PETROVKA 38 by Julian Semyonov. 205 pages. Stein & Day. $4.95.
Russia produced the first great thriller, Feodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishmentbut times have changed. In contemporary Soviet society, crime reporting is permitted only where it serves the state, and by such standards, Petrovka 38 is a veritable revelation. The story describes two murders, daring daylight holdups, drug addiction, even a soupçon of illicit sex. In permitting the book's publication abroad, Soviet authorities may have been disarmed by its moral: Russia's GUMshoes are efficient, decent. and humane. After deciding that one of the outlaws, a 17-year-old poet, is guilty...
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