Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Excellent action book, typical of Martin Cruz Smith's style. Some characters are perhaps too strong, to the point of being almost sketches.

My thanks to the Author publishers and NetGalley for providing a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
This is the ninth book in the excellent Arkady Renko series, but can easily be read as a standalone novel, and would be a simple introduction to the character who is right up there with my all time favourites. As with all the series the book is well written, atmospheric authentic and compelling. Our hero is sent to Siberia fortunately to investigate a seemingly open and shut case, but which will also allow him to look for his missing reporter girlfriend but all is not as it seems, and soon Arkady is mixed up with billionaire oligarchs and brown bears literally fighting to save himself and those he loves. Gritty imaginative with superior characterisation throughout. The only reason it's not rated five stars is there is not the usual twists and turns of mystery and plot i have come to expect.
Recommended.

The Siberian Dilemma is the ninth book in the Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith and the book that introduced me to this author and these characters. Which makes me wonder if I would have enjoyed this book more had I been acquainted with these characters before.

Arkady is an investigator for the prosecutor's office in Moscow and one of the few honest officials who knows the extent of corruption in the Russian judicial system. He is sent to Siberia to indict a man, Aba Makhmud, for attempting to murder the prosecutor. But Arkady has a feeling that things don't add up. At the same time, Tatiana, a journalist and Arkady's lover who is also in Siberia, breaks all contact with him while trying to write an article on Russian oligarchs. After dealing with Aba, Arkady tracks her down and thus begins a story that involves bears, oil, shockingly trusting criminals and weird relationships.

This book didn't have much of a mystery nor was it much of a thriller if I'm being honest. Given that a character death is mentioned in the summary itself, you'd think that would be something that happens in the first fifty percent leaving the rest of the book to build up on the mystery surrounding the circumstances of the death, but it doesn't. It's one of the shocking elements that occurs much later and even though I knew it was coming, it was the only part of this book that I liked. That and the character of Rinchin Bolot, Arkady's factotum who you can't help but grow fond of.

I don't know if this book let me down only because I expected more from it but I genuinely did not enjoy it. I wouldn't recommend this one.

[I'd like to thank NetGalley, Simon and Schuster and Martin Cruz Smith for this ARC.]

Smarter than the average bear

Arkady Renko appears to be ageless. So many years on from Gorky Park, he is still sleuthing away, making enemies of very powerful people, making a nuisance of himself in Putin’s Russia – and surviving to fight another day.

In The Siberian Dilemma we are plunged into the world of corrupt politics and powerful energy barons or criminal oligarchs. The exploitation of the Siberian taiga is the theme, as well as an expose of contemporary Russian politics where incredibly rich men with very shady pasts reinvent themselves as freshly laundered patriots.

Yes, I enjoyed this novel. Forget about any implausible aspects of plot, the striking sequence of coincidences, the indestructibility of Arkady himself. Read it for the portrayal of Siberia, the picture of Russia today, and for the bears. The bears of the novel, symbols of Russia itself, turn out to be just as savage and dangerous. The Siberian dilemma presents a choice – a quick death or a slightly slower one. How the author works this out through his narrative is a treat for the reader.

Another beautifully written chapter in the Arkady Renko series of Russian detective stories. This time set in Siberia one can almost feel the cold. An interesting cast of characters keep things moving along splendidly with dubious charges against a man sent to a gulag prison the main reason for Renko's mission to a bear hunt that veers from murder to fearful injuries to our hero the pace is relentless! Recommended to all but to those who remember and read Gorky Park the legend lives on!

further gripping installment of the Arkady Renko series and if this doesn’t ramp things up I don’t know what will. He heads out to the station in Moscow to meet his girlfriend but Tatiana never shows up. She’s a journalist and has just been to Siberia, so where does he go…? But how on earth is he going to find her?

Before leaving for Siberia, Tatiana was working on a story which delved into the life of a presidential candidate who just happens to be standing against Putin…..
He actually ends up going to Siberia on another case, the case of attempted murder no less.
The premise of his journey to Siberia and the very setting itself is not your usual thriller fare. It’s set in the middle of nowhere, in a land we’ll probably never go to (certainly not that bit) and it’s set in the murky world of Russian politics.

Tell you what, it might be murky but it’s a fascinating murky world. There’s politics, behind the scenes politics and the void between rich, obscenely rich and the rest of the population…. Once in Siberia, the landscape takes over and you get thrown in to the raw and visceral atmosphere (with a brown bear of two thrown in for good measure.)

There’s some kick-ass action scenes in this book and it’s a great addition to the Arkady series.

