for once again turning up unpleasant truths, he strives to solve a last case: the death of an elegant young woman whose body is found in a construction trailer on the perimeter of Moscow’s main rail hub. It looks like a simple drug overdose to everyone—except to Renko, whose examination of the crime scene turns up some inexplicable clues, most notably an invitation to Russia’s premier charity ball. Thus a sordid death becomes interwoven with the lifestyles of Moscow’s rich and famous, many of whom are clinging to their cash in the face of Putin’s crackdown on the very oligarchs who placed him in power.

THE NOVEL THAT STARTED IT ALL - ARKADY RENKO NOVEL #1'One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe' Val McDermid'Makes tension rise through the page like a shark's fin’ Independent***Three bodies found frozen in the snow. And the hunt for the killer begins…It begins with a triple murder in a Moscow amusement center: three corpses found frozen in the snow, faces and fingers missing. Chief homicide investigator Arkady Renko is brilliant, sensitive, honest, and cynical about everything except his profession. To identify the victims and uncover the truth, he must battle the KGB, FBI, and the New York City police as he pursues a rich, ruthless, and well-connected American fur dealer. Meanwhile, Renko is falling in love with a beautiful, headstrong dissident for whom he may risk everything.A wonderfully textured, vivid look behind the Iron Curtain, Gorky Park is a tense, atmospheric, and memorable crime story.Praise for Martin Cruz Smith'The story drips with atmosphere and authenticity – a literary triumph' David Young, bestselling author of Stasi Child 'One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe' Val McDermid‘Cleverly and intelligently told, The Girl from Venice is a truly riveting tale of love, mystery and rampant danger. I loved it’  Kate Furnivall, author of The Liberation‘Smith not only constructs grittily realistic plots, he also has a gift for characterisation of which most thriller writers can only dream' Mail on Sunday'Smith was among the first of a new generation of writers who made thrillers literary'  Guardian'Brilliantly worked, marvellously written . . . an imaginative triumph'  Sunday Times‘Martin Cruz Smith’s Renko novels are superb’ William Ryan, author of The Constant Soldier

The rivetingly tense and timely conclusion to the Arkady Renko series – an iconic character from a titan of the political crime thriller genre.When Arkady Renko is charged with investigating the murder of Alexei Kazasky, the Deputy Minister of Defence, he knows he has to tread carefully. Alexei Kazasky is a high-profile politician and has a complicated relationship with Putin. This investigation clearly has Kremlin approval, but, as with everything in Russia, things are not always what they seem.Already preoccupied with his developing Parkinson’s, Arkady finds he has more to worry about. The war in Ukraine is gaining momentum, and his adopted son Zhenya has become involved with the Black Army, a Russo-Ukrainian group of hacktivists. Moreover, as Arkady digs deeper into Kazasky’s murder, he realizes that the man’s death may have been more politically motivated than he first assumed.Now it seems that the people behind the killing have him firmly in their crosshairs – but this time Arkady’s life is not the only one on the line.PRAISE FOR MARTIN CRUZ SMITH:'Does more on a page than most writers manage in a chapter. He is unique and irreplaceable' MICK HERRON'Among the first of a new generation of writers who made thrillers literary' GUARDIAN'One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe' VAL McDERMID​'The undisputed master of the political crime thriller' ABIR MUKHERJEE'One of the finest writers of our age' CHARLOTTE PHILBY

In a New Mexico blizzard, four men cross a barbed-wire fence at Stallion Gate to select a test site for the first atomic weapon. They are Oppenheimer, the physicist; Groves, the general; Fuchs, the spy. The fourth man is Sergeant Joe Pena, a hero, informer, fighter, musician, Indian. These four men -- and a cast of soldiers, roughnecks and scientists -- will change history forever.From the Paperback edition.

When the corpse of a Russian is hauled from the oily waters of Havana Bay, Arkady Renko comes to Cuba to identify the body. Looking for the killer, he discovers a city of faded loneliness, unexpected danger, and bewildering contradictions. His investigation introduces him to a beautiful Cuban policewoman; to the rituals of Santeria; to an American fugitive and a group of ruthless mercenaries. In this place where all things Russian are despised, where Hemingway fished and the KGB flourished, where the hint of music is always in the air, Arkady finds a trail of deceit that reaches halfway around the world–and a reason to relish his own life again.From the Paperback edition.

