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Wolves Eat Dogs
An Arkady Renko Novel
by Martin Cruz Smith


9.2

based on 17 reviews
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based on 4 votes
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The Gorky Park author returns with another thriller featuring Russian detective Arkady Renko, whose investigations this time around bring him into the no man's land surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear reactor.

Simon & Schuster, 352 pages
11/16/2004
$25.95

ISBN: 0684872544

Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Publishers Weekly

It's the Zone [of Exclusion] itself and the story of Chernobyl that supplies the riveting backbone of this novel.

Booklist Bill Ott

Even more than "Havana Bay," this novel demonstrates Cruz Smith's remarkable ability to meld character with landscape, and if Renko seems to find a shred of hope in the end, we know not to turn our dosimeters off quite yet. [1 Sept 2004, p.8]

Library Journal Wilda Williams

Smith's latest is filled with the same eye for detail and fully developed characters that made "Gorky Park" so compelling. Fans will snap up. [15 Oct 2004, p.56]

The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Giles Blunt

Renko seems bewildered by his own persistence, the way men are often bewildered by their self-destructive impulses. "You're the Question Man," one character observes. "Most people get over asking 'why' by the age of ten, only you never did." For anyone with a taste for mysteries that consistently raise the bar of crime writing, that can only be good news. [6 Nov 2004, p.D28]

Los Angeles Times Dick Lochte

Relentlessly fascinating. [16 Nov 2004, p.E6]

Washington Post John Burdett

The conclusion is surprisingly tragic in a way that momentarily lifts the book above the thriller genre and into the realm of more serious works. Smith is in a class of his own, probably because his books are genuine novels as well as thrillers.

The Guardian Chris Petit

When Cruz Smith is at his best, as he is here, it is impossible to tell how much is research and how much imagination. Liberated from the restrictions of the form, he moves into the realm of high adventure, alongside such writers as John Buchan, Hammond Innes, the great Lionel Davidson and Geoffrey Household.

The Spectator Ian Thomson

I have not read such a good thriller in years; the writing is taut and darkly humorous, the background convincing.

TLS: The Times Literary Supplement Natasha Cooper

The unfolding plot is handled with the kind of absolute confidence that assumes the reader will understand without long explanations, and the two main sub-plots are woven neatly into the fabric of this remarkable novel.

Kirkus Reviews

As always, Smith imagines a Russia that is sad, broken, and, somehow, romantically irresistible.

Chicago Tribune Dick Adler

As he did in his second Renko outing, "Polar Star," in which the detective is punished with one of the world's nastiest and most grueling jobs aboard a fish-processing ship, Smith manages to make the horrors of Chernobyl almost a redeeming experience--for Renko and for us.

Boston Globe Sam Allis

The book needs reading, not describing. It's worth it, on balance, for another encounter with Arkady Renko, and if the story is needlessly byzantine, smart writing still sells.

San Francisco Chronicle Alan Cheuse

Renko has to struggle constantly with wolves in human clothing in order to bring some small amount of justice in the world, and that is what makes up the heart of a good thriller.

The New York Times Book Review Jonathan Mahler

By the time the investigation is over and Arkady returns to Moscow -- worse for the wear, naturally -- we're already eager for whatever grim assignment awaits him next.

Wall Street Journal Tom Nolan

Moody and thrilling.

Entertainment Weekly Jennifer Reese

Smith doesn't seem to raise a sweat: His chilling, elegant denouement feels both inevitable and surprising.

Daily Telegraph Susanna Yager

The narrative sometimes flags, but this is a thoughtful novel, not so much a whodunit as a portrait of a society created by one of the worst man-made disasters in history.

The average user rating for this book is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Kevin S gave it a10:
If you like your humour very dry and fairly black. Wonderful.

gail g gave it a10:
One of his best. Very ingenious plot and the setting is unforgettable.

Richard B gave it a9:
Martin Cruz Smith thrills while delivering much more than a crime novel. Here we are given a literary tragedy filled with romance, pathos and dark humor while dragging us along on a spectacular emotional journey to the Chernobyl zone of exclusion. While never feeling preached to or lectured along the way, his commentary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the horrors of its aftermath are informative as well as a grim reminder of what awaits us all without the vigilance and sanity of world wide peace efforts. Wolves Eat Dogs is an apt analogy to the wild and lawless of our species devouring the conformed and domestically civil of our societies, as well as the particular two legged variety Arkady Renko always seems to reluctantly encounter, and then cannot walk away from in good conscience. Cruz Smith’s Renko, one of the great literary characters of all time, always manages to stimulate self-examination while we identify with his frailties and shortcomings, and then generate strength and hope as he begins to re-discover his own. There are no easy answers, but much provocation along with a satisfying conclusion leaves this reader wanting more.

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Wolves Eat Dogs An Arkady Renko Novel by Martin Cruz Smith

Wolves Eat Dogs
An Arkady Renko Novel
by Martin Cruz Smith