Rating: 
Summary: Uneven, but worthy
Review: This should have been great. It had a new conspiracy - the theft and enslavement of US prisoners shipped to Siberia to work on a pipeline. The slaughter of Siberian tigers by poachers and the tremendously exotic setting of Siberia. Instead, it was okay. The detective was complex and a well developed character, but the author tried too hard to hammer home her point about the endangered Siberian tiger, even falsifying her facts as reported by the zoologist. I agree with her position and believe that the truth is bad enough and exaggeration merely undercuts her position.Three years ago, Gregori Nowek--a geologist whose criticisms of Soviet oil-drilling got him banished to frozen Irkutsk--was elected mayor of his new town with the slogan ``Can I Do Any Worse?'' How can you resist this sort of hero? His wife is dead, his daughter a typical teenage and he's making do in the incredibly corrupt new Russia when he's assigned to solve a murder, probably because it's assumed he will fail. His inquiries lead to an American-Russian business venture that no one wants disturbed -- so his continued search for truth is discouraged. But he's in love!!! So of course, he becomes SuperDetective and saves the day for his daughter, the Siberian tigers and his one true love!!! At times it's quite funny and reasonably enjoyable, but the heavyhanded political message coupled with the improbable success of our hero put this high on the top of the As If! list.
Rating: 
Summary: terrific post-Soviet thriller
Review: To a reader's delight, and what must be the great pain of the Russian populace, Russia has gone from being an ideal setting for thrillers because of a totalitarian system that made just about everything illegal, to an ideal setting for thrillers because of it's complete lawlessness. Siberian Light finds Gregori Nowek, a geologist & mayor of an oil boomtown in Irkutsk, Siberia (his slogan was "Can I Do any Worse?"), investigating the murders of Andrei Ryzkhov, an intermediary for the AmerRus oil company which is drilling for Siberian light crude oil, and of two of his own militiamen, who went to investigate why Ryskhov's dog was barking. Nowek's superior, Arkady Volsky, wants him to conduct the investigation, but State Prosecutor Gromov has other ideas & turns loose ex-KGB Major Kaznin. The investigation leads Nowek, & his loyal-but-cynical driver Chuchin, to Tunguska & the AmerRus base, but along the way he has run-ins with the local mafia, falls in love with Dr. Anna Vereskaya, a tiger biologist with an uncanny resemblance to Nowek's wife who died three years earlier in an Aeroflot crash. Just to further complicate life, his 16 year old daughter Galena runs away. There's a lot going on here, but White manages to keep all of the plates spinning and his portrait of life in post-Soviet Russia is fascinating. GRADE: B+
Rating:
Summary: Thriller with depth.
Review: White's chrarcters display the decadence, byzantine corruption and beauty of contemporary (and perhaps always) Russia. A page turner, tour of the landscape, and highly recommended winter distraction - although the ending is a `little' bit much. As well as a first class thriller, this novel displays glimpses of a very promising writer. I will buy his next book. Keep writing Robin!
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