Red Square: A Novel [Paperback]

NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER • ANEW YORK TIMESNOTABLE BOOK • “Sharply, evocatively written and elaborately plotted . . . [Red Square] should find as many friends as did Gorky Park.”—The Washington Post Book World

Back from exile in the hellish reaches of the Soviet Union, homicide investigator Arkady Renko discovers that his country, his Moscow, even his job, are nearly dead. But his enemies are very much alive, and foremost among them are the powerful black-market crime lords of the Russian mafia. Hounded by this terrifying new underworld, chased by the ruthless minions of the newly rich and powerful, and tempted by his great love, defector Irina Asanova, Arkady can only hope desperately for escape. But fate has something else in store.

“Gripping . . . Smith at his best.”—The Wall Street Journal

“A crackling suspense thriller.”—The Boston Globe

“Fascinating . . . powerful.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Absorbing.”—The New York Times

“Extraordinary.”—TimeMartin Cruz Smith’s novels include Gorky Park, Stallion Gate, Polar Star, Stalin’s Ghost, Rose, December 6, Tatiana, and The Girl from Venice. He is a two-time winner of the Hammett Prize, a recipient of Britain’s Golden Dagger Award, and a winner of the Premio Piemonte Giallo Internazionale. He lives in California.MOSCOW
 
August 6–August 12, 1991
 
In Moscow, the summer night looks like fire and smoke. Stars and moon fade. Couples rise and dress and walk the street. Cars wander with their headlights off.
 
“There.” Jaak saw an Audi passing in the opposite direction.
 
Arkady slipped on headphones, lă*