Pun Salad

This is the fifth novel by Martin Cruz Smith featuring Russian police investigator Arkady Renko. I think the title refers to Renko's doggedness in trying to solve crimes that nobody else is particularly interested in having him solve, and the wolvishness of his adversaries.

Smith does his usual outstanding job of putting Renko into hellish situations, this time sending him to the area around Chernobyl, running into the misfits and miscreants living in an area where no sane person would. Renko does his duty with tenacity and his usual glum deadpan humor.

• Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution writes: Today, I am an American. Two observations: (1) we native-borns take way too much for granted; (2) we're lucky to get folks like Alex, and we're probably taking him too much for granted too.
• At Reason's Hit & Run, Tim Cavanaugh has a memorable intro to this article by Dave Kopel: "What do you call a government that doesn't protect your life or property, then comes in to steal your stuff and prevent you from protecting yourself?"
• And Jeff Goldstein takes issue with hurricane necrophilia from Andrew Sullivan and Terry Neal. Read the whole thing, and the links are good too.