SMITH, Martin Cruz 1942-(Martin Smith, Simon Quinn, Jake Logan, Nick Carter)

PERSONAL: Original name, Martin William Smith; born November 3, 1942, in Reading, PA; son of John Calhoun (a musician) and Louise (a jazz singer and Native American rights leader; maiden name, Lopez) Smith; married Emily Arnold (a chef), June 15, 1968; children: Ellen Irish, Luisa Cruz, Samuel Kip. Education: University of Pennsylvania, B.A., 1964.

ADDRESSES: Home—240 Cascade Dr., Mill Valley, CA 94941. Agent—c/o Knox Burger Associates Ltd., 425 Madison Avenue, Floor 10, New York, NY 10017. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Worked for local television stations, newspapers, and as a correspondent for Associated Press; Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia, PA, reporter, 1965; Magazine Management, New York, NY, 1966-69, began as writer, became editor of For Men Only.

MEMBER: Authors League of America, Authors Guild.

AWARDS, HONORS: Edgar Award nomination, Mystery Writers of America, 1972, for Gypsy in Amber, 1976, for The Midas Coffin, 1978, for Nightwing, and 1982, for Gorky Park; Gold Dagger, Crime Writers Association, 1982, for Gorky Park.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Nightwing (also see below), Norton (New York, NY), 1977.

The Analog Bullet, Belmont-Tower, 1978.

Gorky Park, Random House (New York, NY), 1981.

Stallion Gate, Random House (New York, NY), 1986.

Polar Star, Random House (New York, NY), 1989.

Red Square, Random House (New York, NY), 1992.

Rose, Random House (New York, NY), 1996.

Havana Bay: A Novel, Random House (New York, NY), 1999.

December 6, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002.

NOVELS; UNDER NAME MARTIN SMITH

The Indians Won, Belmont-Tower, 1970, reprinted under name Martin Cruz Smith, Leisure Books, 1981.

Gypsy in Amber, Putnam (New York, NY), 1971.

Canto for a Gypsy, Putnam (New York, NY), 1972, reprinted under name Martin Cruz Smith, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1983.

NOVELS UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE; UNDER PSEUDONYM SIMON QUINN

His Eminence, Death, Dell (New York, NY), 1974.

Nuplex Red, Dell (New York, NY), 1974.

The Devil in Kansas, Dell (New York, NY), 1974.

The Last Time I Saw Hell, Dell (New York, NY), 1974.

The Midas Coffin, Dell (New York, NY), 1975.

Last Rites for the Vulture, Dell (New York, NY), 1975.

The Human Factor (movie novelization), Dell (New York, NY), 1975.

The Adventures of the Wilderness Family (movie novelization), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1976.

NOVELS; UNDER HOUSE PSEUDONYM JAKE LOGAN

North to Dakota, Playboy Press, 1976.

Ride for Revenge, Playboy Press, 1977.

Slocum Bursts Out, Berkley (New York, NY), 1990.

Slocum, No. 150: Trail of Death, Berkley (New York, NY), 1991.

Slocum, No. 154: Slocum's Standoff, Berkley (New York, NY), 1991.

Slocum, No. 155: Death Council, Berkley (New York, NY), 1991.

Slocum, No. 156: Timber King, Berkley (New York, NY), 1992.

Slocum, No. 157: Railroad Baron, Berkley (New York, NY), 1992.

Slocum, No. 158: River Chase, Berkley (New York, NY), 1992.

Slocum, No. 159: Tombstone Gold, Berkley (New York, NY), 1992.

Slocum, No. 163: Slocum and the Bushwackers, Berkley (New York, NY), 1992.

Slocum, No. 165: San Angelo Shootout, Berkley (New York, NY), 1992.

Slocum, No. 166: Blood Fever, Berkley (New York, NY), 1992.

Revenge at Devil's Tower, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Ambush at Apache Rocks, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Slocum, No. 167: Helltown Trail, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Slocum, No. 168: Sheriff Slocum, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Slocum, No. 169: Virginia City Showdown, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Slocum, No. 170: Slocum and the Forty Thieves, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Slocum, No. 171: Powder River Massacre, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Slocum, No. 173: Slocum and the Tin Star Swindle, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Slocum, No. 174: Slocum and the Nightriders, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Slocum, No. 176: Slocum at Outlaw's Haven, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Pikes Peak Shoot-Out, Berkley (New York, NY), 1994.