Rose is a wonderfully rich and intricate novel set in nineteenth-century Wigan, a town located in the coal country of Lancashire.  Its protagonist, Jonathan Blair, is a mining engineer who has been chased out of Africa for "stealing" from the missionaries'' Bible Fund in order to pay off the porter of his expedition into the interior of the Gold Coast; he is now down and out in London.Blair''s employer, Bishop Hannay, promises to send him back to Africa if he can find John Maypole, the curate who was engaged to his daughter, Charlotte Hannay, when he disappeared three months previously without explanation.  Charlotte herself is an ill-tempered young woman who takes an instant dislike to Blair when he tries to investigate her fiancé''s disappearance.  Other characters include assorted townspeople, miners at the Hannay family mine, and Rose Molyneux, a "pit girl" with whom Blair falls in love.Exceeding even the high expectations of Smith''s readers, Rose is richly detailed and compelling--his most accomplished and fascinating novel to date.From the Hardcover edition.

"Sharply, evocatively written and elaborately plotted...It should find as many friends as did GORKY PARK."THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLDBack from exile, Arkady Reko returns to find that his country, his Moscow, even his job, are nearly dead. Not so his enemies. Hounded by the Russian mafia, chased by ruthless minions of the newly rich and powerful, and tempted by his great love, Arkady can only hope for escape. Fate, however, has other ideas....A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOKA LITERARY GUILD MAIN SELECTIONFrom the Paperback edition.

Arkady Renko has made too many enemies and now he toils in obscurity on a Russian factory ship in the middle of the Bering Sea. But when a female crew member is picked up dead with the day''s catch, Arkady becomes obsessed with the case and once again discovers more than he wants to know and certainly more than he bargained for....From the Paperback edition.

From Martin Cruz Smith, author of Gorky Park and Havana Bay, comes another audacious novel of exotic locales, intimate intrigues and the mysteries of the human heart: December 6.Set in the crazed, nationalistic Tokyo of late 1941, December 6 explores the coming world war through the other end of history''s prism—a prism held here by an unforgettable rogue and lover, Harry Niles. In many ways, Niles should be as American as apple pie: raised by missionary parents, taught to respect his elders and be an honorable and upright Christian citizen dreaming of the good life on the sun-blessed shores of California. But Niles is also Japanese: reared in the aesthetics of Shinto and educated in the dance halls and backroom poker gatherings of Tokyo''s shady underworld to steal, trick and run for his life. As a gaijin, a foreigner—especially one with a gift for the artful scam—he draws suspicion and disfavor from Japanese police. This potent mixture of stiff tradition and intrigue—not to mention his brazen love affair with a Japanese mistress who would rather kill Harry than lose him—fills Harry''s final days in Tokyo with suspense and fear. Who is he really working for? Is he a spy? For America? For the emperor? Now, on the eve of Pearl Harbor, Harry himself must decide where his true allegiances lie. Suspenseful, exciting and replete with the detailed research Martin Cruz Smith brings to all his novels, December 6 is a triumph of imagination, history and storytelling melded into a magnificent whole.

A Moscow detective is sent to Chernobyl for a frightening case in the most spectacular entry yet in Martin Cruz Smith’s Arkady Renko series.In his groundbreaking Gorky Park, Martin Cruz Smith created an iconic detective of contemporary fiction. Quietly subversive, brilliantly analytical, and haunted by melancholy, Arkady Renko survived, barely, the journey from the Soviet Union to the New Russia, only to find his transformed nation just as obsessed with corruption and brutality as was the old Communist dictatorship. In Wolves Eat Dogs, Renko returns for his most enigmatic and baffling case yet: the death of one of Russia’s new billionaires, which leads him to Chernobyl and the Zone of Exclusion—closed to the world since 1986’s nuclear disaster. It is still aglow with radioactivity, now inhabited only by the militia, shady scavengers, a few reckless scientists, and some elderly peasants who refuse to relocate. Renko’s journey to this ghostly netherworld, the crimes he uncovers there, and the secrets they reveal about the New Russia make for an unforgettable adventure.

