Red Square (novel)
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Red Square | |
Author | Martin Cruz Smith |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Series | Arkady Renko # 3 |
Genre(s) | Crime novel |
Publisher | Random House & Ballantine Books |
Publication date | 1991 |
Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
Pages | 400pp (paperback edition) |
ISBN | ISBN 0-345-38473-3 |
Preceded by | Polar Star |
Followed by | Havana Bay |
Red Square is a crime novel by Martin Cruz Smith, set in the Soviet Union in the year 1991. It is a sequel to Gorky Park and Polar Star and features Investigator Arkady Renko.
As the existing social and economic structure of the Soviet Union breaks down, Arkady Renko has been reinstated as an Investigator in the Moscow Militsiya (Police Force). He is trying to clear up a nest of illicit traders when his chief informant dies in a horrific fireball. At the late informer's flat, his fax machine keeps asking the apparently meaningless question, "Where is Red Square?"
The question does not pertain to a location but to a painting by suprematist painter Malevich, which has resurfaced on the black market after being lost since World War II. The story however reverts to the August Coup, which takes place in and around Red Square, and indeed through out Moscow in August 1991, leading to the fall of the Soviet Union.