Slocum and the Cow Town Kill, Berkley (New York, NY), 1994.

Slocum and the Gold Slaves, Berkley (New York, NY), 1994.

Slocum and the Invaders, Berkley (New York, NY), 1994.

Slocum and the Mountain of Gold, Berkley (New York, NY), 1994.

Slocum and the Phantom Gold, Berkley (New York, NY), 1994.

Slocum, No. 179: Slocum and the Buffalo Soldiers, Berkley (New York, NY), 1994.

Ghost Town, Berkley (New York, NY), 1994.

Blood Trail, Berkley (New York, NY), 1994.

OTHER

(Under name Martin Cruz Smith, with Steve Shagan and Bud Shrake) Nightwing (screenplay; based on novel of same title), Columbia, 1979.

(Editor) Death By Espionage: Intriguing Stories of Betrayal and Deception, Cumberland House (Nashville, TN), 1999.

Also author of several other genre novels under various pseudonyms, including Nick Carter. Contributor of stories to Male, Stag, and For Men Only and of book reviews to Esquire. Gorky Park has been translated into Russian.

ADAPTATIONS: The film Gorky Park, starring William Hurt and Lee Marvin, was released by Orion Pictures, 1983.

SIDELIGHTS: In 1972, a struggling young writer named Martin William Smith approached his publisher, G. P. Putnam, with an idea for a different sort of mystery. Inspired by a Newsweek review of The Face Finder, a nonfiction book recounting the efforts of Soviet scientists to reconstruct faces from otherwise unidentifiable human remains, Smith outlined a plot involving a partnership between a Soviet detective and his American counterpart as they attempt to solve an unusual murder. (As the author later revealed in the Washington Post, his original inclination was to portray a sort of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but one [partner would be] Russian.") Putnam liked Smith's proposal and agreed to pay him a $15,000 advance.

For the next five years, Smith eked out a living writing several dozen paperback novels, often under one of his various pseudonyms. "I didn't want to be associated with those books," he told Newsweek's Peter S. Prescott. Whenever he had accumulated enough to live on for awhile, he did research for his murder mystery; in 1973, he even managed to make a trip to Moscow, where he spent almost a week wandering through the city jotting down notes on how it looked and sketching scenes he hesitated to photograph. Later denied permission for a return visit, Smith instead spent hours pumping various Russian emigres and defectors for details about life in the Soviet Union "on everything from the quality of shoes . . . to whether a ranking policeman would have to be a member of the Communist Party," as Arthur Spiegelman of the Chicago Tribune noted. "I would write a scene and show it to one of my Russian friends," Smith recalled. "If he would say that some Russian must have told me that, then I knew it was OK."

By this time, Smith knew he no longer wanted to write a conventional thriller. "I suddenly realized that I had something," he commented in the Washington Post. "This [was] the book that [could] set me free." He abandoned the idea of a partnership between detectives, deciding instead to focus on the challenge of making the Soviet detective his hero. Putnam, however, was less than enthusiastic about the change in plans, for the publisher doubted that such a book would have much commercial appeal. Smith was urged to stick to more marketable plots—namely, those featuring an American hero.

The year 1977 proved to be a turning point of sorts for Smith; he not only bought back the rights to his novel from Putnam, after a long and bitter battle, and changed his middle name from William to Cruz (his maternal grandmother's name), he also received approximately a half million dollars when Nightwing, his vampire bat horror-thriller, became a surprise success. Nightwing, featuring Hopi Indian characters caught up in a vampire bat legend, deals with Indian attitudes and folklore. In an interview with CA, Smith discussed his own Pueblo Indian heritage and acknowledged that he "relied on [his] own background and research" for the novel. The following period of financial security enabled Smith to put the finishing touches on his "simple detective story," which by now had grown into a 365-page novel. In 1980, Smith and his agent began negotiating with Random House and Ballantine for the publishing rights. Despite the lack of interest Putnam had shown in his work, Smith was confident that his book would indeed be published—and at a price he would name. As he remarked to Prescott: "Every time I looked at the novel I decided to double the price. When I wrote the last line, I knew; I have never been so excited in my life, except for the birth of children, as when I wrote the last line of [that book]. Because I knew it was just right. I had this marvelous book and I was damned if I was going to sell it for anything less than a marvelous price. The words 'one million' seemed to come to mind." Before the end of the year, Smith was one million dollars richer and Random House was preparing to gamble on an unusual 100,000-copy first printing of what soon would become one of the most talked-about books of 1981—Gorky Park.

