Unlike Stallion Gate (1986), Red Square seems content to be a very well -made example of the detective-spy hybrid genre. There are all the traditional desiderata: clues (the prayer-mat with no worn spots, the excess of blood in the car bombing) for the detective and double agents for the spy. The plot contains several surprises, and the questions are all answered in the end (all, that is, except the great question: "What will happen after the people face down the tanks?"). The excellence of the novel lies in its setting, in Smith's scrupulously careful placement of the action in its scenes and its history.