Product Description

On "psychiatric rehabilitation" in Siberia, Arkady Renko is exiled on Polar Star, a Soviet factory ship which trawls the freezing waters from Siberia to Alaska. His movements are being shadowed by those who know his past. Then Renko is given a chance to regain his freedom.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #370522 in Books
• Published on: 1996-04-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Customer Reviews

Sequel to Gorky Park surpasses the original
This book marks the return of Arkady Renko, Cruz Smith's hero of the original novel Gorky Park. No longer a Moscow investigator, Renko has been in hiding in the depths of Russia for the last two years or so and has finally found himself at the bottom of the worst place in the world that you might possibly be.

Where the first novel seemed to meander a bit after a fantastic first half, this novel seems to work better almost as a self-contained unit, although undeniably part of a sequence. The book combines some excellent literary references (in my view, and everyone should check out Anna Akhmatova's poem THE GUEST) and some nice black humour ("There is no unemployment in Russia.")

An excellent "Murder Mystery" novel which has been nicely researched and written.

Nowhere to run...
Gorky Park was righly acclaimed as a great novel, but its sequel, Polar Star, which sees the ongoing trials and tribulations of Arkady Renko is even greater. While the first book had a theme of escape and breaking free while running away from the dark forces lurking around every corner, Polar Star has an almost unbearable claustrophobia about it where Renko must not only resurrect his detective skills but he must fight to stay alive aboard the eponymous vessel.

I found this book more approachable than Gorky Park and as there has never been a film made of it I never ceased to be taken by surprise as the body stack up and Renko is drawn ever deeper into the dark secrets of the ship. As such, I found it a more rewarding read.

This book has got to be a must-read for anyone who has read Gorky Park, but it would be just as easily accessible by someone starting their first Renko novel. You might miss some of Renko's background story, but you'll soon grow to like him. His sardonic take on the Soviet dream makes him seem very human and provides a welcome light relief from the grisly murders.

Compared to some more recent novels the murders and subsequent pathology might seem rather tame (but hey, we're all pathologists these days) but that's part of the charm and it makes you realise that the real strength of this book is the depth of the characters. A first rate chiller thriller.

Polar Star - Cold War Whodunnit
What can I say that other more talented reviewers have not? All I can say is that this book is, perhaps, one of Martin Cruz Smith's finest works. Personally I read it before I got hold of a copy of Gorky Park but the plot is presented in such a way that the reader does not feel any loss. I found the descriptions of the ship, the fishing methods and seascape complimented the plot fantasically. But what I really enjoyed was the depth of research that the author has put into the text, not only on matters of seamanship but also what it must have been like to be Russian under the Soviet system. A fantasic read, like all his books, Polar Star is certainly one of his most visually stunning.