I should try to restrain my praise for Polar Star, but I can't, so I won't. Martin Cruz Smith has written a book so fine, with characters so vivid, a ..Show More »reality so fully lived and a plot so clever that you truly are caught up in this world, the Bering Sea, and a "fish factory ship" in which Arkady Renko slaves on the "slime line." If you haven't read a Martin Cruz Smith book, you are in for a treat, and this one is narrated by the greatest reader who ever lived. I first heard Polar Star about ten years ago, and I listen to it every two or three years. Frank Muller had skills that other narrators can only dream of. He was a classically trained actor. His range of voices was stupendous. Renko is one of the most human of any fictional characters ever created. He is a disgraced Moscow homicide detective. He holds on to his humanity in spite of the efforts of the Communist rulers of Russia to degrade him. The first book in this series, Gorky Park, was made into a movie starring William Hurt as Renko and Lee Marvin, one of the best Hollywood bad guys, as the villain. Polar Star could also be made into a movie. There are so many cinematic scenes that you want to cast them yourself. The climax of the book (I will not spoil it) is a whiteout chase on the ice which I believe you will never forget. The closing image still stuns me. Get ready for Polar Star: once you start listening, you truly will not want to stop. Trust me.

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Arkady Renko is one of the richest characters ever created in all of literature, and his creator is one of the best writers living, in any genre. Plus..Show More », Frank Muller was without doubt the best narrator who ever read a book. This is a formidable combination, and it does not disappoint. Smith has created a Russia which feels so thoroughly researched and true that you think he must have lived there for decades. He hasn't. The entire Renko series makes one wonder why anyone else bothers to write. Gorky Park, Red Square, Polar Star, Wolves Eat Dogs: you will be thrilled by any of these. Smith's sense of time and place are so vivid that you almost feel you are living there and then. Muller's voice is so supple and many-faceted that any regular listener will instantly warm to it, and have the awesome experience of hearing an actor with virtually limitless talent. Renko is so complex: so sad yet so determined to pursue his cases; so thoroughly Russian, so observant of his environment, so passionate yet vulnerable to depression. Do you know many people in real life who are so completely human? And yet, every word of every book is fiction, a creation of one of the most fertile minds in the writing world. If you have missed this combination, you are fortunate enough to anticipate many hours of enjoyment. I have read and re-read these books several times, because they are so full of nuance and detail that you forget much of it between readings. I cannot say this of many other writers: you read them once and you have no need to read them again. Not this author, and most assuredly not this narrator.

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For those of you already familiar with Arkady Renko, this book will not disappoint. He is a unique creation in fiction, and I cannot wait for Martin C..Show More »ruz Smith to re-create him. Henry Strozier is also a great narrator. The combination will provide you with many hours of entertainment. Being in Renko's company is like seeing the world through the eyes of a master detective, cynical on the surface, romantic underneath, masterful in skill. To set this novel in Chernobyl reflects the author's courage. Cruz Smith's research and attention to detail is unknown in this genre: the truly real historical fiction but-really-not-fictional mystery. He takes you to places you've never been (unless you are a real Russo-phile) and he shows you how the people live in a way that is unmistakably true. Renko stumbles into a substitute father-son relationship with Zhenya, a master teenage chess ace, who lives on the streets and hustles chess for a living. He likewise stumbles into a chaotic romantic relationship with Dr. Yva Casca, a resident of "The Zone" (the hyperdestructive radioactive circle around the collapsed nuclear reactor in Chernobyl). Their relationship is triangulated with a character I will not mention. There are several subplots. The final scene is a work of true genius. Once you read it, you may never again feel the same about novels in general. Cruz Smith has been a master for decades. I hope he lives to be 100. Enjoy!

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I am a long-time Arkady Renko fan and have always found the adventures easy escapism. You never have to think too hard with these novels, which is ni..Show More »ce, but there's always enough intrigue and context to keep you engaged. And here, with Three Stations, there's...well...nothing to write home about. The characters and motivations - even Arkady's - are superficial to non-existent. The plot lines, really three intertwined minor plots thrown together, are uninteresting and unconvincing. Overall just dull. I kept waiting for something to happen. Then when "something" did happen it was just as uninteresting as when nothing was happening. It was like the adventures of Al Gore and Dan Qualye boozing it up in Russia, or a bad episode of Columbo. The narrator is fine, but he had little content to work with. I normally don't spend credits on short 7 hour listens, but figured it was worth it here to re-visit an old friend. Old friend never showed. Rest well Arkady. It was nice knowing you.

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