Three Stations
Encyclopedia
Three Stations is a crime novel
by Martin Cruz Smith
set in Russia
circa 2010. It is the seventh novel to feature Detective-Investigator Arkady Renko
, published 29 years after the initial novel of the Renko series, Gorky Park
.
rail stations, Leningrad Station, Kazansky Station
and Yaroslavl Station
situated on Komsomolskaya Square
, also often referred to as Three Stations Square.
A teenage mother arrives at Three Stations, but her baby is stolen. The only person to help her is Zhenya, the young chess hustler who is a sometime ward of Arkady Renko, the police investigator. Meanwhile, Arkady tries to prove that the overdose death of a young prostitute in the station is nothing of the sort, and is suspended for his trouble. A billionaire casino owner with financial troubles offers to hire Arkady, but the latter can trust no-one. Thugs, dwarves, ballerinas, Central Asians and a gang of homeless tween
s complicate matters still further.
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
by Martin Cruz Smith
Martin Cruz Smith
Martin Cruz Smith is an American mystery novelist.-Early life and education:Born Martin William Smith in Reading, Pennsylvania, he was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing in 1964...
set in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
circa 2010. It is the seventh novel to feature Detective-Investigator Arkady Renko
Arkady Renko
Arkady Renko is a fictional detective who is the central character of seven novels by the American writer Martin Cruz Smith.-Character timeline:...
, published 29 years after the initial novel of the Renko series, Gorky Park
Gorky Park (novel)
Gorky Park is a 1981 crime novel written by Martin Cruz Smith set in the Soviet Union. It follows Arkady Renko, a chief investigator for the Militsiya, who is assigned to a case involving three corpses found in Gorky Park, an amusement park in Moscow, who have had their faces and fingertips cut off...
.
Plot
The title refers to the three MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
rail stations, Leningrad Station, Kazansky Station
Kazansky Rail Terminal
Kazansky Rail Terminal is one of nine rail terminals in Moscow, situated on the Komsomolskaya Square, across the square from the Leningradsky and Yaroslavsky terminals....
and Yaroslavl Station
Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal
Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal is one of the nine railway terminals in Moscow, situated on the Komsomolskaya Square. It has the highest passenger throughput of all the nine Moscow rail terminals, serving eastern destinations, including the Russian Far East. It is the terminus of the Trans-Siberian...
situated on Komsomolskaya Square
Komsomolskaya Square (Moscow)
Komsomolskaya Square , known as Kalanchyovskaya before 1932, is one of the busiest squares in Moscow, noted for its impressive blend of revivalist Tsarist and Stalinist architecture...
, also often referred to as Three Stations Square.
A teenage mother arrives at Three Stations, but her baby is stolen. The only person to help her is Zhenya, the young chess hustler who is a sometime ward of Arkady Renko, the police investigator. Meanwhile, Arkady tries to prove that the overdose death of a young prostitute in the station is nothing of the sort, and is suspended for his trouble. A billionaire casino owner with financial troubles offers to hire Arkady, but the latter can trust no-one. Thugs, dwarves, ballerinas, Central Asians and a gang of homeless tween
Tween (demographic)
A tween is a North American neologism that describes a person who is between the ages of 9 and 12 years old . The term is often described in popular media as referring to a pre-adolescent who is at the "in-between" stage in their development when they are considered "too old for toys, too young...
s complicate matters still further.