It doesn't matter how ridiculous the lie is if the lie is your only chance to escape. It doesn't matter how obvious the truth is if the truth is that you'll never escape.
Gorky Park
by Martin Cruz Smith
Genre: Crime Thriller
About: Arkady Renko is called to Gorky Park when three bodies are discovered frozen in the snow. It's a crime that should never have happened in Russia. There, murderers can be tied to one of three things: vodka, sex or secrets. But no true Russian would kill in Gorky Park and if his murderer isn't Russian, then this is a case too dangerous to investigate.
The Good
The atmosphere of this novel is brilliant. It's detective fiction, film noir style, with flashes of James Bond villainy. I loved the descriptions, I loved the culture - with nuances given to Russia, Siberia and America throughout. Most of all, I loved the characters. Arkady is a complex, well-fleshed out character and it was so interesting to follow him. Other characters too come with surprising depth. The dialogue is absolutely stellar. I laughed a lot with certain characters, and the friendships often took me by surprise as well as felt genuinely meaningful.
The Bad
It had its confusing moments. The genre itself wants to confuse you at every turn of course, but the most confusing parts for me was in the expectation that readers would be well versed in Russian and American history during the Cold War. While I'm not super ignorant on this area of history, I'm nowhere up to level of detail that this novel is stuffed with. There are some explanations and it certainly didn't stop me from being able to follow the main plot lines, I just know I wasn't getting every reference.
It also was a lot longer than I think it needed to be. This is a 560 page read split into three sections, the first section being the bulk of the novel and two far smaller sections taking turns away from what I expected. I enjoyed every section and the journey of the characters is definitely spy worthy and epic, but the story did feel finished during the first part. The bits I read after, were like interesting footnotes that continued the story but without the same suspense.
The Somewhat Iffy
The female characters. I liked all the characters in the novel, they were all interesting in their own way and I appreciated the time given to tell their individual stories. However, the female characters are there to bring sex to the pages. Frustratingly, they are well-written and complicated characters, but they are only ever viewed through the lens of sex, they serve no other purpose. When I think of the friendship dynamics between some of the male characters, I wish something similar had been given to the female characters too.
Overall
A great read that, surprisingly for its genre, isn't a page turner but is epic, immersive and full of great characters. You have forensics galore, detective charm, and a conspiracy to wrap yourself in for the long haul.
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