Stalin's Ghost

STALIN'S GHOST; Martin Cruz Smith; New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007. 332pgs.

Arkady Renko is back in another bleak but darkly humorous police procedural in post-Soviet Russia. When Arkady's partner Victor picks up a ringing phone on a fellow officer's desk, he
gets in on an arrangement for a hit. As Arkady and Victor play along in order to bring their colleagues to justice, a vision of Josef Stalin appears at the Chistye Prude Metro station. Renko is pulled off the first case to chase Stalin's ghost, only to find the two cases linked by a paper candidate's run for office in an attempt to siphon votes from the legitimate opposition. There is much mayhem and thuggery here, as Renko single-mindedly pursues the truth and justice--also some language and sex--but this is a very rich narrative about how it has become convenient in the new, apparently never to truly be free, Russia to ignore and even glorify the past.
Highly recommended.

LW