The result of eight years of research and writing, Gorky Park chronicles the activities of homicide detective Arkady Renko as he investigates a bizarre murder. Three bullet-riddled bodies—two men and a woman—have been discovered frozen in the snow in Moscow's Gorky Park, their faces skinned and their fingertips cut off to hinder identification. Renko immediately realizes that this is no ordinary murder; his suspicions are confirmed when agents of the KGB arrive on the scene. But instead of taking over the investigation, the KGB suddenly insists that Renko handle the affair. From this point on, the main plot is complicated by an assortment of sub-plots and a large cast of characters, including a greedy American fur-dealer, a visiting New York City police detective who suspects one of the murder victims might be his radical brother, and a dissident Siberian girl with whom Renko falls in love. Before the end of the story, the detective has tracked the killer across two continents and has himself been stalked and harassed by the KGB, the CIA, the FBI, and the New York City police department.

Critics praised the novel for Smith's ability to portray exceptionally vivid Russian scenes and characters. Peter Andrews in the New York Times Book Review wrote, "Just when I was beginning to worry that the large-scale adventure novel might be suffering from a terminal case of the Folletts," he wrote, "along comes Gorky Park . . . , a book that reminds you just how satisfying a smoothly turned thriller can be." The Washington Post Book World's Peter Osnos compared Smith to John Le Carre, maintaining that "Gorky Park is not at all a conventional thriller about Russians. It is to ordinary suspense stories what John Le Carre is to spy novels. The action is gritty, the plot complicated, the overriding quality is intelligence. You have to pay attention or you'll get hopelessly muddled. But staying with this book is easy enough since once one gets going, one doesn't want to stop." Perhaps because he is the protagonist, the character of Arkady Renko seems to have impressed reviewers the most, though Osnos, among others, pointed out that Smith avoids making any of his characters into the "sinister stick figures" common in other novels about the Soviets. The New Republic's Tamar Jacoby regarded the detective as an "unusual and winning . . . moral hero without a trace of righteousness, an enigmatic figure as alluring as the mystery he is trying to solve.... Smith sees to it that there is nothing easy or superior about the moral insight that Arkady earns."

In 1986, Smith published Stallion Gate, setting his fiction among the scientists and military personnel of the Manhattan Project, those men and women who gathered near Los Alamos, New Mexico, to develop and test the first atom bomb. "Where Gorky Park's subject was Russian," wrote Stephen Pickles in the Spectator, "in this novel Martin Cruz Smith turns to something very American, taking on one of the 20th century's most crucial historical moments." Yet, even with this more familiar setting, Smith recognized the need to investigate his subject in order to reanimate the now famous scientists and to reconstruct the historical setting. Explained Pickles, Smith "researched the subject for 18 months, interviewing survivors and anyone who knew or worked with those involved with the Manhattan Project."

Though closer to home, the backdrop for Smith's novel of intrigue gives it an alien quality much as Moscow colored Gorky Park. Set in the desert, the novel blends native Indian allusions with modern, even futuristic images of scientists and their work. At the test site are J. Robert Oppenheimer, Edward Teller, Enrico Fermi, Brigadier General Leslie Groves, Harry Gold, and Klaus Fuchs. In a review of Stallion Gate for Time, R. Z. Sheppard observed that Smith "shapes images that contain haunting affinities: wild horses and Army jeeps; rattlesnakes and coils of electrical cable; the lustrous surfaces of ceremonial pottery and the polished plutonium core of the atom bomb." "Through the Indians, the author develops a magical dimension within the story," added Pickles. Through the chief of security, an army captain who suspects Oppenheimer of passing project secrets to the Soviets, Smith involves his main character and his readers in this story of suspense. Yet, in the view of New York Review of Books contributor Thomas R. Edwards, "This is only reluctantly a thriller. Smith, himself part Indian, is interested in the cultural collision between modern science and native beliefs and folkways of New Mexico." For this reason, as Thomas observed, "Stallion Gate is crammed with facts about the customs of the various Indian tribes that dwell in New Mexico, and of another tribe, this one composed of scientists." In a Los Angeles Times Book Review article on Stallion Gate, Tony Hillerman concluded, "Martin Cruz Smith, master-craftsman of the good read, has given us another dandy."

