Independence
Square by Martin Cruz Smith.
Senior Moscow Police Investigator Arkady Renko is
tired. Tired of his job, tired of the
endless corruption he deals with at every turn, and very definitely tired of
his boss Zorin, who has made an art out of toadying and feathering his own nest
to the extent that he is virtually untouchable – as are most of the Would-Be’s
if they Could-Be’s scrabbling to be on the various strata of the Kremlin.
And he also knows that those he holds dear are never
really safe; they will always be
vulnerable, always be potential victims as long as he remains honourable and a
straight arrow: his foster son Zenhya,
and his long-time love, fearless international journalist Tatiana (now writing
for the New York Times) who, as always has left Moscow on the trail of a
sizzling exposé of Putin’s plans for war in the Ukraine. No, he’s not flavour of the month with the
Kremlin, but he has to soldier on, as they all do, accepting as a distraction a
request from ‘Bronson’, so-called because that’s who he looks like, to find his
daughter Karina, a classical musician and first violin of a string-quartet
‘because the assholes he hired to find her haven’t gotten anywhere.’ Could Renko investigate?
It
is ironic to think that Bronson, who runs most of the protection rackets in the
city and has been jailed multiple times wants to hire the only incorruptible
investigator in Moscow, but stranger things have happened – we just don’t know
what they are yet. So, Arkady and his
loyal sidekick Viktor (every detective has one!) start with Karina’s apartment,
which she shares with her friend Elena, also a member of the quartet. Nothing is revealed except that both women
are followers of Forum, a new and noisy political group whose leader is Leonid
Lebedev who, at a rally Arkady attends announces that he is going to run for
Mayor of Moscow – oh, really? Good luck
with that, thinks Renko. And as the story develops and Arkady and
Elena search for Karina farther afield, the body count starts to rise, beginning
with the would-be mayoral candidate, and a naïve friend of Arkady’s foster
son. Will Zenhya be next?
The
bodies keep falling, and Arkady’s investigative powers are compromised by an
unexpected illness – he is diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease before he leaves
Moscow for the Crimea and a meeting with the elusive Karina. And this is not a touch of melodrama for the
sake of it: Smith was diagnosed with the
same disease and knows only too well whereof he speaks. Regardless, he can still ramp up the suspense
and heartbreak with the best of them, and his portrayal of contemporary events
is fair and true, just like his mighty, world-weary protagonist. FIVE STARS.
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