Vodka is a sprawling, epic story of Russia immediately after the end of the Soviet Union, and runs several storylines in tandem: the efforts of an American banker, Alice Liddell, to effect the first privatisation in Russian history; the battle between Slav and Chechen gangs for control of Moscow's vodka market; and the hunt for a serial killer who is killing children and draining their blood.
Assigned to investigate a suspicious drowning, detective Herbert Smith discovers that the victim, a young biochemist and son of a highly placed government official, had in the hours before his death claimed to be in possession of a discovery that could change the world.
The Guardian's Maxim Jakubowski called it "mystery at its best", while in the New Statesman Adam LeBor said: "Visibility is an intelligent and thought-provoking book, one that asks lingering questions about the very nature of loyalty and love."
Starling has also written a series of thrillers featuring Franco Patrese, a Pittsburgh homicide detective who later joins the FBI.
This is a well-imagined thriller, a nice addition to the crowded police-procedural genre, with vivid characters and nimble-but-fitting plot twists.'
His specialist topics were comics creator Hergé and his creation Tintin, and The Life and Novels of Dick Francis, who was present at the recording.