Smith resumed the adventures of Gorky Park's hero, Russian inspector Arkady Renko, in 1989's Polar Star, and Red Square, published in 1992. Readers last saw Renko at the end of Gorky Park returning from America to his homeland, Russia. Upon his arrival, however, he is imprisoned in a mental hospital, escapes to Siberia, and lands a job as a second-class seaman on the Russian fishing ship Polar Star, bound for the Bering Sea. Once out to sea, the fishing nets haul in a dead body identified as crew member Zina Patiashvili. Renko is then ordered to investigate whether Patiashvili's death was suicide or murder.

Reviews of Polar Star were largely favorable; Robert Stuart Nathan, in the New York Times Book Review wrote, "The novel opens with a Conradian evocation of a ship at sea," he proclaimed, "and immediately we are reminded of just how skilled a storyteller Mr. Smith is, how supple and commanding his prose." Reid Beddow, in the Washington Post Book World, labeled the characterization of Renko as "terrific," adding that "Martin Cruz Smith writes the most inventive thrillers of anyone in the first rank of thriller-writers." Allen J. Hubin of Armchair Detective asserted that the book is "filled with graphic images and cinematic sequences, involving the ship and the frigid, ice-filled expanses of the Bering Sea." Likewise, T. J. Binyon, in the Times Literary Supplement, remarked that "Martin Cruz Smith does a magnificent job on the background," calling the work "wholly absorbing."

In Smith's 1992 novel Red Square, Renko operates in post-Communist Russia, a Moscow quite different, but every bit as threatening, as that of Gorky Park. In Red Square, Renko faces a new threat—the corrupt "Chechen" Mafia of Moscow. As black markets flourish in this new capitalist atmosphere, Renko seeks to solve the murder of his informant Rudy, who turns out to have had connections with the mob. Francis X. Clines in New York Times Book Review praised the work, focusing on Smith's finely detailed settings: "The great virtue of the book is its narrative rendering of the sleazy, miasmic environment of fin-de-Communisme Moscow . . . that slouching, unworkable 'Big Potato,' as its citizens call it." A Washington Post Book World critic welcomed back Smith's muchloved hero, Renko, as "an immensely complex and likeable man. Here his qualities stand out even more luminously." The critic added that Martin Cruz Smith's Red Square "is as good popular fiction should be, a novel that proceeds on many levels." Reid Beddow in the Washington Post Book World pointed to Smith's competence in dealing with varied subjects—everything from American Indians, forensic medicine, police procedures and atomic secrets, to life in Soviet Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The reviewer concluded that "rather than relying on the repetition of a successful formula, [Smith] has constantly sought to freshen his material."

In Rose, published in 1996, Smith departed from Russia for an altogether different setting: 1870s Victorian England. The plot features Jonathan Blair, an engineer and explorer recently returned from Africa who journeys to the Lancashire town of Wigan to investigate a mystery. Wigan is a gritty, coal-mining town, and Blair sets about determining the whereabouts of the local curate, who has not been seen since the day when a mining accident killed seventy-six people. In attempting to discover what happened to the man, Blair finds himself bewitched by the "pit girls"—local women who work in the mines—and in conflict with several male miners. In particular, one pit girl, Rose, eventually comes to play a large role in the mystery—and in Blair's life as well. Reviewing the book in the Washington Post Book World, Bruce Cook praised the author's command of historical details in telling his story and noted that "This novel is blessed with the sort of strong narrative line that makes it a joy to read, yet it is about a good deal more than plot." While remarking that Smith's dialogue sometimes betrays a modern tone, New York Times Book Review contributor Eugen Weber declared that "Smith's tale is smartly told, engaging and worth reading."

Russian cop Arkady Renko is once again at the center of things in Smith's book Havana Bay. This time, Renko is in Cuba, investigating the death of a missing Russian embassy official who was an old friend. Although he comes from the fatherland of communism, Renko finds himself thwarted in his investigation by the Cuban bureaucracy, who now dislike Russians for abandoning communism and selling out. Jim Strader, writing in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, noted, "But as he did in relating Renko's past adventures, Smith exposes a culture and country literally foreign to most in the United States." Strader went on to call the novel "an engaging tale" that opens "a window to a distinctly different and intriguing place." In Booklist, contributor Bill Ott commented, "Smith's beautifully evoked Cuba—rusting idealism set against resurgent decadence—makes the perfect foil for a melancholic investigator who doesn't particularly believe in the very things he stubbornly defends." A contributor to Publishers Weekly noted that "Smith's vision of Havana is unforgettable." The reviewer also said, "Gripping, worldly wise and brimming with emotional intelligence, this novel showcases Smith at the top of his game."

