Martin Cruz Smith (born November 3, 1942) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

mystery novelist. He is best known for his nine-novel series (to date) on Russian investigator

Arkady Renko Arkady Renko ( Russian: Аркадий Ренко) is a fictional detective who is the central character of nine novels by the American writer Martin Cruz Smith.O'Brien, Timothy L. ''The New York Times'' (August 6, 2007)Martin Cruz Smith's Arkad ...

, who was first introduced in 1981 with '' Gorky Park''.

Early life and education

Martin William Smith was born in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

to John Calhoun Smith, jazz musician and Louise Lopez, an American Indian of Pueblo descent, jazz singer and Amerindian rights militant. Martin was educated at

Germantown Academy Germantown Academy, informally known as GA and originally known as the Union School, is the oldest nonsectarian day school in the United States. The school was founded on December 6, 1759, by a group of prominent Germantown citizens in the Gree ...

, in Germantown

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania, then at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, also located in Philadelphia, and received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

in 1964. He is of partly

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, Senecu del Sur and

Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Stat ...

ancestry.

Career

From 1965 to 1969, Smith worked as a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and began writing fiction in the early 1970s. He wrote two Slocum adult action Western novels under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Jake Logan. Smith has also written a number of other paperback originals, including a series about a character named "The Inquisitor", a

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

-type agent employed by the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

; and a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel, ''The Indians Won''. Smith wrote three novels in the Nick Carter series. ''

Canto for a Gypsy ''Canto for a Gypsy'' is a novel by Martin Cruz Smith Martin Cruz Smith (born November 3, 1942) is an American mystery novelist. He is best known for his nine-novel series (to date) on Russian investigator Arkady Renko, who was first intr ...

'', his third novel overall and the second to feature Roman Grey, a

gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationshi ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, was nominated for an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

. ''

Nightwing Nightwing is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character has appeared in various incarnations; the identity was adopted by Dick Grayson when he left his role as Batman's vigilante partner Robin. Although ...

'' (1977), also an Edgar nominee, was his breakthrough novel, and he adapted it for a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

of the same name (1979). Smith is best known for his novels featuring Russian investigator

whom Smith introduced in '' Gorky Park'' (1981). The novel, which was called the "first thriller of the '80s" by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', became a

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

and won a Gold Dagger Award from the British

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors’ organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its Dagger awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. T ...

. Renko has since appeared in eight other novels by Smith. ''Gorky Park'' debuted at No. 2 on the "New York Times" bestseller list on April 26, 1981 and hung onto the top spot for another week. It stayed in the No. 2 position for over three months, beaten only by James Clavell's '' Noble House''. It stayed in the top 15 through November of that year. ''

Polar Star A pole star or polar star is a star, preferably bright, nearly aligned with the axis of a rotating astronomical body. Currently, Earth's pole stars are Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris), a bright magnitude-2 star aligned approximately with its ...

'' also claimed the No. 1 spot for two weeks on August 6, 1989. It subsequently held the No. 2 spot for over two months. During the 1990s, Smith twice won the Dashiell Hammett Award from the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers. The first time was for ''

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

'' in 1996; the second time was for ''

Havana Bay Havana Harbor is the port of Havana, the capital of Cuba, and it is the main port in Cuba (not including Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, a territory on lease by the United States). Other port cities in Cuba include Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Manzanillo ...

'' in 1999. And on September 5, 2010, he and Arkady Renko returned to the ''New York Times'' bestseller list when ''

Three Stations ''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''.Steinhauer, ...

'' debuted at No. 7 on the fiction bestsellers list. His most recent novel featuring Renko is "The Siberian Dilemma" (2019).

Pseudonym

He originally wrote under the name "Martin Smith", only to discover there were other writers with the same name. His agent asked Smith to add a third name and Smith chose Cruz, his paternal grandmother's surname.

Personal life

Smith lives in San Rafael,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, with his family.

Bibliography

Romano Grey books

(as Martin Smith) *'' Gypsy in Amber'' New York: Putnam,

971 Year 971 ( CMLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Dorostolon: A Byzantine expeditionary army (possibly 30–40,000 men) ...

*''

'' New York: Putnam,

972 Year 972 ( CMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Emperor John I Tzimiskes divides the Bulgarian territories, recent ...

The Inquisitor Series

(as Simon Quinn) *''The Devil in Kansas'' (1974) (The Inquisitor Series #1) *''The Last Time I Saw Hell'' (1974) (The Inquisitor Series #2) *''Nuplex Red'' (1974) (The Inquisitor Series #3) *''His Eminence, Death'' (1974) (The Inquisitor Series #4) *'' The Midas Coffin'' (1975) (The Inquisitor Series #5) *''Last Rites for the Vulture'' (1975) (The Inquisitor Series #6)

Arkady Renko Arkady Renko ( Russian: Аркадий Ренко) is a fictional detective who is the central character of nine novels by the American writer Martin Cruz Smith.O'Brien, Timothy L. ''The New York Times'' (August 6, 2007)Martin Cruz Smith's Arkad ...
books

*'' Gorky Park'' New York: Random House, 1981 *''

'' New York: Random House, 1989 *''

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...

'' New York: Random House, 1992 *''

'' New York: Random House, 1999 *''

Wolves Eat Dogs ''Wolves Eat Dogs'' is a crime novel by Martin Cruz Smith, set in Russia and Ukraine in the year 2004. It is the fifth novel to feature Investigator Arkady Renko and the first one taking place in Russia during the new, independent (post-Soviet) ...

'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004 *'' Stalin's Ghost'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007 *''

'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010 *''

Tatiana Tatiana (or Tatianna, also romanized as Tatyana, Tatjana, Tatijana, etc.) is a female name of Sabine-Roman origin that became widespread in Eastern Europe. Variations * be, Тацця́на, Tatsiana * bg, Татяна, Tatyana * germ ...

'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013 *''The Siberian Dilemma'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 2019

Other books

*''The Indians Won'' (1970) *''The Analog Bullet'' (1972) *''Inca Death Squad'' (1972) (as Nick Carter) *''The Devil's Dozen'' (1973) (as Nick Carter) *''Code Name: Werewolf'' (1973) (as Nick Carter) *''The Human Factor'' (1975) (as Simon Quinn) *''The Wilderness Family'' (1975) (as Martin Quinn) *''North to Dakota'' (a Slocum western) (1976) (as Jake Logan) *''Ride for Revenge'' (a Slocum western) (1977) (as Jake Logan) *''

'' (1977) *''Stallion Gate'' (1986). *''

'' (1996) *''

December 6 Events Pre-1600 *1060 – Béla I of Hungary, Béla I is crowned king of Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages, Hungary. *1240 – Mongol invasion of Rus': Kyiv, defended by Voivode Dmytro, Siege of Kiev (1240), falls to the Mongols u ...

'' (2002) (also published as ''Tokyo Station'') *''

The Girl from Venice ''The Girl from Venice'' is a 2016 historical fiction novel by American author Martin Cruz Smith. The novel details the encounter and subsequent relationship between Innocenzo (Cenzo) Vianello, a fisherman from Pellestrina, and Giulia Silber, daug ...

'' (2016)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Martin Cruz 1942 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American male screenwriters American mystery writers American thriller writers American alternate history writers Living people Native American novelists Novelists from Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania alumni Writers from San Rafael, California Writers from Reading, Pennsylvania Germantown Academy alumni 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Screenwriters from California Screenwriters from Pennsylvania American people of Yaqui descent Pueblo people Yaqui people Native American people from Pennsylvania