Moscow Lies Deep Under Snow, And Arkady Renko Is Called In To Handle A Delicate Matter: Passengers Riding The Last Metro Of The Night Have Reported Seeing The Ghost Of Stalin On The Platform Edge. Not Everyone, It Seems, Likes The Fact That Stalin Is Dead . . .

But In The Midst Of A Blizzard Nothing Is As It First Appears To Be. RenkoS Girlfriend Eva And His Adopted Son, Zhenya, Seem To Be Slipping Into Danger. The Owner Of A Matrimonial Agency Wants Her Husband Killed. An Innocent `Russian Bride Employs A Garrotte. A Chess Grandmaster Wanders Into RenkoS Life And Leads Him Into The Line Of Fire. Diehard Communists Gather To Sing Along With Stalin. `Red Diggers Uncover Secrets Buried For Half Century In A Desolate Forest And Renko Discovers Ghosts That Have Been Waiting For Him All His Life . . .

As Russia Swings More And More To The Right, Renko Is More And More Out Of Step. Not Only An Original And Deeply Humane Thriller, StalinS Ghost Is Also A Wonderful Evocation Of The Emerging New Russia.

Praise For Martin Cruz Smith:

`Cruz Smith Not Only Constructs Grittily Realistic Plots, He Also Has A Gift For Characterisation Of Which Most Thriller Writers Can Only Dream Mail On Sunday