|
Outstanding
|
Publishers Weekly
It's the Zone [of Exclusion] itself and the story of Chernobyl that supplies the riveting backbone of this novel.
|
|
Outstanding
|
Booklist Bill Ott
Even more than "Havana Bay," this novel demonstrates Cruz Smith's remarkable ability to meld character with landscape, and if Renko seems to find a shred of hope in the end, we know not to turn our dosimeters off quite yet. [1 Sept 2004, p.8]
|
|
Outstanding
|
Library Journal Wilda Williams
Smith's latest is filled with the same eye for detail and fully developed characters that made "Gorky Park" so compelling. Fans will snap up. [15 Oct 2004, p.56]
|
|
Outstanding
|
The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Giles Blunt
Renko seems bewildered by his own persistence, the way men are often bewildered by their self-destructive
impulses. "You're the Question Man," one character observes. "Most people get over asking 'why' by the age of ten, only you never did." For anyone with a taste for mysteries that consistently raise the bar of crime writing, that can only be good news. [6 Nov 2004, p.D28]
|
|
Outstanding
|
Los Angeles Times Dick Lochte
Relentlessly fascinating. [16 Nov 2004, p.E6]
|
|
Outstanding
|
Washington Post John Burdett
The conclusion is surprisingly tragic in a way that momentarily lifts the book above the thriller genre and into the realm of more serious works. Smith is in a class of his own, probably because his books are genuine novels as well as thrillers.
|
|
Outstanding
|
The Guardian Chris Petit
When Cruz Smith is at his best, as he is here, it is impossible to tell how much is research and how much imagination. Liberated from the restrictions of the form, he moves into the realm of high adventure, alongside such writers as John Buchan, Hammond Innes, the great Lionel Davidson and Geoffrey Household.
|
|
Outstanding
|
The Spectator Ian Thomson
I have not read such a good thriller in years; the writing is taut and darkly humorous, the background convincing.
|
|
Outstanding
|
TLS: The Times Literary Supplement Natasha Cooper
The unfolding plot is handled with the kind of absolute confidence that assumes the reader will understand without long explanations, and the two main sub-plots are woven neatly into the fabric of this remarkable novel.
|
|
Favorable
|
Kirkus Reviews
As always, Smith imagines a Russia that is sad, broken, and, somehow, romantically irresistible.
|
|
Favorable
|
Chicago Tribune Dick Adler
As he did in his second Renko outing, "Polar Star," in which the detective is punished with one of the world's nastiest and most grueling jobs aboard a fish-processing ship, Smith manages to make the horrors of Chernobyl almost a redeeming experience--for Renko and for us.
|
|
Favorable
|
Boston Globe Sam Allis
The book needs reading, not describing. It's worth it, on balance, for another encounter with Arkady Renko, and if the story is needlessly byzantine, smart writing still sells.
|
|
Favorable
|
San Francisco Chronicle Alan Cheuse
Renko has to struggle constantly with wolves in human clothing in order to bring some small amount of justice in the world, and that is what makes up the heart of a good thriller.
|
|
Favorable
|
The New York Times Book Review Jonathan Mahler
By the time the investigation is over and Arkady returns to Moscow -- worse for the wear, naturally -- we're already eager for whatever grim assignment awaits him next.
|
|
Favorable
|
Wall Street Journal Tom Nolan
Moody and thrilling.
|
|
Favorable
|
Entertainment Weekly Jennifer Reese
Smith doesn't seem to raise a sweat: His chilling, elegant denouement feels both inevitable and surprising.
|
|
Mixed
|
Daily Telegraph Susanna Yager
The narrative sometimes flags, but this is a thoughtful novel, not so much a whodunit as a portrait of a society created by one of the worst man-made disasters in history.
|
