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Title: Fall of a Cosmonaut by Stuart M. Kaminsky ISBN: 0-89296-668-8 Publisher: Mysterious Press Pub. Date: 21 September, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Another Outstanding Russian Mystery
Comment: Kaminsky writes 3, no 4, series of crime novels. The Toby Peters stories are enjoyable but only that. The Leiberman series has a bit more substance, but still read like the slow second movement of the standard 4 movement symphony. The Fonseca series has just begun. Vengeance was above average (compared to all mystery/suspense/crime/ whatever..writers). Retribution was much in the Leiberman vein--slow, winding down, world-weary ad nauseam. Where Kaminsky SHINES is in his Russian/Rostnikov series. Not all the dozen or so novels have been equally good, but even the weakest presents real, alive, fleshed-out characters, beginning with the truly inimitable Rostnikov ("the washtub") and his vampire-like underling Emile Karpo, probably the most striking and original continuing character in any myster/suspense series of ALL time. But it is the world of Moscow and the world of the highly-intelligent weight lifting Rostnikov that with his Jewish wife, playwright son (seques into detective), the Yak, the silver haired Colonel and all the colorful characters and settings that make this series vibrate with life. This latest novel, perhaps his best (and, sad to say, perhaps his last) is set up with the usual three plots, unrelated, except for Rostkinov getting involved in more than one. The plots involve the film industry, the space industry and the government funded paranormal acitivities research section. If you haven't read prevevious entries in this series, you will be impressed by this novel with its depth and color and unusually well-done dialogue (for a mystery). But having read all the previous novels, save the first, it is not only a good book but a triumph of Kaminsky in creating and forcing the reader to love and appreciate his characters not just as cogs in a plot (e.g. Lovesey's characters), but having a literary quality, a richness that even Faulkner or Camus would have enjoyed. Cosmonaut is an unalloyed triumph of man, of his spirit, and of the vital diversity that makes man what he/she is.
My feeling is that Kaminsky has ended this series, but I would urge him to reconsider--even an average Rostkinov novel is worth two Leiberman's, three Fonsecas, and four Peters. Anyway read this book. It is GREAT.
Rating: 4
Summary: Oobla Dee Oobla Daa
Comment: Life goes on for investigators with the Office of Special Investigation, Moscow, former Soviet Union. In his Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov series, Stuart M. Kaminsky has deftly transplanted the Ed McBain police procedural to Russia: individual detectives, each having his/her own serial back stories, investigating different cases. And through the time span of the series, the reader also watches the Soviet Union disintegrate. In this, the 13th installment of the series, Putin is in power in Russia and the men and sole woman of the OSI are tracking down a missing Mir Cosmonaut, the theft of a major motion picture negative on the life of Tolstoy - due to premiere soon in Cannes, and the murder of a research physiologist at the Moscow Center for the Study of Technical Parapsychology.
This is not a "cozy" Jessica Fletcher-type murder mystery series. The brooding of the Russian soul is frequently mentioned. "The Yak," former KGB functionary, is directing Rostnikov, and the one-legged decorated veteran of the War Against Nazi Aggression must "walk a tight-rope" between his conscience and the ever-shifting Powers That Be. The spectre of Chernobyl and the tension and power-struggles in the wake of the Soviet Union loom constantly in the background. Prolific author Kaminsky gives the reader a feel for the people and politics while raconting a riveting tale.
Rating: 5
Summary: Another solid entry in a great police procedural series
Comment: Stuart Kaminsky makes no secret that the Inspector Profiry Rostnikov novels are inspired by the "87th Precinct" books by Ed McBain. Indeed, Rostnikov himself can ofter be found re-reading a dog-eared copy of one of the 87th Precinct books. Like their model, the Rostnikov novels usually depict a detective squad working multiple cases, seeking the little clues which eventually will point their way to solutions to the mysteries. The world of Inspector Rostnikov -- the Soviet Union and, in the later novels, post-Soviet Russia -- is even more morally ambiguous than McBain's fictional city of Isola, and Rostnikov often finds himself between serving justice and enforcing the law. I find Rostnikov, the gentle, physically powerful detective whose greatest relaxation is found in repairing faulty plumbing, to be one of the most appealing characters in modern crime fiction, a man both wise and compassionate. "Fall of a Cosmonaut" is another strong addition to the series, with the detectives pursuing three seperate mysteries while the stories of their personal lives advance yet further. I must emphasize that the Rostnikov books really should be read in order for maximimum enjoyment, as the characters and the crises in their lives progress from novel to novel and much would be lost if their futures were to be relieved too soon by reading out of order.
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Title: Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express by Stuart M. Kaminsky ISBN: 0892967471 Publisher: Mysterious Press Pub. Date: 24 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Dog Who Bit a Policeman by Stuart M. Kaminsky ISBN: 089296667X Publisher: Mysterious Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1998 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
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Title: Rostnikov's Vacation: An Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov Novel by Stuart M. Kaminsky ISBN: 0684190222 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: October, 1991 List Price(USD): $77.00 |
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Title: The Big Silence : An Abe Lieberman Mystery by Stuart M. Kaminsky ISBN: 0812575199 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 19 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Not Quite Kosher by Stuart M. Kaminsky ISBN: 0812561902 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 07 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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