The Siberian Dilemma

Written by Martin Cruz Smith

Narrated by Jeremy Bobb

From the award-winning, bestselling author of Gorky Park and Tatiana comes a breathtaking new novel about investigator Arkady Renko—“one of the most compelling figures in modern fiction” (USA TODAY)—who travels deep into Siberia to find missing journalist Tatiana Petrovna.

Journalist Tatiana Petrovna is on the move. Arkady Renko, iconic Moscow investigator and Tatiana’s part-time lover, hasn’t seen her since she left on assignment over a month ago. When she doesn’t arrive on her scheduled train, he’s positive something is wrong. 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’ll go to keep her quiet.

Renko embarks on a dangerous journey to find Tatiana and bring her back. From the banks of Lake Baikal to rundown Chita, Renko slowly learns that Tatiana has been profiling the rise of political dissident Mikhail Kuznetsov, a golden boy of modern oil wealth and the first to pose a true threat to Putin’s rule in over a decade. Though Kuznetsov seems like the perfect candidate to take on the corruption in Russian politics, his reputation becomes clouded when Boris Benz, his business partner and best friend, turns up dead. In 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, Renko needs all his wits about him to get Tatiana out alive.

The Washington Post has said “Martin Cruz Smith is that rare phenomenon: a popular and well-regarded crime novelist who is also a writer of real distinction.” In the latest continuation of his unforgettable series, he brings us to the inside world of shadowy political figures and big wig oil oligarchs providing us with an authentic view of contemporary Russia, infused with his trademark wit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Nov 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781508287674

Martin Cruz Smith

Martin Cruz Smith’s novels include Gorky Park, Stallion Gate, Nightwing, Polar Star, Stalin’s Ghost, Rose, December 6, Tatiana, The Girl from Venice, and The Siberian Dilemma. He is a two-time winner of the Hammett Prize, a recipient of the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award and Britain’s Golden Dagger Award, and a winner of the Premio Piemonte Giallo Internazionale. He lives in California.

Reviews for The Siberian Dilemma

[John T Capetta · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Arkady Renko in Siberia? Could not be better, even though ending a bit anti-climactic/too easy an out.

[addunn3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

detective ends up in Siberia to find girlfriend. Not a great plot. Silly at times with a strong hint of implausibility.

[sandyamcpherson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In a continuing series of misadventures by Arkady Renko, a Moscow investigator, the story takes us to Irkutsk in the Siberian plains. Corruption and political machinations dog Renko's investigation as well as his search for Tatiania, his journalist girlfriend. While the Siberian wilderness is always a background to the narrative, I would guess Martin Cruz Smith has not experienced enough of such a climate or bear hunting and driving on frozen lakes to really convey a genuine feel for the setting. The author provided a convoluted plot, with some sneaky twists, but largely, Renko is more of a puppet responding to unclear schemes behind his back. The action falls into a series of fits and starts, with interludes that seem disconnected. However, there are enough good pieces to make this worth reading ~ if you've enjoyed other Renko novels. Not up to the standard of Gorky Park or Red Square, for example, but Bolot, the 'factotum', is excellently drawn and brings the best of the story into an enjoyable read.

[eyejaybee · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It seems amazing to me that it is nearly forty years since the publication of Gorky Park, which introduced the cynical Moscow investigator Arkady Renko. Martin Cruz Smith had already published several other novels, bit it is for the Renko books that he seems to be best known.I loved Gorky Park. Apart from anything else, I think it was the first modern novel that I had read which was set in what was then the Soviet Union, which lent a certain novelty value. I have been rather ambivalent about the other novels in the series, and probably would not have bothered to read this one if it hadn’t been given to me as a present.The Russia of this novel is very different from that on Gorky Park, but the corruption and cynicism of the authoritarian figures looming over the story are much the same. Renko is despatched by his surly boss to Irkutsk, in Siberia, where he is to bring back a suspect who had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder (the intended victim being Renkos’ boss himself). This mission is almost providential as Renko’s current partner, investigative journalist Tatiana Petrovna is also in Irkutsk, where she is following two oil-rich oligarchs, one of whom might be mounting a political campaign with a view to ousting the current President. Tatiana’s editor in Moscow had already alerted Renko to his concerns about her, as she seems to have slipped out of view, and hasn’t made any contact for several days. As usual, Renko finds himself in a situation where nothing is as it seems, and he grapples with two particularly complex mysteries that seem to be closely related to each other.Unfortunately, I fear that my sparse synopsis above is actually more exciting than the book ever manages to be. I feel that Renko might be due a well-earned retirement, to put him out of everyone’s misery.

[christopherswann · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It’s always a pleasure to reconnect with Arkady Renko. Long may he live.

[barlow304 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The ninth book in the Arkady Renko series has managed to avoid the false steps of many series: it does not clutter the book with continuing characters who each need a moment or a place in the plot. Yes, there are continuing characters, along with an extremely charming and useful new personage, but only Tatiana is important.Indeed, it's Tatiana, the journalist Arkady loves, who sets the plot in motion by disappearing somewhere in southern Siberia while working on an expose of Russian oligarchs. By the time Arkady catches up to her, she is in deep with an oligarch with a frenemy fellow oligarch. Is one or both of the oligarchs corrupt? Is there a dimension of their rivalry that goes beyond control of oil fields? Will someone start taking potshots at Arkady? Of course.