Investigator Arkady Renko, the pariah of the Moscow prosecutor''s office, has been assigned the thankless job of investigating a new phenomenon: late-night subway riders report seeing the ghost of Joseph Stalin on the platform of the Chistye Prudy Metro station. The illusion seems part political hocus-pocus and also part wishful thinking, for among many Russians Stalin is again popular; the bloody dictator can boast a two-to-one approval rating. Decidedly better than that of Renko, whose lover, Eva, has left him for Detective Nikolai Isakov, a charismatic veteran of the civil war in Chechnya, a hero of the far right and, Renko suspects, a killer for hire. The cases entwine, and Renko''s quests become a personal inquiry fueled by jealousy. The investigation leads to the fields of Tver outside of Moscow, where once a million soldiers fought. There, amidst the detritus, Renko must confront the ghost of his own father, a favorite general of Stalin''s. In these barren fields, patriots and shady entrepreneurs -- the Red Diggers and Black Diggers -- collect the bones, weapons and personal effects of slain World War II soldiers, and find that even among the dead there are surprises.

Detective Arkady Renko returns to Moscow in the internationally bestselling series about Russian crimes, broken hearts, and the mysteries of the soul.Investigator Arkady Renko, the pariah of the Moscow prosecutor''s office, has been assigned the thankless job of investigating a new phenomenon: late-night subway riders report seeing the ghost of Joseph Stalin on the platform of the Chistye Prudy Metro station. The illusion seems part political hocus-pocus and also part wishful thinking, for among many Russians Stalin is again popular; the bloody dictator can boast a two-to-one approval rating. Decidedly better than that of Renko, whose lover, Eva, has left him for Detective Nikolai Isakov, a charismatic veteran of the civil war in Chechnya, a hero of the far right and, Renko suspects, a killer for hire. The cases entwine, and Renko''s quests become a personal inquiry fueled by jealousy. The investigation leads to the fields of Tver outside of Moscow, where once a million soldiers fought. There, amidst the detritus, Renko must confront the ghost of his own father, a favorite general of Stalin''s. In these barren fields, patriots and shady entrepreneurs -- the Red Diggers and Black Diggers -- collect the bones, weapons and personal effects of slain World War II soldiers, and find that even among the dead there are surprises.

Amid the imperialist fervor of late 1941 Tokyo, Harry Niles is a man with a mission -- self-preservation. But Niles was raised by missionary parents and educated in the shadows of Tokyo''s underworld -- making his loyalties as dubious as his business dealings. Now, on the eve of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Niles must decide where his true allegiances lie, as he tries to juggle his Japanese mistress and an affair with the wife of a British diplomat; avoid a modern-day samurai who is honor-bound to kill him; and survive the Japanese high command, whose plans for conquest may just dictate his survival. Set in a maelstrom of personal temptations and mortal enemies, with a remarkable anti-hero caught in a land he can never call his own, DECEMBER 6 is a triumph of imagination, history, and riveting storytelling.

A Moscow detective is sent to Chernobyl for a frightening case in the most spectacular entry yet in Martin Cruz Smiths Arkady Renko series.In his groundbreaking Gorky Park, Martin Cruz Smith created an iconic detective of contemporary fiction. Quietly subversive, brilliantly analytical, and haunted by melancholy, Arkady Renko survived, barely, the journey from the Soviet Union to the New Russia, only to find his transformed nation just as obsessed with corruption and brutality as was the old Communist dictatorship. In Wolves Eat Dogs, Renko returns for his most enigmatic and baffling case yet: the death of one of Russias new billionaires, which leads him to Chernobyl and the Zone of Exclusionclosed to the world since 1986s nuclear disaster. It is still aglow with radioactivity, now inhabited only by the militia, shady scavengers, a few reckless scientists, and some elderly peasants who refuse to relocate. Renkos journey to this ghostly netherworld, the crimes he uncovers there, and the secrets they reveal about the New Russia make for an unforgettable adventure.

