In 1981 Martin Cruz Smith introduced the world to his intrepid Russian (then the USSR) investigator, the honorable and honest (something unheard of in Russian law enforcement) Arkady Renko in the mega-bestseller Gorky Park. Now, 38 years later, Smith brings us the eagerly awaited ninth in the series, The Siberian Dilemma.

Renko’s on-again, off-again lover, journalist Tatiana Petrovna, fails to return home to Moscow from a trip to Siberia where she was researching one of Russia’s richest oligarchs, Mikhail Kuznetsov, who is considering a run against Putin. She’s not answering her phone, and while Renko knows she’s known for going off-grid for long periods in pursuit of the truth, he also knows the subjects of her explosive exposés are not above silencing her.

So, when he’s sent to Siberia to prosecute a man accused of attempted murder, he jumps at the chance to look for Tatiana. On the plane he meets Rinchin Bolot, a factotum (he knows a lot about everything) who becomes invaluable to Renko in his search. Along the way he finds a whole lot of bears, bullets, and murder.

Martin Cruz Smith has traveled extensively to this part of the world 
and it shows. The author’s firsthand knowledge of Russia and Siberia 
shines in The Siberian Dilemma as
 he takes readers deep into the frozen 
tundra of its desolate and brutal landscape. Unfortunately, when it comes to the dilemma of the title, a critical moment in which Renko faces a weighty moral decision, author Smith opts for the easy out by employing a deus ex machina. Nevertheless, The Siberian Dilemma entertains and the legions of Arkady Renko fans should be pleased with his return.