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Portrait of Rubem Fonseca Photo: Hector Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images (2003)

Sample of authors

Fonseca, Rubem

Brazilian author, born in Juiz de Fora in Minas Gerais, but at the age of 7 moved to Rio de Janeiro. Fonseca gained a degree in Law at Rio de Janeiro’s federal university, UFRJ (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro). In 1952 he started a career in the police service, first as a patrolling police officer, advancing quickly in rank to eventually become police commissioner, one of the highest p...

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Literary figures

Arkadij Renko

Gender: Male

Police officer in the Soviet Union and Russia, at first a detective chief inspector, but later demoted after he tried to expose the shady dealings of communist bigwigs. His father was a notorious general. Arkady Renko is middle-aged, thin with a pale face and greying dark hair. His first wife, Zaya, was unfaithful and left him, Martin Cruz Smith tells us. His second wife, Irina, dies after...

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