Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful blend of classic and modern novel
Review: Now that's what I call a novel.
Gorky Park has the plot and trappings a a modern thriller, but the ennui and character depth of a classic. That Smith has been able to bring these two styles of writing into perfect harmony speaks of his status as a modern master.
Gorky Park follows the muder investigation conducted by Arkady Renko, a Moscow homicide investigator whose unremarkable exterior hides a steel core of resolve that drives him to the point of ruin, again and again.
Arkady is the soul mate of Hieronymous Bosch, the LAPD homicide investigator who is featured in the popular Michael Connely series. Fans of either author should automatically pick up the other; each series has the same appeal of a bone-weary old-school investigator who will stop at nothing to close his case, even if it means career (or actual) suicide.
Arkady is a fascinating character, full of sadness and mystery. Smith has many strengths, and number one on the list is imbuing his characters with a depth and realism that make us care about them intensely. Number two is evoking the peculiar atmosphere of Russian nationalism, at a time when even the diehard communists are starting to look over their shoulder at the advancing wave of global capitalism. Smith's third strength is dialogue; every sentence that Arkady utters is an iceberg, with volumes of hidden meaning submerged beneath the words.
These elements are sometimes portrayed bleakly, but there is also a sense of joy in these books. We admire Arkady, and laugh along with him at a world that doesn't always make sense. He is kind of like a nationalistic superhero, with a fierce Russian pride that extends to the Russian people, but not to the government. There is real pleasure to be had in watching Arkady do his job, his way.
The plot is a somewhat standard modern thriller, with a series of murders linked to a wealthy American fur trader. Anyone who likes crime procedure novels will enjoy seeing Arkady blend old school techniques with the sometimes woefully inadequate modern equipment at his disposal.
If you enjoy modern novels, but always feel a little guilty when reading them, I urge you to pick up this book. The pleasures are all there, but this book also has something to say about the human spirit, and you will be the better for having read it.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed and Exciting Thriller
Review: "Gorky Park" came out in 1981, so some of the Cold War references to the KGB and the bad old days are dated, but it remains a top-notch thriller. Arkady Renko is a Soviet cop called in to solve a triple murder, with the bodies left under the snow in a Moscow park. As he probes deeper, he bumps into the KGB, a wealthy American fur trader, and a high-level conspiracy dating back to World War II. Cruz Smith spent eight years writing the text, and it shows. The eye for detail, the Moscow street scenes, the historical research and the multi-layered characters all feel first-hand and urgent. That "Gorky Park" is a cut above other espionage/thriller novels made it a best-seller when it came out and a decent film with William Hurt.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed and Exciting Thriller
Review: "Gorky Park" came out in 1981, so some of the Cold War references to the KGB and the bad old days are dated, but it remains a top-notch thriller. Arkady Renko is a Soviet cop called in to solve a triple murder, with the bodies left under the snow in a Moscow park. As he probes deeper, he bumps into the KGB, a wealthy American fur trader, and a high-level conspiracy dating back to World War II. Cruz Smith spent eight years writing the text, and it shows. The eye for detail, the Moscow street scenes, the historical research and the multi-layered characters all feel first-hand and urgent. That "Gorky Park" is a cut above other espionage/thriller novels made it a best-seller when it came out and a decent film with William Hurt.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed and Exciting Thriller
Review: "Gorky Park" came out in 1981, so some of the Cold War references to the KGB and the bad old days are dated, but it remains a top-notch thriller. Arkady Renko is a Soviet cop called in to solve a triple murder, with the bodies left under the snow in a Moscow park. As he probes deeper, he bumps into the KGB, a wealthy American fur trader, and a high-level conspiracy dating back to World War II. Cruz Smith spent eight years writing the text, and it shows. The eye for detail, the Moscow street scenes, the historical research and the multi-layered characters all feel first-hand and urgent. That "Gorky Park" is a cut above other espionage/thriller novels made it a best-seller when it came out and a decent film with William Hurt.
