Martin Cruz Smith, author of the bestselling novel 'Gorky Park,' dies

Martin Cruz Smith, the American author who reinvented the political thriller with his international bestseller "Gorky Park," portraying Soviet investigator Arkady Renko, died on the night between Friday, July 11th and Saturday, July 12th, at his home in San Rafael, California. He was 82. He had long suffered from Parkinson's disease, an illness that, however, did not prevent him from continuing to write until a few months ago. His last novel, "Independence Square," was published in 2024 (in Italy by his publisher Mondadori): it is set in June 2021, with Inspector Arkady Renko, suffering from serious personal and health problems, investigating the disappearance of an activist in Kiev, against the backdrop of a Russia in turmoil and on the eve of the invasion of Ukraine. The news of the novelist's passing was announced today by his children in an emotional post on the author's Facebook page.

Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on November 3, 1942, Martin William Smith—his real name—came from a family of jazz musicians, with Native American roots on his mother's side. After earning a degree in creative writing from the University of Pennsylvania and a stint as a reporter at the Philadelphia Daily News, he debuted in 1970 with the alternate history "The Indians Won." But his real breakthrough came in 1981, with a novel that would change the course of the thriller genre: "Gorky Park." Set in twilight Moscow during the Brezhnev era, Gorky Park introduced the world to Arkady Renko, an honest, melancholic, and disillusioned investigator battling corrupt bureaucracy and the opaqueness of Soviet power. A character destined to leave a lasting mark on contemporary literature.

The novel was an international bestseller and won the prestigious Gold Dagger Award. But more than a detective story, it was a profound work of literature, depicting humanity under the blanket of oppression. Smith himself described its intent thus: "The point of the book was to show the immense warmth of the people, not just the coldness of the system." A message that, not surprisingly, earned him the ire of the Soviet Union, which branded him "anti-Soviet scum." He welcomed the insult with pride: "It was exactly the reaction I was hoping for." The novel was made into a highly successful 1983 film of the same name, directed by Michael Apted and starring William Hurt (though the author stated he wasn't entirely satisfied with Dennis Potter's screenplay).

The success of Gorky Park paved the way for a long series of novels featuring Renko: Polar Star (1989), set on a Soviet fishing boat at sea; Red Square (1992), which reunites Arkady with his beloved Irina in post-Wall Berlin; Havana (1999), a dark portrait of a Caribbean island in the post-Soviet years; Wolf Eat Dog (2004), set in the radioactive ruins of Chernobyl; The Ghost of Stalin (2007); Three Stations (2010); Tatiana (2013); The Siberian Riddle (2019); and finally Independence Square (2024). Renko was more than a detective: he was a witness to the times, a mirror of a changing Russia. Through him, Cruz Smith was able to recount the great historical changes of the late twentieth century and the new millennium, always maintaining a lucid, participatory, but never complacent gaze.

A shy and reserved man, Martin Cruz Smith lived for a long time in California with his wife and three children. Despite illness, he managed to continue his literary career, receiving significant recognition over the years, including two Hammett Awards and the 2019 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Over the course of his career, he also wrote numerous novels outside of the Renko series, many of which were published by Mondadori: among them, the scientific noir "Los Alamos" (1986), the Victorian mystery "The Black Rose" (1996), the Japanese thriller "Tokyo Station" (2002), and the historical "The Girl from Venice" (2016). In the 1970s, he also wrote action novels and spy stories under pseudonyms – Simon Quinn and Nick Carter – in a long apprenticeship that he himself defined as "far from expectations".

Cruz Smith always rejected the label of "political" author. He considered himself instead an observer of the human soul, interested in what ideologies hide, not what they proclaim. A famous quote of his sums him up perfectly: "The true revolution is the honesty of the gaze."

In his children's farewell post, they wrote: "Even after Parkinson's took his voice, he managed to make his love heard, once again demonstrating his extraordinary strength. The world knew him through Arkady Renko, but we had the privilege of knowing him as a father: affectionate, present, with whom we shared joy, games, and laughter."

(by Paolo Martini)