Three Stations

Narrator Ron McLarty is an excellent match for this taut, suspenseful story, featuring Russian detective Arkady Renko, who first appeared in Smith's blockbuster debut, GORKY PARK. In Moscow's Three Stations district, a seedy area filled with violence and teenage gangs, a young runaway's baby is stolen on a train. The rough but steady tone of McLarty's delivery conveys both the thread of corruption that dominates the novel and the character of the novel's hamstrung detective, who has covered some distance and taken more than a few beatings yet remains determined, uncompromising, and incorruptible. McLarty is especially good at picking out the significant shadings of Smith's understated style, as well as the significant features of a scene. This fine production will please a broad audience as well as mystery fans. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine