The Siberian Dilemma by Martin Cruz Smith: A review

The Siberian dilemma as stated by Moscow investigator Arkady Renko is simply this: If you fall into a lake in Siberia in winter, do you stay in and die quickly or do you climb out and let the hypothermia kill you a bit more slowly? The question always is to act or not to act.

It's a question faced almost daily by Renko in his job as an investigator and, even though he knows that to act is often dangerous and most likely won't accomplish anything, he can't help himself. He acts to solve crimes and bring criminals to whatever bit of justice he can achieve or, in some cases as in this tale, he acts to prevent an innocent party from being punished. He knows the system is corrupt and he is thoroughly cynical about his prospects for success, but still, he keeps trying. He keeps striving.

This time out, Renko is worried about his lover (former lover?), the journalist Tatiana Petrovna. Tatiana had headed off to Siberia in search of a story about the oligarchs who control the oil fields there. She has managed to make friends (or is it more than just friendship?) with one of the oligarchs, Mikhail Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov is also a political dissident who is running for president against Putin. Renko has tried repeatedly to reach Tatiana but she isn't responding to his calls and texts. He fears for her safety and is anxious to go and find her.

It seems serendipitous then when his boss, the prosecutor Zurin, wants to send him to Siberia to prosecute Aba Makhmud, a Chechen who is a supposed terrorist who allegedly tried to shoot Zurin. Renko is glad for the excuse to go, but Siberia is a big place and he doesn't really know where Tatiana is so finding her may be a problem.

He interviews the young Aba and soon finds that things are not quite as reported to him, so he acts to rectify a miscarriage of justice. Then it's off to find Tatiana, which actually proves easier than he had feared. After all, she's with Kuznetsov who is a celebrity.

Then, through a series of circumstances, Renko and Tatiana, along with Renko's "factotum" and Boris Benz, another oil oligarch and close friend of Kuznetsov, and another man go on a bear hunt. It becomes a terror-filled expedition in which two are shot from ambush and killed and a bear becomes the hunter.

As always in Smith's books, there's a bit of Russian history and politics underlying the story. We get descriptions of the Lake Baikal area and the historical prison city of Chita, as well as some of the shamanic practices of natives to that area. Smith excels at creating the atmosphere of a setting. One feels the oppressive nature of the society and the unforgiving climate of brutally freezing temperatures of a Siberian winter. I had to put on an extra sweater just to read it!

It was an entertaining book. My only real problem with it was the ending which seemed a bit rushed and truncated. But it was very nice to have Martin Cruz Smith back with a new Arkady Renko adventure after several years' absence.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

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