Wolves Eat Dogs.

WOLVES EATDOGS. Martin Cruz Smith. 2004/ 2004. Read by Henry Strozier. 10 cds. 13 hrs. Recorded Books. 1-4193-1578-1. $119.75. Vinyl; plot, reader notes. SA

When Pasha Ivanov, CEO of NoviRus, leaps from the window of his posh digs, Moscow police declare it a suicide. Days later, his lieutenant Lev Timofeyev is found with his throat cut near a cemetery in the Zone of Exclusion that surrounds Chernobyl. Detective Arkady Renko (introduced in Smith's enormously popular Gorky Park) is sent to investigate. Renko slowly sorts through happenings and personalities to finger the culprits, and that process is fun to follow, but the most absorbing aspect of this book is Smith's evocation of life as it has unfolded in the radioactive hell that surrounds the nuclear power plant that imploded in 1986 (the site will cool in 25,000 years). The area is populated by poachers, scavengers, scientists, technical and military personnel, routine service providers, old people who have always called the area home, persons of questionable character, and some with simply no place else to go. Wildlife has returned in abundance, but it is all highly radioactive, as is all the "junk" scattered about.

There is one somewhat graphic sex scene, but sex is not central to the story. Strozier has an empathetic feeling for the characters. The listener feels as if his or her head is tucked in close, intensely a part of the action. Edna Boardman, Libn., Bismarck, ND

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advance students and adults. This code will help librarians and teacher working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.