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Title: Havana Bay by Martin Cruz Smith ISBN: 0-345-39045-8 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 03 April, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.71 (95 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Sad, disappointing Bay
Comment: The Arkady Renko trilogy will always be one of my favorite books. I think of it as one book in three parts and it's right up there in my "Best 20" list. What a disappointment Havana Bay was! After years waiting for the next Renko installment, Martin Cruz Smith mixes ingredients from here and there out of his other Renko novels and then proceeds to serve a cocktail that lacks originality and that most unusual touch: a soul. Call me a romantic, but I think what moved the other Renko books was himself, the Chief Investigator, and what moved him was Irina. I don't want to give away any secrets of the plot (as much as it can be called a plot) but I felt terribly sad and disappointed when, before page 50, the writer had decided to eliminate important supports in the structure of the previous novels. Arkady, who I had come to care about, as all good fiction should do for its characters, solves another mystery, this time in Cuba, and finds a woman, and they have an awkward affair, and, in the end, he is left alone. Smith has decided to take everything away from this man. History got rid of his country, the author who made him got rid of the rest. After reading "Havana Bay" I felt I had to do a mental exercise that I had done before, when the third movie in the "Alien" family came out. In that occasion, I had to pretend the series ended with the second movie, because the third one was so bad as to defy description. I have done the same thing with the Arkady Renko novels, but not very successfully. This mean-spirited, sad, and ultimately cold thriller, is an undeserved ending for one of the best characters in fiction of the 20th Century. The two stars it earns from me are because I was still happy to read about Renko and because, in spite of cloning his own work, Smith writes very well.
Rating: 5
Summary: Havana Bay
Comment: The most recent (fourth) in the Inspector Arkady Renko series in Martin Cruz Smith's top notch series of "Russian" mysteries. We can only hope Smith will come up with more Renko mysteries. Since he is one of the most interesting protagonists in fiction today. Unfortunately Smith only writes a book on average of every FIVE years).
Many writers today find a successful formula and stick to it... over and over. The only thing the same from Martin Cruz Smith's works are their high level of excitement, interesting characters and plot development. Havana Bay lives up to Smith's past work. What he does best is gives the reader an insiders' view of a society totally different than what the audience is used to. Whether it be Cuba in this novel, Japan in December 4th: A Novel, or the Soviet Union in Gorky Park, with his characters on the verge of an exciting adventure for the reader to be a part of.
Another fun read from Smith. I enjoy Smith's books!
John Row
Rating: 5
Summary: Great Arkady Renko Tale
Comment: The fourth in Smith's intelligent series about Moscow detective Arkady Renko is set in Cuba. Renko's ennui brings him to Havana to look into the death of an old friend. As usual, he gets knocked around a bit, unravels complicated conspiracies, bumps into interesting women, and utters some precious self-deprecating one liners. Readers will also learn more about the fate of his truest love, Irina. A great addition to the Renko series.
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Title: Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith ISBN: 0345384733 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1993 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Rose by Martin Cruz Smith ISBN: 034542252X Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith ISBN: 0345298349 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1993 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: December 6: A Novel by Martin Cruz Smith ISBN: 0671775928 Publisher: Pocket Star Books Pub. Date: 25 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Polar Star by MARTIN CRUZ SMITH ISBN: 0345367650 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 13 June, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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