Gorky Park

De: Martin Cruz Smith

Narrado por: Henry Strozier

The Arkady Renko book that started it all: the #1 bestseller Gorky Park, an espionage classic that begins the series, by Martin Cruz Smith, “the master of the international thriller” (The New York Times).

It begins with a triple murder in a Moscow amusement center: three corpses found frozen in the snow, faces and fingers missing. Chief homicide investigator Arkady Renko is brilliant, sensitive, honest, and cynical about everything except his profession. To identify the victims and uncover the truth, he must battle the KGB, FBI, and the New York City police as he pursues a rich, ruthless, and well-connected American fur dealer. Meanwhile, Renko is falling in love with a beautiful, headstrong dissident for whom he may risk everything.

A wonderfully textured, vivid look behind the Iron Curtain, Gorky Park is a tense, atmospheric, and memorable crime story. “Once one gets going, one doesn’t want to stop…The action is gritty, the plot complicated, and the overriding quality is intelligence” (The Washington Post). The first in a classic series, Gorky Park “reminds you just how satisfying a smoothly turned thriller can be” (The New York Times Book Review).

Headline

I had seen and liked the movie but the book gave a lot more depth. The set up of Soviet detective is a great idea and I wish more authors would try change ups like this.

Outstanding Book and Excellent Narration

I have read this book and now listened to it. It's a classic for a good reason.

Great book

This book was quite enjoyable. It kept me completely on the edge of my seat, the entire time. My only complaint, is they said they were safeties on revolvers. I am quite sure someone better with the English language we complain about my review, but I enjoyed it! That’s all you need to know about this book. It is enjoyable.

Better than the movie

The book filled in what the movie left out.
It did get somewhat long . But all in all it was good.

Not as great as I heard it would be

Rather trite, obvious book. Seems that it was popular for its subject matter in the era it was released more than its content.

Very good spy/mystery story.

Lots of twists and turns. KGB versus CIA versus FBI versus local police. A good mystery. Hard to tell who the good guys are. You do have to work at it to keep the characters straight.

I enjoyed the narrator. Deep voice... good for this mystery. I was surprised to see so many negative comments about the performance. Recommended.

Mispronunciations distracting

The story is great and most of the narration. However, how could the producers of this recording not insist that the narrator pronounce the protagonist's name correctly??? I have consulted a dozen sites for the correct way to say the name Arkady, and it is, as I suspected, Ar-KAH'-dee, not ARK'-uh-dee. Good grief! Also, lapis lazuli- strangest pronunciation ever. And a few others. But the main character's name?? That you hear over and over? Really!!!!

Great story, narrator not the best.

Guess I've gotten spoiled by some superstar narrators like George Guidell. This one was ok, but hard to tell when he was changing characters. Kind of detracted from the story, which was VERY enjoyable!

Top ten favorite.

A stellar book, compelling, human, thrilling, beautifully written and read. The characters become so “real” as the story unfolds, one begins to imagine them as such, caring for them in different ways and wondering how their lives have unfolded as the years roll along. Arkady, with his desires and flaws, his brilliant inquiring mind, and self-deprecating inner world-a fiercely fantastic main character. The descriptions of terrain, weather, attire, cold, stench, physicality, the dark humor… all bring a singular clarity to the fullness of each encounter, every scene flawlessly revealed. It is a privilege to read, listen to, this painfully beautiful book.

narrator is terrible

narrator is terrible, mispronounces words that are common and sometimes stops mid sentence to swallow or is busy gagging.