Un tren de pasajeros cruza la noche a sacudidas. Una solitaria madre adolescente se dirige a Moscú buscando una nueva vida. Un soldado de corazón endurecido la observa furtivamente, pensando en sexo. Cuando el tren llega a destino, un bebé ha desaparecido sin dejar rastro. Y Renko deberá resolver el enigma.

I'm not sure where this volume of the Arkady Renko novels falls. It seems to take place in the late 90s or early 2000s. I think, because of some cryptic references in the book, that I skipped one or two novels. Now, Renko is again living in Moscow, has an uneasy relationship with a ward, the son of someone Renko shot, and investigating the murder of a supposed prostitute. He is not a detective and has no jurisdiction per say. On a parallel storyline, a young runaway has her baby taken from her. This novel takes an unflinching look at the seedy underworld hiding in plain sight: the gangs of children--homeless and abused--who have their own kind of rules. ( )

Say three-and-a-half stars. Arkady is in his usual form, although he's clearly aged. Sometimes this book felt as if it had been rushed, and the plot is muddled by multiple POVs among other things. But Martin Cruz Smith still knows how to write a sentence and pace a story, and in Arkady Renko the author has one of the great detective characters of modern times. ( )

Cruz depicts a Moscow that is chaotic, crime-infested, corrupted, and crowded with run-away children, teenagers, and prostitutes. Not sure how accurate this is but it is a place you definitely don't want to go. Almost with all detective stories, there will be a brilliant detective who is able to solve the thorniest of crimes. Renko is the detective here. The story started slowly but suddenly Renko figures out who the murderer is. Takes a bit of figuring on the readers' part how Renko figured it out. ( )

Disjointed, disappointing. Interesting story, I think... but it felt like big chunks had been left out. ( )