Stalin's ghost

Smith, Martin Cruz, 1942-2014

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Summary

Once the Chief Investigator of the Moscow Militsiya, Arkady Renko is now a pariah of the Prosecutor's Office and has been reduced to investigating reports of late-night subway riders seeing the ghost of Joseph Stalin. Part political hocus-pocus, part wishful thinking - even the illusion of the bloody dictator has a higher approval rating than Renko. After being left by his lover for a more popular and successful detective, Renko's investigation becomes a jealousy-fuelled quest leading to the barren fields of Tver, where millions of soldiers fought, and lost their lives. Here, scavengers collect bones, weapons and paraphernalia off the remains of those slain, but there's more to be found than bullets and boots. Even among the dead there are surprises. When the ghost of Joseph Stalin is seen stalking the Moscow Metro late at night, Investigator Arkady Renko is assigned the thankless task of finding out what's going on. The illusion seems part political hocus-pocus and part wishful thinking. Among many Russians Stalin is popular again - decidedly more so than Renko. Renko's lover, Eva, has left him for Detective Nikolai Isakov, a charismatic veteran and, Renko suspects, a killer for hire. Quickly, Renko's investigation turns into a personal inquiry fuelled by jealousy. But then the inquiry takes an even more sinister turn. For amidst the rubble of bones and weapons of slain World War II soldiers in the barren fields of Tver, where a million soldiers fought and many died, Arkady Renko must now confront the ghost of his father, one of Stalin's most brutal generals.