Martin Cruz Smith Ebook Boxed Set: Stalin's Ghost, Wolves Eat Dogs, Three Stations

Stalin's GhostInvestigator Arkady Renko, the pariah of the Moscow prosecutor's office, has been assigned the thankless job of investigating a new phenomenon: late-night subway riders report seeing the ghost of Joseph Stalin.

The illusion seems part political hocus-pocus and also part wishful thinking, for among many Russians Stalin is again popular; the bloody dictator can boast a two-to-one approval rating.

Decidedly better than that of Renko, whose lover, Eva, has left him for Detective Nikolai Isakov, a charismatic veteran of the civil war in Chechnya, a hero of the far right and, Renko suspects, a killer for hire.

The cases entwine, and Renko's quests become a personal inquiry fueled by jealousy.

Wolves Eat DogsThe death of one of Russia's new billionaires leads Arkady Renko to Chernobyl and the Zone of Exclusionclosed to the world since 1986's nuclear disaster.

It is still aglow with radioactivity, now inhabited only by the militia, shady scavengers, a few reckless scientists, and some elderly peasants who refuse to relocate.

Renko's journey to this ghostly netherworld, the crimes he uncovers there, and the secrets they reveal about the New Russia make for an unforgettable adventure.

Three StationsIn Three Stations, Renkos skills are put to their most severe test.

Though he has been technically suspended from the prosecutors office for once again turning up unpleasant truths, he strives to solve a last case: the death of an elegant young woman whose body is found in a construction trailer on the perimeter of Moscows main rail hub.

It looks like a simple drug overdose to everyoneexcept to Renko, whose examination of the crime scene turns up some inexplicable clues, most notably an invitation to Russias premier charity ball.

Thus a sordid death becomes interwoven with the lifestyles of Moscows rich and famous, many of whom are clinging to their cash in the face of Putins crackdown on the very oligarchs who placed him in power.