Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
New York : Grand Central Pub., 2008.
Description
Fiction. Literature. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML:In a country ruled by fear, no one is innocent. Stalin's Soviet Union is an official paradise, where citizens live free from crime and fear only one thing: the all-powerful state. Defending this system is idealistic security officer Leo Demidov, a war hero who believes in the iron fist of the law. But when a murderer starts to kill at will and Leo dares to investigate, the State's obedient servant finds himself demoted and exiled. Now, with only his wife at his side, Leo must fight to uncover shocking truths about a killer-and a country where "crime" doesn't exist.
Media reviews
On Page 275 of his tightly woven debut novel, “Child 44,” Tom Rob Smith reveals what the title means. The moment is a shocker — but its full effects can be felt only if you’ve read the 274 pages that precede it. This book is much too densely, ingeniously plotted for its secrets to be
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accessible via shortcut. ...
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User reviews
LibraryThing member richardderus
I don't believe I've ever read so much text in italics before, and I don't think I've ever read a thriller with so little direct action before, either. The dialogue, what little there is of it, is italicized; there are few places where anyone addresses anyone else for more than a sentence or two.
But what a wallop this book packs! I can't imagine the agonies of researching and writing such a grisly book, given that most writers are sensitive flowers whose emotional lives are very much up on the surface of their lives.
Tom Rob Smith wrote this awful book about awful people doing awful things in an awful country to amuse and entertain us. He succeeds in this, though sometimes I wanted to wash my eyes out with Clorox. The main character, Leo, is a nasty apparatchik in the State Security forces under Stalin. He's a man who has put his sense of rightness, fairness and justice into the hands of vile, unworthy leaders, and turned off his moral compass. The reasons that it turns back on, and the results of Leo's single-minded pursuit of a child murderer, are...gosh...they're *right* and yet, given the 400pp we've spent being plunged into foul, icy sewage, again and again, they're weak tea.
Leo's past leads him to a future that I can't call bright, but at least he's able to do the right thing sometimes. I don't think this book is for everyone, but I think it's really, really interesting and quite exciting and well worth the attention of the non-squeamish.
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Husband Leo and wife Raisa have one--that's all, one--intimate conversation, which is a new low count in my thriller reading.But what a wallop this book packs! I can't imagine the agonies of researching and writing such a grisly book, given that most writers are sensitive flowers whose emotional lives are very much up on the surface of their lives.
Tom Rob Smith wrote this awful book about awful people doing awful things in an awful country to amuse and entertain us. He succeeds in this, though sometimes I wanted to wash my eyes out with Clorox. The main character, Leo, is a nasty apparatchik in the State Security forces under Stalin. He's a man who has put his sense of rightness, fairness and justice into the hands of vile, unworthy leaders, and turned off his moral compass. The reasons that it turns back on, and the results of Leo's single-minded pursuit of a child murderer, are...gosh...they're *right* and yet, given the 400pp we've spent being plunged into foul, icy sewage, again and again, they're weak tea.
Leo's past leads him to a future that I can't call bright, but at least he's able to do the right thing sometimes. I don't think this book is for everyone, but I think it's really, really interesting and quite exciting and well worth the attention of the non-squeamish.
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LibraryThing member msf59
This is Russia in the early 1950s, the last years of Stalin's life. A monster is on the loose and this heinous criminal is preying on children. The government does not understand or believe in serial killers, this cannot happen in their perfect society, so after each horrific crime, some poor soul
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is rounded up, tried and executed. The killer continues, unabated, until a young police investigator finally pieces it together but in an unexpected twist the officer's life quickly spins out control and he becomes a fugitive. This is thriller writing at it's very best. You will find yourself turning pages with a giddy mixture of anticipation and fear! Show Less
LibraryThing member scuzzy
In Auckland over the last week or so I didn't take a book with me which almost is as distressing as not having my beloved iPhone. Thankfully the darling Kelly had a collection close to the National Library and she offered one nondescript looking paperback and duly I set about reading it.
And what a
Apparently this is the first such novel by Tom Rob Smith (yep, that's his name) and if you were to get a following, this would be the way to do so. I haven't had the inclination of yet to find out if he has done any others, but it will come to mind next time I am in the library.
The story is set in 1950s Russia, a country still recovering and revelling in the victory of the Great Patriotic War and follows a hero from the conflict who is a man on the up and up in the MGB.
For anyone who follows Communism in its purest form, this book tells it like it is...or was. Leo, the agent is asked to deal with an issue where a fellow agent's family are upset at the State's investigation into the death of their son. They claim murder, and despite the disembowelment and lack of clothes, the State cannot possibly admit to any form of crime on their watch and report it as an unfortunate accident involving a train. Case closed.
