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Three Stationsby Martin Cruz Smith |
Arlene Almas: I first became acquainted with Detective
Arkady Renko many years ago when I listened to "Gorky Park" on audio book. Now he is
back in Martin Cruz Smith's new novel "Three Stations," named after a section of Moscow
where three major railroad stations stand in close proximity to each other. Cruz Smith
deftly brings to life the dark atmosphere of this area created by vacant and crumbling
buildings, marauding teenage gangs, various criminal types, and corrupt police. Into
this roiling hellhole comes the waif-like 15-year-old girl Maya, arriving on a train
from which her newborn baby has been kidnapped. Zhenya, a decent teenager whose home
is the streets and empty buildings of the Three Stations area, determines that he will
help Maya, with the assistance of his sometime frie! nd and protector Detective Renko,
even though he (and everyone else she tells her story to) does not believe her tale
of the missing baby. While helping Maya and Zhenya, Renko is also investigating the
murder of a young woman whose appearance is that of a prostitute, which causes the
police to ignore her case. The characters may not be deep, but the action is lively
and entertaining.
Rating: ***
