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Gorky Park
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
The beloved and well-renowned novel from the internationally bestselling author Martin Cruz Smith, the original master of the global thriller. In Soviet Russia, a triple murder in Moscow amusement centre, Gorky Park, leaves three corpses frozen in the snow. But when Senior Investigator in the Moscow Prosecutor's Office Arkady Renko arrives, he finds that the brutal murder leaves the victims unidentifiable with faces and fingers missing. Renko must battle political and corporate corruption internationally, from the USSR to the USA, to uncover the truth - and he must fight for his own life in doing so. Meanwhile, he is falling in love with a beautiful, headstrong dissident for whom he may risk everything... 'Cruz Smith not only constructs grittily realistic plots, he also has a gift for characterisation of which most thriller writers can only dream' Mail on Sunday 'One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe' Val McDermid 'You'll be engrossed in the atmospheric setting and the complexity of Renko's pained character' Observer 'Smith was among the first of a new generation of writers who made thrillers literary' Guardian 'One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe' Val McDermid 'Like the luminaries of the genre, Smith is at heart a deeply moral writer, and beneath his wry, cynical tone you can feel his authorial anger twitching a safe distance away. Paired with what reads deceptively like a native's knowledge of Russia, it makes for a potent brew' New York Times 'A true storyteller Martin Cruz Smith is literate and exciting - think Joseph Conrad on amphetamines' Newsweek
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Biohaz74
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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Pickpick

7/10

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Tineke
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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Pickpick

This took ages and was, because of my sporadic reading, sometimes a bit hard to follow. I imagine people who can remember the tension during the Cold War might have enjoyed and understood it more than I did. I, who was born a year before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The (bureaucratic) things that happened in the book are just unimaginable to me.
TBR since July 5th. 2015, 335 pages.

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Ellen_C
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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Mehso-so

Detective/thriller from 1981, introducing Russian investigator Arkady Renko. Three bodies, including one American, appear in Gorky Park as the snow melts. Plot gets complicated with issues related to politics, the KGB, foreign relations, history, trade, and personal relationships. Kind of a mixed bag and not one of my favorites. https://cannonballread.com/2020/08/gorky-park-elcicco/

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StaceyKondla
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 4 #bookstoread #tbrpile

BookishTrish It‘s a solid thriller and a very entertaining series. Let me know if you get to it - no pressure 5y
LitHappens It‘s so good!! Seeing this post makes me want to reread it 5y
27 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Andrew65
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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Had looked forward to reading this book for a long time and just found it so #disappointing. Not been back to the series since. #unpopularopinion
#MarchMadness

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claudiuo
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
Pickpick

I really liked this first book in the Arkadi Renko series. I am very curious how the second one will continue after the events at the end of the first one. I really liked the parts about both USSR and USA, very good depiction of both.

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Andrew65
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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#ThoughtYouWoukdLikeButDidnt
#GratefulReads
#UnpopularOpinion
Waited for a long time to read this book, was really looking forward to it and then it fell flat! 😢

OriginalCyn620 I‘ve never read it but it does sound good! Of course, that doesn‘t mean it actually is! 5y
Andrew65 @OriginalCyn620 Loads of people do like it it just didn‘t work for me. 4.04 rating on Goodreads but only a rating of 2 for me. 5y
EadieB @Andrew65 I remember when we read Gorky Park. It was a big disappointment! 5y
Andrew65 @EadieB Yes very disappointing unfortunately. 5y
69 likes4 comments
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Lizstarks
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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“Schmidt showed a smile as hard as a car grille.” (P.53)

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gradcat
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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#WanderingJune

(Day 12 - #Russians)

*I was enamored of the Arkady Renko novels in the 80s. I absolutely loved them. Martin Cruz Smith is still writing novels—he just published a Renko book—but Gorky Park is the one for which he is best known. Above are locations & symbols in the novel, which is set in Russia, but does feature Staten Island, US, very briefly. I believe there are now eight books in the series.

MayJasper I love your collage 5y
BarbaraBB Me too! 5y
Cinfhen I didn‘t realize it was a series ~ great collage ♥️🤩 5y
gradcat @MayJasper @BarbaraBB @Cinfhen Thanks very much, ladies! And, just to add to this, the series is very good! Okay, sorry for the duplicate response, but the first one didn‘t show up until after the second one! 😯 (edited) 5y
gradcat @MayJasper @BarbaraBB Thanks for the comments, ladies...I love getting them! And to @Cinfhen the series is pretty good if you like spy thrillers...during & even after the Cold War. 5y
66 likes1 stack add5 comments
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craftysilicate
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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All the required books for my detective fiction class this semester. Should be a fun one! (Not pictured: some Sherlock Holmes stories I already had on hand.)

Nute Detective Fiction Class... that sounds like loads of fun! 5y
5 likes1 comment
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MayJasper
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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Two in one photo challenge #park and #Russia ❣️ #augustisatrip thanks to @vkois88 and @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

vkois88 👍👍👍 6y
Andrew65 Smart thinking! 6y
JazzFeathers Oh, l read it decades ago. I don't remember much except that l really liked it 6y
MayJasper @JazzFeathers lol me too 6y
70 likes1 stack add4 comments
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erzascarletbookgasm
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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The book opens with the discovery of three bodies in Moscow‘s Gorky Park..shot at close range, their fingertips pruned and faces sliced off. I‘ve not read the book, but remember the film adaptation was dark and tense.
#nuyear #downinthepark

Cinfhen Brilliant 🏆forgot all about this book😊 7y
TrishB Great pick 👍🏻 I was deciding what to do last night and hubby said this one! Luckily I have a back up! 7y
Cathythoughts I forgot all about this book/movie too. Sounds good ! 7y
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Andrew65 I didn‘t enjoy this one, think I only gave it 1.5 Stars. Was disappointed as had wanted to read this for a number of years. 7y
JazzFeathers I read the book as a kid and l remember very little other that l really liked it. I was fascinated with the process if face recontruction, which l suppose was very new at the time and is explored in details 7y
MayJasper I liked it 7y
98 likes5 stack adds6 comments
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Book_Gnome
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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Opening line: "All nights should be so dark, all winters so warm, all headlights so dazzling." #gorkypark #martincruzsmith #panbooks #book #bookgnome #firstline #bookcover #bookish

11 likes2 stack adds
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Ubookquitous
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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#backintheUSSR I enjoyed the couple of Arkady novels I read, set in Soviet era Russia. #rockinMay

@Cinfhen

Cinfhen I remember the film... 8y
minkyb I loved this book. 8y
Ubookquitous @Cinfhen movie was good, book is better. 8y
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EvieBee I loved this one! Good pick! 8y
EvieBee @minkyb Me too! 8y
JazzFeathers I read Gorky Park so many years ago, but l remember loving it. Didn't post it for today's prompt even if it was the first thing coming to mind only becaus l don't own it... but l've found something else 😁 8y
21 likes1 stack add6 comments
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DarcysBookBlog
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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"Well, love was no fading violet; love was a weed that flourished in the dark. Has anyone ever explained it?" #tbr

6 likes1 stack add
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Nebklvr
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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Mehso-so

This would have been better if i had started in the proper order. However, if i had, i probably would not have continued with the series...

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Nebklvr
Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith
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Does anyone else feel as though we are living in an Arkady Renko novel?

19 likes1 stack add