However, due to a series of smaller unrelated incidences, and a power struggle within the MGB, Leo is then asked to investigate his own wife and denounce her, which would subject her to either death, or worse, 25 years in the Gulags.
What follows is a shocking portrayal of the paranoia that gripped the people during the Stalin-ist era and Leo and his wife flee to outback Russia and are forced to live the life of peasants. You would think that was enough of a story?
Wrong. Leo stumbles upon another disemboweled kid, and another is discovered, and soon enough he and the local Constable have uncovered a nationwide killing spree that the State still refuse to admit to and deal with the issue the best way they know; eliminate those who know.
Get it, read it, and love it. A great book, well written (I especially like the way he delivers speech, nice, dark and broody touch) but I have to discredit it somewhere. And it is the last few chapters where it seemed to have succumbed to Hollywood-like script writing. I won't give anything away, but when 90% of the book was chilling and dark, the ending, while somewhat a relief, should have maintained that Communist feel.
I later found out this book is based on the killing spree of The Rostov Ripper who killed 52.
And what a
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book!Apparently this is the first such novel by Tom Rob Smith (yep, that's his name) and if you were to get a following, this would be the way to do so. I haven't had the inclination of yet to find out if he has done any others, but it will come to mind next time I am in the library.
The story is set in 1950s Russia, a country still recovering and revelling in the victory of the Great Patriotic War and follows a hero from the conflict who is a man on the up and up in the MGB.
For anyone who follows Communism in its purest form, this book tells it like it is...or was. Leo, the agent is asked to deal with an issue where a fellow agent's family are upset at the State's investigation into the death of their son. They claim murder, and despite the disembowelment and lack of clothes, the State cannot possibly admit to any form of crime on their watch and report it as an unfortunate accident involving a train. Case closed.
However, due to a series of smaller unrelated incidences, and a power struggle within the MGB, Leo is then asked to investigate his own wife and denounce her, which would subject her to either death, or worse, 25 years in the Gulags.
What follows is a shocking portrayal of the paranoia that gripped the people during the Stalin-ist era and Leo and his wife flee to outback Russia and are forced to live the life of peasants. You would think that was enough of a story?
Wrong. Leo stumbles upon another disemboweled kid, and another is discovered, and soon enough he and the local Constable have uncovered a nationwide killing spree that the State still refuse to admit to and deal with the issue the best way they know; eliminate those who know.
Get it, read it, and love it. A great book, well written (I especially like the way he delivers speech, nice, dark and broody touch) but I have to discredit it somewhere. And it is the last few chapters where it seemed to have succumbed to Hollywood-like script writing. I won't give anything away, but when 90% of the book was chilling and dark, the ending, while somewhat a relief, should have maintained that Communist feel.
I later found out this book is based on the killing spree of The Rostov Ripper who killed 52.
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LibraryThing member DieFledermaus
Leo Demidov has a good life working at the MGB, the Soviet secret police and predecessor of the KGB. He’s able to provide for his parents and has a beautiful and intelligent wife who he loves. The son of a colleague has been found dead and the man is convinced it’s murder, but Leo is tasked
Leo’s relationship with his wife, Raisa, is very interesting. It’s troubled and the exploration of their problems raises a number of issues that would be common in Soviet society of the time. The author looks at the relationship from both of their POVs and while both behave very badly at times, he makes their behavior understandable. There is also time spent examining the daily lives of a number of Soviet citizens, including the killer. The killer is actually more interesting than Vasili who is very dull as a main antagonist. He’s pretty much just obsessively jealous of Leo and an all-around bad guy. He and another higher-up, a doctor, are too one-dimensional and are therefore boring. I have no doubt that there were many sadists and psychopaths who were allowed to obtain high-ranking positions (Leo even wonders why someone would go on a killing spree when there’s a legal, acceptable way to do it in the secret police) but I expect something besides a garden-variety psychopath in fiction. As in many other crime/mystery novels, Leo, while investigating the killings, also learns something about his past – another too-standard genre trope. The book is always very readable and addictive but some twists are unbelievable. The depiction of Soviet society is intriguing and there are enough interesting touches to make this one worth reading, especially as a slightly different take on the Soviet era.
