The Siberian Dilemma – From the author of Gorky Park
Investigator Arkady Renko, described as ‘one of the most compelling figures in modern fiction’ by USA Today, finds himself travelling deep into Siberia when journalist Tatiana Petrovna disappears on a case.
Journalist Tatiana Petrovna has disappeared. Arkady Renko, iconic Moscow investigator and Tatiana’s on-off lover, hasn’t seen her since she left on a case over a month ago. No one else thinks Renko should be worried – Tatiana is known to disappear during deep assignments – but he knows her enemies all too well and the criminal lengths they will go to keep her quiet. Given the opportunity to interrogate a suspected assassin in Irkutsk, Renko embarks on a dangerous journey to Siberia to find Tatiana and bring her back.
Renko finds Siberia to be a land of shamans and brutally cold nights, oligarchs wealthy on northern oil and sea monsters that are said to prowl the deepest lake in the world. With these forces at work against him, Renko will need all his wits about him to get Tatiana out alive.
From the revered author of crime classic Gorky Park comes the brilliant ninth novel featuring the iconic Arkady Renko.
Duffy’s Thoughts On The Siberian Dilemma
The Siberian Dilemma is a difficult one for me to review. Is it well written? Yes. Are the characters well formed and interesting? Yes. Is it a polished crime novel? Yes.
However, there just wasn’t enough suspense or action for me at all. Maybe I had an expectation based on the heavyweight author, or maybe when you get to your ninth in a series the writer begins to pump the brakes and the steam runs out. I can’t pinpoint anything specific, I just finished the book and felt a little flat.
The Siberian Dilemma is a quick read and it’s clear author Martin Cruz Smith knows his craft, but at the end of the year, when I look back on the crime novels I have read, I’m sad to say I probably won’t remember this one.
I will leave it up to true Cruz fans to decide if this is as good as the previous nine.
