STALIN'S GHOST

Moscow lies deep under snow, and Arkady Renko is called in to handle adelicate matter: passengers riding the last metro of the night havereported seeing the ghost of Stalin on the platform edge. Not everyone, itseems, likes the fact that Stalin is dead . . . But in the midst of ablizzard nothing is as it first appears to be. Renko's girlfriend Eva andhis adopted son, Zhenya, seem to be slipping into danger. The owner of amatrimonial agency wants her husband killed. An innocent ‘RussianBride' employs a garrotte. A chess grandmaster wanders into Renko's lifeand leads him into the line of fire. Diehard Communists gather to singalong with Stalin. ‘Red Diggers' uncover secrets buried for halfcentury in a desolate forest and Renko discovers ghosts that have beenwaiting for him all his life . . . As Russia swings more and more tothe right, Renko is more and more out of step. Not only an original anddeeply humane thriller, Stalin's Ghost is also a wonderful evocation ofthe emerging New Russia