What a joy to see the return of the iconic Arkady Renko in his 9th outing by Martin Cruz Smith set in the terror and tyranny of Putin's Russia, symbolised by the bear, a brutal corrupt kleptocracy of oligarchs, dirty politics, torture and murder, where any threat to the regime are dealt with a cold ruthlessness. Renko goes to meet his sometime lover, the Russia Now journalist, Tatiana Petrovna, at the railway station, but she does not turn up. She has been on a assignment in Siberia, and he is worried, she has received many vile death threats. His boss, prosecutor Zurin, not Renko's greatest fan, sends him to Siberia for a terrorist, Aba Makhmud, who tried to shoot Zurin dead. On the journey there, Renko connects with the entrepreneurial Rinchin Bolot, a resourceful and knowledgeable man who becomes an invaluable help and his factotum.

Despite Makhmud's confession, Renko decides to dig deeper into his crime helped by his intrepid partner, Victor, in Moscow, and when evidence emerges that Makhmud is innocent, Renko is not going to let this injustice stand. Around every corner, Renko keeps bumping into Boris Benz, a man with a chequered past, an oligarch with big oil and gas interests in Siberia. Tatiana is working closely with, and believes in Mikhail Kuznetsov, oligarch and political dissident, intent on challenging Putin's tight grip on power. Siberia is an unforgiving territory with its brutally freezing temperatures as Renko finds himself in Irkutsk, reconnecting with Tatiana and meeting Kuznetsov. He goes to the historical prison city of Chita, the impoverished murder capital of Russia, and Lake Baikal, goes bear hunting, only to find himself encountering murders, in desperate straits, stalked by danger in a Siberia of sea monsters, where the planes of existence overlap, an ancient land of shamanic practices.

Cruz Smith's latest Renko addition just drips with atmosphere, with rich descriptions of the desolate freezing dangers of a Siberia and Russia where intrigue and murder are commonplace, where justice requires merely the extraction of a confession, and legal representation is a joke. Siberia is a rich location for gas and oil exploitation, going hand in hand with environmental degradation, and lack of human rights. Renko finds himself caught up in the political machinations of Moscow and his boss, Zurin, that he is going to need all his wits to survive, whilst doing his utmost to protect Tatiana. This literary crime series is one of my favourites, with an indomitable central protagonist in Arkady Renko, an unforgettable creation that I am delighted to renew my acquaintance with. This is a fantastic storytelling with all its echoes of contemporary Russia unwilling to countenance protests and political challenges. One of the highlights is the introduction of Rinchin Bolot, a character I hope returns in the future. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for an ARC.

In the latest of the Arkady Renko series, Arkady is scouring the railway station for his occasional girlfriend, the investigative journalist Tatiana Petrovna. According to her timetable, she was due back from an assignment in Siberia today, but Arkady can find no sign of her at the station. Tatiana is working for the radical magazine "Russia Now" and the editor tells him she is doing a story on Mikhail Kuznetsov, the so-called “hermit billionaire.” Kuznetsov has plans to run against Vladimir Putin in the next Presidential election.
Then, his boss Zurin, the Moscow Prosecutor, orders him to travel sto Siberia to oversee the prosecution of Aba Makhmud, a Chechen terrorist. Makhmud is accused of attempting to murder Zurin, but after he interrogates the alleged killer, Arkady believes he has been set up to take the fall for the crime.
While in Siberia, he grabs the opportunity to meet up with Tatiana who seems cold and distant, leaving the detective to think that she has fallen out of love with him. But maybe it's because she's committed to her story about Russia's oil oligarchs and her belief that Kuznetsov could be a force for good in Russia. Whatever her reasons, Arkady knows that Tatiana's journalism has made her many powerful enemies and that some will do anything to keep her quiet
His attempt to bring her safely back to Moscow takes a turn for the worse when a Russian oligarch - who's taken a shine to Arkady - is murdered.
Martin Cruz Smith is a master storyteller and the action flows along easily with wonderful descriptions of the Siberian landscape alongside meticulous details of the life of the brown bear and the machinations of obscenely wealthy men in Putin's Russia. Along the way we meet some intriguing new characters as well as old friends from previous books.
Arkady is the ultimate maverick, standing up for justice as best he can. When difficult choices have to be made, his attitude is "“Better to fight than to surrender, even if you know you’re going to die." In the desolate wilds of Siberia that attitude could get him killed.
A must read for fans of literary crime novels. Highly recommended
My thanks to the publisher Simon and Schuster UK and NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.

I remember reading Gorky Park and Nightwing when they originally came out and I was a big fan of the author so I am really grateful for the opportunity to be able read his latest book which in my opinion is also a damn good read, it was delightful to immerse myself in the world of Arkady Renko once again, there has been no drop in standards by the author, this is excellent

An excellent novel that really draws you in. I was immersed in the storyline and couldn't stop reading well past my bedtime. Highly recommended.