Customer Reviews
Gone Fishing... - By: cluricaune, 01 May 2007 
Martin Cruz Smith is a former journalist & magazine editor. "Havana Bay" is his fourth novel - after "Gorky Park", "Polar Star" & "Red Square" - to feature Arkady Renko & was first published in 1999.
Renko, the hero, works as an Investigator with Moscow's militia - more or less the standard police force - & has something of a chequered career. Never a truly 'practising' member of the Party, Renko hasn't always been thought highly of by those in authority. He has always wanted to catch the people responsible for the crimes he's investigating, regardless of the 'political' consequences - as a result of this, he was once dismissed from the Party for a lack of 'political reliability' & sentenced to a life in Siberia. He has been rehabilitated for several years now, though he always remained something of a disappointment to his father - a very famous ex-General. His father has been dead for some time, though Arkady has recently lost his wife, Irina.
While Renko has been abroad before, "Havana Bay" sees him operating entirely outside the Russian sphere of influence. Having received a mysterious unsigned fax, he's in Havana - apparently to identify a body the Cuban authorities believe to be an old friend of his : ex-KGB Colonel, Sergei Pribluda. Pribluda had been in the Cuban capital for eleven months working as an attache to the Russian Embassy. He had been missing for around a week, until - it would appear - the discovery of a body found floating in Havana Bay. While certain characteristics match up - dental records, for example - Renko isn't entirely convinced : the body has decompsoed to such a point that it's lacking a face & fingerprints. However, since the Cubans believe Pribluda was actuallly working as a spy, they aren't even remotely bothered about opening an investigation. Arkady, on the other hand, wants to find out what's happened to his friend - even if the corpse isn't Pribluda, he's been missing for a week. Renko isn't the sort to be overly bothered about operating an 'unofficial' investigation - he is techincallly a tourist in Cuba - but things won't be easy for him. Since the falll of communism in Russia, there's been a certain amount of tension between Cuba & Renko's homeland. As a result, Renko won't be getting any real help from the Cuban investigators - Sergeant Luna, in particular, goes out of his way to be a hindrance. However, there is a chance Arkady may be able to win over Detective Osario...
Although much better than your average murder-mystery book, I don't think "Havana Bay" was just quite as good as the previous instalments in the Renko series. Part of that came down to the location - I think I may have missed the political games played in Russia. I also thought it was very unfair on Renko to have killed off Irina - he deserves a reason to smile ! However, it is an enjoyable & easily read book - Arkady is a character fans of Harry Bosch should take to very easily.
Another Arkady Renko page turner! - By: Max Reed, 02 Mar 2007 
Great read. Must have missed it when it came out, found it in a bookshelf in a Farmhouse B&B this winter! Arkady Renko is one of my favourite "investigators", up there with Dismas Hardy. (You don't know Dismas?! Search under Lescroart) Anyway, back to Renko. Martin Cruz Smith is a brilliant writer, giving the sense of good research & factual accuracy over which he lays great wit & feasible plots. I didn't want to go to Havana when I'd read it but I sure wanted to get hold of Renko's next adventure!
Steamy chiller? - By: Cheeky Monkey, 30 Aug 2006 What's this, a Renko book with no snow? I approached this book with trepidation as Renko abroad just didn't seem right, but as they say you can take the boy out of Moscow, but...
Arkady Renko is back in his fourth outing & instead of solving murders in Moscow he's in Havana to tie up the loose ends relating to the officiallly acccidental death of his old friend, & erstwhile KGB major, Pribluda. Renko remains the sardonic enigma we have grown to know & love, but his trip to Cuba is more than just another murder story, here we see Renko struggling to come to terms with who he is & his place in the world. The world has changed, but has he? Can he cope with the modern post-Communist Russia or will he find a surrogate home in Marxist Cuba? Will he come to terms with losing his beloved Irina forever? Will he falll for the fierce but fragile Ofelia?
Martin Cruz Smith serves up another dish of sinister menace with lashings of blood & seedy locations, but I have to say this book seems to take an absolute age to get going. I only stuck with it as I has enjoyed the other Renko books so much & I was glad that I did. However, readers new to Renko might be put off with the slow start & give up before the real fireworks start. As such, I recommend that you read the Renko books in order & that way you'll know more about Renko's legacy, his thorny friendship with Pribluda & why he misses Irina so.
The sultry feel of this book will make you hot under the collar & make you reach for some cool rum, but don't be fooled as the freezing chills of Gorky Park can still be felt.
Really good once it gets going - By: Mr. Clark Gillies, 06 Jul 2006 When I started to read this, at first I was thinking "oh no, not another Red Square"... but then the pace started to get better & better... & in the end was left happy enough.
Not near the standard of Gorky Park & Polar Star, & not as interesting & as thrilling a story as Red Square, but alll in alll is worth reading.
Cuba Calling - By: M. Thomas, 07 Jun 2006 This is a very good book - well written, pacy & clever. The images it evokes of Havana & post-soviet Cuba run solid with ingenuity, pathos & humour. Read it, I did & have since read alll of Cruz Smith's other Renko Arcady novels.