[thewanderingjew_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The Siberian Dilemma, Martin Cruz Smith, author; Jeremy Bobb, narratorArkady Renko is a special investigator in Moscow. When his girlfriend, investigative journalist Tatiana Petrovna fails to return home as promised, he travels to Siberia to search for her. He believes she is there working on a story about oligarchs and may be in trouble. Although he does find her there, his problems are just beginning. He is mauled by a bear and gravely injured, she is in a helicopter crash and barely escapes with her life, well known oligarchs are murdered to protect Vladimir Putin, and a corrupt a prosecutor threatens Zhenya, a 15 year old boy that Arkady cares for. The book is an easy read but it contains a lot of unnecessary dialogue about bees and bears. I thought the plot was thin with a lot of unnecessary extraneous tangents as Renko faces his own Siberian Dilemmas.

[malcrf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In many ways a strange book. Supposedly 274 pages the type-face and the white space mean that it's probably more like 220 pages really. And it's sparsely written. No superflous descriptions, no fleshing out of characters beyond what they say and do, no excess prose beyond what's need for the storyline, and perhaps all the better for that. More a 3.75 than a 4, but a thoroughly enjoyable page-turner with perhaps a weak ending.

[norinrad10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I first discovered Arkady Renko back in the '80's through Martin Cruz-Smith's stand out debut Gorky Park - yes it was a movie too. Renko was a facinating charactere then and continues as such today. A moral detective in a corrupt society. Driven to do the only thing he can, investigate.Over the years Cruz-Smith has used the character to highlight and tell the story of a changing Russia. While some traditions have remained, much has changed. But not Renko, he is the same dogged detective clinging to principals and always out of sort with the people who run the government he serves.. Cruz-Smith's latest is an odd duck. It's a sparser novel then previous entries and his writing has become more streamlined. Almost like a Russian Ken Breun. No small compliment. The plot is relatively inconsequential, as it is the characters, along with Siberia itself, that drives the story. This is another novel masquerading as a crime book, when the subject is really life itself. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“Reading was taken seriously, and learning was respected. One man beat his cellmate to death for tearing out the last fifty pages of ‘A Tale of Two Cities.” Now that’s my kind of prison! Arkady is back!!!! And Victor, his partner, who “was an excellent detective when he was sober.”Tatiana is missing and Arkady flies to Irkutsk, Siberia to look for her. And, while there, he also has to interrogate a man who shot at Prosecutor Zurin. Double the fun! I really liked Bolot, the factotum/shaman! And I just really enjoyed the book - the bears, the oil, and the oligarchs! Hoping for a #10!!!“Better to do something than nothing.”“The Siberian dilemma,” Arkady said.

[maneekuhi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For new readers, those of you who haven't read any Arkady Renko books yet......Should I start this series? YES ! Should I read this book, #9 in the series? uh.....probably no. Read the very first, "Gorky Park". Then read the next 2-3. Be guided by critics' reviews. Somewhere in the middle, the series runs out of gas. Some books are very blah (this is not one of them), and others are only so-so. I gave this a "4"; it's probably a "3".It's very short. It starts at a zoo, and quick thinking police detective saves the day by bringing down an escaped bear with a nerves of steel, last second shot. Somehow we know we'll see more bears in subsequent chapters. And we do. And Tatiana is there, waiting rescue by guess who? "Siberian Dilemma" (SD) has timely issues including Putin, elections, etc. Tatiana is writing an article that will not be well received, and Arkady and his factotum go to her rescue in icy Siberia. Those pages were best with some very vivid and interesting descriptions of driving cars on frozen lakes, surviving a bear attack, surviving a helicopter crash and more.And now I have three mini un-spoilers for you: Putin wins the election, Arkady survives a modern day version of a SD, and nobody knows what a factotum is. Amusing but still Arkady-lite

[ozzer_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is a slow read for a novel billed as a thriller. There are indeed a few thrilling moments in the narrative (a bear attack, a sniping murder, and a helicopter crash), but these are short-lived and related almost offhandedly with little suspense or buildup. Arkady goes to Siberia for a couple of nebulous reasons, including finding his girlfriend, the reporter Tatiana, and catching the culprit who shot at his boss on the "Love Lock" bridge in Moscow. Both of these mysteries are quickly solved with little fanfare or relationship to the main narrative. Thereafter, Arcady teams up with a couple of colorful characters and they roam around Siberia, but his motivations are never very clear. Smith's principle themes are Russian corruption related to Putin's hold on power against dissidents and the Oligarchs' control of Russia's fossil fuel resources. He handles these supremely important topics far too superficially to sustain much interest. In the final analysis, this is a disappointing addition to the Arcady Renko saga.

[dokfintong · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Arkady is backArkady Renko burst onto the scene in 1981 in "Gorky Park" and he has been a favorite of mine over the decades. After a gap of 6 years after "Tatiana" in 2013, Arkady is back following Tatiana on an assignment to wintertime Siberia where he dances with a bear and meets a shaman.This is less a mystery than a meditation on today's Russia, where life is cheap and power is everything. We meet all of the archetypes with Mr. Putin's shadow looming over everything.It's not a long book, or a heavy one, but for anyone with connections with Russia, it's quite a treat.I received a review copy of "The Siberian Dilemma" by Martin Cruz Smith from the publisher Simon & Schuster through NetGalley.com.

[jjbooklvr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read book 1 way back when and somehow never got back to this series. Surprisingly, I never felt lost in this one and fell right back into the story and characters. Now I have to decide if I want to go back and catch up on this series.