Arkady Renko returns in a gripping mystery involving a kidnapped baby with a mysterious teenage mother, a murdered prostitute, police corruption, and as always, the complex, impenetrable landscape of modern-day Moscow. Investigator Arkady Renko is back on the scene, with a whole new set of problems: his prosecutor keeps him without work, hes struggling with the onset of middle age, and his friend Victor is arrested for public drunkenness. Zhenya, the fifteen-year-old chess prodigy whom Renko tries to parent, returns to the scene when he witnesses a shocking crime.As always, Smiths Three Stations is filled with intriguing, flawed characters and set in Moscow, a city so intricate and three-dimensional its practically a character itself.

First published in 1970 and long out of print, The Indians Won is a stunning work of speculative fiction that imagines that, following the defeat of Custer and Benteen at the Little Bighorn in 1876, the many Indigenous tribes of America formed an alliance to sweep the whites out of the center of the country and form a new nation, bounded on both coasts by the United States. One hundred years later the two nations, having taken very different paths toward stewardship of the land and resources, are on the brink of war again, as the five hundred million wasichu of the United States eye the vast, open center of the continent, just as they had prior to their explusion in the nineteenth century. The difference is, now they are both nuclear powers.Imaginative, enthralling, rich in historical detail, and written from the perspective of a Native American writer, The Indians Won is an emotionally charged novel that asks the question: What if the Indians had won?

‘Forty years ago, Gorky Park established a new high-water mark for the thriller. It has yet to be surpassed’ Mick Herron‘One of the greatest detective novels of the 1980s’ Adrian McKintySOME CRIMESREFUSE TO BE FORGOTTENIt begins with a triple murder in a Moscow amusement park: three corpses found frozen in the snow, faces and fingers missing. Chief homicide investigator Arkady Renko is cynical about everything except his profession. To identify the victims and uncover the truth, he must battle the KGB, FBI, and the New York City police as he pursues a rich and ruthless American fur dealer. Meanwhile, Renko falls in love with a beautiful, headstrong dissident for whom he may risk everything . . .READ THE NOVEL THAT INSPIRED A GENERATION‘One of the seminal books in the canon of crime fiction’ Abir Mukherjee‘Gorky Park remains a dazzling and incisive portrait of a terrifying political regime’ Kate Rhodes'A rich sumptuous feast of a novel, the sort of book you want to immerse yourself in' Russ Thomas‘A sumptuous and chilling depiction of life and lies in the Soviet Union’ Rory Clements'Gorky Park was my first real introduction to the immense possibilities of the crime novel as work that truly transcends its genre’ Jacob Ross‘An urgent, contemporary game changer forty years ago, now a historical classic’ Martyn Waites‘One of the greatest crime novels ever written’ Tim Baker‘A timeless thriller . . . Cruz-Smith delivers an absolute masterclass in tension' Caz Frear‘A true masterpiece’ Rod Reynolds‘Simply, why the thriller genre must exist. Brilliant’ Chris Hauty‘Martin Cruz Smith is the master and Gorky Park is his masterpiece’ William Ryan

‘The later Renko novels are stark, spare and beautiful, like trees in winter. Martin Cruz Smith does more on a page than most writers manage in a chapter. He is unique and irreplaceable’ MICK HERRONARKADY RENKO IS BACK . . . Renko has been confined to a desk job by his superiors to keep him out of the way. Although he’s more disillusioned with policing and the general state of Russia than ever, he feels an odd sense of hope. A rebellion is bubbling in the country, with new values butting heads against old-school regimes. People want change and politician Leonid Lebedev could be the man to do it. When Karina, a staunch supporter of Lebedev and member of the Forum, goes missing, Renko is asked by her father to find her. Soon after his investigation begins, Alex, a close friend of Arkady’s son, is found dead. He was also a member of the Forum. The night before his murder, Alex sent Arkady a cryptic message, simply containing three pictures of Russian writers. The link between the pictures is there, if only Renko could see it. But Arkady has just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and the physical and psychological effects of the disease are taking their toll. This time, he must fight more than the impenetrable Russian regime to get answers – he will need to fight himself. PRAISE FOR MARTIN CRUZ SMITH:‘Smith was among the first of a new generation of writers who made thrillers literary’ Guardian‘One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe’ Val McDermid‘Martin Cruz Smith writes with an immediacy, depth and lightness of touch that is rare in its combination, and impossible to resist . . . Independence Square is no exception, and further crystallises Cruz Smith as one of the finest writers of our age’ Charlotte Philby ​‘The undisputed master of the political crime thriller’ Abir Mukherjee'A moving portrayal of struggle against political and personal tides' New York Times'Renko started off investigating murders in Soviet Russia, now it's political corruption in Putin's Russia. And it's even more gripping than before' Gareth Rubin‘Cruz Smith’s most powerful and engaging novel since Gorky Park’ Paul Burke, CrimeTime FM