Rating: 
Summary: A Riveting Novel of Soviet Intrigue
Review: Arkady Renko, a disillusioned homicide investigator, is called upon when three bodies appear frozen in the snow- thier faces and fingertips removed. The investigation that follows takes Renko in directions that put him at odds with the KGB, the FBI, and the NYPD. In addition to being a first rate thriller, 'Gorky Park' shows the reader the fear and paranoia that pervaded the air in Soviet Russia. A bit slow at times, 'Park' nevertheless will keep you wondering just who can be trusted.
Rating:
Summary: The Spy who came in and went back to cold:
Review: Arkydy Renko, an honest hard working, conscientious, public investigator, fights his way through a maze of evil and hostile characters, the cunning, ruthless American entrepreneur, Osborne, his own corrupt boss, Yamskoi and major Preblida, the KGB man. He is after the ruthless killer of three young people, found in frozen Gorky Park, shot at point- blank- range, their faces and fingertips obliterated.. He is helped along the way by the brother of one of the slain men, a young American idealist. Curwell, a New York detective, fluent in Russian, joins hands reluctantly with Arkydy to revenge his brother's murder. Arkydy, by brilliant reasoning and with help from his love, Arina Ossinova, entangles the Sable fur trade, the labyrinth of KGB, and bureaucracy of FBI, tracks down the killer all the way to New York City. Here detective Curwell teams up with him to go after Osborne. But Osborne knows the score and book ends with an unforgettable scene where Arkydy fulfilling his task, limps back to Moscow. He tells Arina, his accomplice and love,who sells her very soul to come to America, to go disappear in America, where she belongs. The book sheds light on dark, Byzantine, bad old days of Soviet Union where every body spied on every body and KGB ruled supreme. I guess people
like Arkydy, the optimistic, very human chief investigator, turned the Soviet régime around and created another revolution seventy years after the brutal first, paving the way for democracy.
Rating:
Summary: Mayhem in Moscow.
Review: Clever and moral Arkady Renko, a Moscow police detective, must solve a gruesome triple homicide in Gorky Park, Moscow's version of New York's Central Park. The mutilated victims have had their faces and fingerprints removed, making identification problematic. Arkady wends his way through a minefield of political intrigue unique to Soviet Russia. This is what makes the well-crafted tale so fresh to American readers. Smith does an excellent job of exposing Russian culture to us. The detective must solve the murder while simultaneously living up to his famous father's reputation, and living through the KGB's vendetta for past accusations of corruption. Sable furs, nasty Americans, pretty Russian women, and betrayal at every turn. This book has it all. One of the best in the genre. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.
Rating:
Summary: Keeps Your Interest High Throughout
Review: Gorky Park has action and three-dimensional characters. It's colorful and yet it has all the shades of gray. Not knowing anything about Russia, I found its evocation irresistable. Arkady is a human star -- he has faults and is very human, yet he's a star that nobody can defeat, not the KGB, not the FBI, nor any of the other assorted Russian or American baddies he encounters. Well, he does have woman troubles....
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly GOOD!!
Review: Gorky Park is a wonderful and perfectly-executed attempt to portray a Russian protagonist in a Russian environment challenged by an American killer.
The writing is moody and absolutely beautiful, the story is very human, and more than once the characters (especially Renko) will bring you a warm compassianate smile. Even though there are some minor factual faults present, Gorky Park is an extremely satisfying piece of crime fiction, and Martin Cruz Smith is probably the only author who gives Russian cops some credit!
Rating:
Summary: Arkady Renko!
Review: Gorky Park made me do something I've never done before: Go out and read every Martin Cruz Smith book with Arkady Renko. Gorky Park is still the best, but they're all good because Renko has breathed life into such a compelling character. Smith just hooked me like I've never been hooked before. They're well written and I'd put him in the ranks of Hammett's Contintental Op, another lost figure who finds redemption in the mysteries he is paid to solve. If it helps, I'd rank them in this order: #1, Gorky Park. #2, Red Square, #3 a tie between Havana Bay and Polar Star. Enjoy!!!
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