People Who Walk in Darkness

Many people have a vested interest in keeping the defunct diamond mines of Siberia under the radar, but the murder of a Canadian mining engineer brings Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov to the scene. The intrigue and status manoeuvring are an integral part of the fascinating series by grand master, Stuart M. Kaminsky. Igor Yaklovev, Director of the Office of Special Investigations gives Rostnikov nine days to solve the murder in Siberia, a murder of a woman on a train, and the death by torture of two Botswanians in PEOPLE WHO WALK IN DARKNESS. Rostnikov gathers his staff of investigators to begin a search which may lead to his own half-brother. A profound visit with old friends, sketched for us by a master story teller. Number 15 is as much a must read as number one of this fine series. Nash Black, author of Indie finalists WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and HAINTS.

I was introduced to Inspector Rostnikov when I was cleaning out my sister's library and found "Death in Red Square". Immediately I was taken by the characters in the novel, and I continually look for the latest work by Mr. Kaminsky. I was not disappointed by "People who walk in darkness". The three stories that run simultaneously keep you on your toes while reading, and the motives of each character are gradually being exposed. I found the humor unexpected, at time incongruous but another aspect of a character revealed. I read this book in one night, because I was so anxious for the ending, but I missed these characters. Of course, now this book will make its way to my sister's library for her to enjoy also.

Rostnikov is what we hope Russia's soul is really like: intelligent, compassionate, insightful and just. Kaminsky takes us on a journey through the powers that were and the powers that are. It is brilliant revelation.

Stuart Kaminsky's "People Who Walk in Darkness" brings back Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, Chief Inspector of the Office of Special Investigations in Moscow. Rostnikov's boss, Igor "the Yak" Yaklovev, is a self-promoting apparatchik who hopes to piggyback on Porfiry's investigative triumphs to attain more power and a higher position. The Yak has a new project for his star detective. Rostnikov must travel to a small mining town named Devochka in Siberia where a Canadian geologist died under mysterious circumstances. This case and several others (the torture-murder of two black South Africans, and the stabbing of a prostitute found dead in a train headed from Kiev to Moscow) must be solved in no more than nine days, since General Mikhail Frankovich , Director of the Division of Murder, is planning a coup of sorts. He wants to take over the Yak's office and incorporate it into his own. This takeover will fail only if Rostnikov and his team prove their mettle by bringing their cases to a quick and successful conclusion. Kaminsky's plot is a bit too complicated, with many disparate elements in addition to the aforementioned murders, including diamond smuggling, corruption, greed, infidelity, racism, and betrayal. The action moves frequently from Moscow to Kiev to Devochka, and the reader will need to focus carefully to keep track of the large number of characters and their incessant double-dealing. For the most part, the novel has a strong and varied cast: Porfiry is a squat man with an artificial leg who is extremely bright, intuitive, inordinately curious, and appreciative of the ironies of life. "Rostnikov addressed puzzles...and, when possible, engaged in the dispensation of justice, something the courts did only on occasion." Sasha Tkach is a detective who is disconsolate after his wife leaves him; a beautiful model named Oxana Balakona is willing to commit heinous acts in order to make her fortune; Elena Timofeyeva, the only female in the Office of Special Investigations, desperately wants to please her superior and future father in law, Porfiry Petrovich. Inspector Emil Karpo, known as the Vampire, is a lonely and morose individual whose one chance at love and happiness ended tragically. Unfortunately, the villains are a fairly predictable lot--uniformly grasping, sadistic, selfish, and conniving. "People Who Walk in Darkness" is, in some ways, a social commentary. Kaminsky conveys the idea that after the fall of the old Soviet Union, little has changed for the better. There are still a great many people who drown their sorrows in vodka, women who sell their bodies for whatever price they can get, and thugs who kill without compunction in order to get their hands on whatever commodity will make them rich. Altruism is less common than ambition and so-called legitimate businessmen hide their misdeeds behind a veneer of respectability. Kaminsky wisely injects many passages of sardonic humor to lighten up this dark and compell

Rostnikov returns once again with an excellent cast of supporting characters. As an avid reader, I grow weary of villians that I can recognize in the first third of the book as well as the introduction of characters that we do not really care about. Once more the creative genius of the author gives us characters that we enjoy reading about, and in my opinion, are unmatched in fiction. The are different, quirky and we await where the charcters will take us as much as the conclusion to the plot. The action takes place in Siberia and it is interesting to see how diamonds, not nearly associated with Russia, are interwoving in a who done it that keeps us guessing. Hats off to the Kaminsky for delivering Rostnokov again and hope that he keeps writing about the Russian policeman