‘The later Renko novels are stark, spare and beautiful, like trees in winter. Martin Cruz Smith does more on a page than most writers manage in a chapter. He is unique and irreplaceable’ MICK HERRONARKADY RENKO IS BACK . . . Renko has been confined to a desk job by his superiors to keep him out of the way. Although he’s more disillusioned with policing and the general state of Russia than ever, he feels an odd sense of hope. A rebellion is bubbling in the country, with new values butting heads against old-school regimes. People want change and politician Leonid Lebedev could be the man to do it. When Karina, a staunch supporter of Lebedev and member of the Forum, goes missing, Renko is asked by her father to find her. Soon after his investigation begins, Alex, a close friend of Arkady’s son, is found dead. He was also a member of the Forum. The night before his murder, Alex sent Arkady a cryptic message, simply containing three pictures of Russian writers. The link between the pictures is there, if only Renko could see it. But Arkady has just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and the physical and psychological effects of the disease are taking their toll. This time, he must fight more than the impenetrable Russian regime to get answers – he will need to fight himself. PRAISE FOR MARTIN CRUZ SMITH:‘Smith was among the first of a new generation of writers who made thrillers literary’ Guardian‘One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe’ Val McDermid‘Martin Cruz Smith writes with an immediacy, depth and lightness of touch that is rare in its combination, and impossible to resist . . . Independence Square is no exception, and further crystallises Cruz Smith as one of the finest writers of our age’ Charlotte Philby ​‘The undisputed master of the political crime thriller’ Abir Mukherjee'Renko started off investigating murders in Soviet Russia, now it's political corruption in Putin's Russia. And it's even more gripping than before' Gareth Rubin‘Cruz Smith’s most powerful and engaging novel since Gorky Park’ Paul Burke, CrimeTime FM

‘Martin Cruz Smith does more on a page than most writers manage in a chapter. He is unique and irreplaceable’ MICK HERRON, author of Slow HorsesARKADY RENKO IS BACK . . . Confined to a desk job by his superiors to keep him out of the way, Arkady Renko is more disillusioned with the general state of Russia than ever. But, despite everything, he has hope. People want change, and politician Leonid Lebedev could be the man to do it. Tasked by a father with finding his missing daughter, a staunch Lebedev supporter and member of the Forum, Renko is thrown into the heart of a dangerous conspiracy when another member of the Forum is found murdered – Alex, a close friend of his own son. The night before his murder, Alex sent Arkady a cryptic message, simply containing three pictures of Russian writers. The link between the pictures is there, if only he could see it. But Arkady has just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and the disease is taking its toll. This time, he must fight more than the impenetrable Russian regime to get answers – he will also need to fight himself. PRAISE FOR MARTIN CRUZ SMITH:‘Smith was among the first of a new generation of writers who made thrillers literary’ Guardian‘One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe’ Val McDermid‘Martin Cruz Smith writes with an immediacy, depth and lightness of touch that is rare in its combination, and impossible to resist . . . Independence Square is no exception, and further crystallises Cruz Smith as one of the finest writers of our age’ Charlotte Philby ​‘The undisputed master of the political crime thriller’ Abir Mukherjee'A moving portrayal of struggle against political and personal tides' New York Times