Smith continued with his remarkable ability to evoke place with December 6, which is set in Japan on the eve of its infamous attack on Pearl Harbor. An American who grew up on the wild streets of Japan but feels comfortable in neither culture, Harry Niles is also a con man who owns a tea room in Tokyo. Aware of a possible attack by Japan on the United States, Niles sets out to possibly thwart the plan while playing both sides against the middle just in case. "In alternating narratives of Harry the boy juxtaposed against Harry the club owner, Smith paints an extraordinary picture of life in Japan . . . and captures the essence of that strange, exotic country on the brink of war," wrote Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum in online Bookreporter. Calling the book a "superb thriller," Booklist contributor Bill Ott noted, "When Smith chooses a place to write about, he makes it his own." Barbara Conaty, writing in Library Journal, said that "the locale is as evocative as the cherry blossom itself."

In an interview for Geographical, Smith, who researches and visits all of his books' locales, noted that he likes to write about unfamiliar places. "If anything, it gives me a great advantage," he noted. "When I start, I'm aware of the extent of my ignorance, so I naturally question everything." Smith went on to comment, "There are things you experience that are so basic that people just don't tell you. It's a little bit like people telling you about going to sea—nobody bothers to tell you that it is salty. They always overlook the details."

For a complete interview with Smith, see Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, Volume 23.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Riggs, Thomas, editor, Reference Guide to American Literature, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 2000.

St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1998.

PERIODICALS

Armchair Detective, fall, 1990, pp. 422-423.

Booklist, May 1, 2000, Bill Ott, review of Havana Bay, p. 1590; August, 2002, Bill Ott, review of December 6, p. 1887.

Books Magazine, April, 1996, p. 14.

Chicago Tribune, March 25, 1981; July 19, 1992, p. 9.

Chicago Tribune Book World, April 19, 1981; May 11, 1986.

Geographical, December, 2002, interview with Martin Cruz Smith, p. 130.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2002, review of December 6, p. 837.

Library Journal, May 1, 1999, Barbara Conaty, review of Havana Bay, p. 113; August, 2002, Barbara Conaty, review of December 6, p. 147.

London Review of Books, September 4, 1986, pp. 18-19; December 7 1989, p. 19.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, April 19, 1981; May 11, 1986; June 24, 1990.

Maclean's, May 4, 1981, p. 56.

Nation, April 4, 1981, pp. 406-407.

New Republic, May 9, 1981, pp. 37-38.

Newsweek, April 6, 1981; May 25, 1981; April 14, 1986; September 14, 1992, p. 70.

New Yorker, April 6, 1981, pp. 181-182.

New York Times, March 19, 1981; October 12, 1992, p. C20; May 1, 1996, p. B2.

New York Times Book Review, April 5, 1981; May 3, 1981; May 4, 1986; July 16, 1989, pp. 33-34; July 15, 1990, p. 32; October 18, 1992, pp. 45-46; June 16, 1996, p. 50.

People, June 3, 1996, p. 35.

Playboy, December, 1992, p. 34.

Publishers Weekly, May 3, 1999, review of Havana Bay, p. 68; August 5, 2002, review of December 6, p. 50.

Saturday Review, April, 1981, pp. 66-67.

Time, March 30, 1981; May 12, 1986; November 16, 1992, p. 98; June 3, 1996, p. 73.

Times Literary Supplement, June 5, 1981; December 8, 1989, p. 1369.

Wall Street Journal, May 18, 1981, p. 26; May 29, 1996, p. A16.

Washington Post Book World, March 29, 1981; April 30, 1986; July 2, 1989, p. 5; November 1, 1992, p. 3; May 5, 1996, p. 1.

West Coast Review of Books, 1986, p. 25.

ONLINE

Bookreporter.com,http://www.bookreporter.com/ (October 9, 2002), Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum, review of December 6; interview with Martin Cruz Smith (April 30, 2003).

Martin Cruz Smith Home Page,http://literati.net/MCSmith/ (December 9, 2002).

Post-Gazette Web site (Pittsburgh, PA), http://www.post-gazette.com/ (October 9, 2002), Jim Strader, review of Havana Bay, August 22, 1999.

Salon.com,http://www.salon.com (October 9, 2002), "The Salon Interview: Working in a Coal Mine."*