The rivetingly tense and timely conclusion to the Arkady Renko series – an iconic character from a titan of the political crime thriller genre. When Arkady Renko is charged with investigating the murder of Alexei Kazasky, the Deputy Minister of Defence, he knows he has to tread carefully. Alexei Kazasky is a high-profile politician and has a complicated relationship with Putin. This investigation clearly has Kremlin approval, but, as with everything in Russia, things are not always what they seem. Already preoccupied with his developing Parkinson’s, Arkady finds he has more to worry about. The war in Ukraine is gaining momentum, and his adopted son Zhenya has become involved with the Black Army, a Russo-Ukrainian group of hacktivists. Moreover, as Arkady digs deeper into Kazasky’s murder, he realizes that the man’s death may have been more politically motivated than he first assumed.  Now it seems that the people behind the killing have him firmly in their crosshairs – but this time Arkady’s life is not the only one on the line.PRAISE FOR MARTIN CRUZ SMITH: 'Does more on a page than most writers manage in a chapter. He is unique and irreplaceable' MICK HERRON'Among the first of a new generation of writers who made thrillers literary' GUARDIAN'One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe' VAL McDERMID​'The undisputed master of the political crime thriller' ABIR MUKHERJEE'One of the finest writers of our age' CHARLOTTE PHILBY

The rivetingly tense and timely conclusion to the Arkady Renko series – an iconic character from a titan of the political crime thriller genre. When Arkady Renko is charged with investigating the murder of Alexei Kazasky, the Deputy Minister of Defence, he knows he has to tread carefully. Alexei Kazasky is a high-profile politician and has a complicated relationship with Putin. This investigation clearly has Kremlin approval, but, as with everything in Russia, things are not always what they seem. Already preoccupied with his developing Parkinson’s, Arkady finds he has more to worry about. The war in Ukraine is gaining momentum, and his adopted son Zhenya has become involved with the Black Army, a Russo-Ukrainian group of hacktivists. Moreover, as Arkady digs deeper into Kazasky’s murder, he realizes that the man’s death may have been more politically motivated than he first assumed.  Now it seems that the people behind the killing have him firmly in their crosshairs – but this time Arkady’s life is not the only one on the line.PRAISE FOR MARTIN CRUZ SMITH: 'Does more on a page than most writers manage in a chapter. He is unique and irreplaceable' MICK HERRON'Among the first of a new generation of writers who made thrillers literary' GUARDIAN'One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe' VAL McDERMID​'The undisputed master of the political crime thriller' ABIR MUKHERJEE'One of the finest writers of our age' CHARLOTTE PHILBY

PRE-ORDER THE BRAND NEW NOVEL FROM MARTIN CRUZ SMITH, COMING 2025!‘The later Renko novels are stark, spare and beautiful, like trees in winter. Martin Cruz Smith does more on a page than most writers manage in a chapter. He is unique and irreplaceable’ MICK HERRON ARKADY RENKO IS BACK . . .   Renko has been confined to a desk job by his superiors to keep him out of the way. Although he’s more disillusioned with policing and the general state of Russia than ever, he feels an odd sense of hope. A rebellion is bubbling in the country, with new values butting heads against old-school regimes. People want change and politician Leonid Lebedev could be the man to do it.   When Karina, a staunch supporter of Lebedev and member of the Forum, goes missing, Renko is asked by her father to find her. Soon after his investigation begins, Alex, a close friend of Arkady’s son, is found dead. He was also a member of the Forum.   The night before his murder, Alex sent Arkady a cryptic message, simply containing three pictures of Russian writers. The link between the pictures is there, if only Renko could see it.   But Arkady has just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and the physical and psychological effects of the disease are taking their toll. This time, he must fight more than the impenetrable Russian regime to get answers – he will need to fight himself. PRAISE FOR MARTIN CRUZ SMITH: ‘Smith was among the first of a new generation of writers who made thrillers literary’ Guardian ‘One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe’ Val McDermid ‘Martin Cruz Smith writes with an immediacy, depth and lightness of touch that is rare in its combination, and impossible to resist . . . Independence Square is no exception, and further crystallises Cruz Smith as one of the finest writers of our age’ Charlotte Philby ​ ‘The undisputed master of the political crime thriller’ Abir Mukherjee 'Renko started off investigating murders in Soviet Russia, now it's political corruption in Putin's Russia. And it's even more gripping than before' Gareth Rubin ‘Cruz Smith’s most powerful and engaging novel since Gorky Park’ Paul Burke, CrimeTime FM