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with telling him otherwise. This first glimpse of Leo at work is rather unsympathetic and sets up an interesting question – can the author sustain interest in a main character who works for such a hated organization? Leo had a meteoric rise as a World War II hero and even though he accepts the unpleasantness in his work, he tries to keep to his own moral code. There are some great early scenes where this tension is exploited. In one, Leo is chasing down a suspect who readers guess is innocent. If he fails, he’ll be at fault and some of his men, angry at his refusal to take the murder seriously, are subtly trying to undermine him. With them is the unpleasant Vasili, Leo’s professional rival, who is jealous and brutal and also wants him to fail. Here, one wonders not only what will happen but what they’d prefer to happen. Where should they place their sympathies? However, later on Leo has an epiphany moment and the book becomes a bit predictable in the idea of lone agent against either a corrupt or misguided organization – one that would be familiar in books/movies set in the West.Leo’s relationship with his wife, Raisa, is very interesting. It’s troubled and the exploration of their problems raises a number of issues that would be common in Soviet society of the time. The author looks at the relationship from both of their POVs and while both behave very badly at times, he makes their behavior understandable. There is also time spent examining the daily lives of a number of Soviet citizens, including the killer. The killer is actually more interesting than Vasili who is very dull as a main antagonist. He’s pretty much just obsessively jealous of Leo and an all-around bad guy. He and another higher-up, a doctor, are too one-dimensional and are therefore boring. I have no doubt that there were many sadists and psychopaths who were allowed to obtain high-ranking positions (Leo even wonders why someone would go on a killing spree when there’s a legal, acceptable way to do it in the secret police) but I expect something besides a garden-variety psychopath in fiction. As in many other crime/mystery novels, Leo, while investigating the killings, also learns something about his past – another too-standard genre trope. The book is always very readable and addictive but some twists are unbelievable. The depiction of Soviet society is intriguing and there are enough interesting touches to make this one worth reading, especially as a slightly different take on the Soviet era.
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LibraryThing member brettjames
If you only do 1001 things in your lifetime, don't make reading this book one of them.
LibraryThing member Antholo
I don't really know what to say about Child 44. I liked the book, and I liked Dennis Boutsikaris's reading of the audiobook. The setting and circumstances resulting from the setting distinguishes this suspense/adventure/catch-the-killer fluff from other such mysteries. It was interesting fluff. The
The first half of the story fleshes out the setting. We get a feel for what the Leo's job and what he feels is right. We get a sense of workplace politics, family relationships, and the societal values. Basically, people are afraid or corrupt. They are in pragmatic, loveless relationships, or impoverished.
The second half of the story follows Leo's fall from power and his focus on solving a string of murders. This parallels Leo embracing his conscience, choosing to do what's right over "his duty" to the state. He and his wife become equal partners and their relationship shifts from pragmatic toward loving. They chase the killer as they are chased by the state, which believes in no such thing as a person who kills children for enjoyment. Leo and his wife know that even if they catch and kill the murderer, they will still be executed by the state for their belief that such a thing could happen in their utopian communist society.
Don't over-analyze the story, read it for pleasure, and you'll enjoy the cat-and-mouse cop and serial killer story in a unique setting, if that's your thing.
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protagonist, Leo, finds himself stuck between trying to do what is right and his job--not uncommon for this sort of story--but the story takes place in Soviet Russia. The first half of the story fleshes out the setting. We get a feel for what the Leo's job and what he feels is right. We get a sense of workplace politics, family relationships, and the societal values. Basically, people are afraid or corrupt. They are in pragmatic, loveless relationships, or impoverished.
The second half of the story follows Leo's fall from power and his focus on solving a string of murders. This parallels Leo embracing his conscience, choosing to do what's right over "his duty" to the state. He and his wife become equal partners and their relationship shifts from pragmatic toward loving. They chase the killer as they are chased by the state, which believes in no such thing as a person who kills children for enjoyment. Leo and his wife know that even if they catch and kill the murderer, they will still be executed by the state for their belief that such a thing could happen in their utopian communist society.
Don't over-analyze the story, read it for pleasure, and you'll enjoy the cat-and-mouse cop and serial killer story in a unique setting, if that's your thing.
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LibraryThing member Mr_Blithe
Historical thriller set in Soviet Russia in the 1950's. The story itself is a better-than-average murder mystery, but the real hook here is that it is set in a totalitarian police state rather than, say, the mean streets of New York or Chicago or wherever. The author attempts to not only tell a
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story but also give the reader a glimpse into the life of a citizen of the Soviet Union under Stalin, delving into the various institutions of oppression the leaders of that state brought to bear in order to maintain power. I don't know much about this part of history, and I was interested to see the many parallels between the Soviet Union of this book and the England of Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm," which were both heavily influenced by that author's familiarity with Stalinist tactics. I enjoy reading novels that educate even while they tell a story, and I am now very interested in reading up on this topic further. Show Less
LibraryThing member CBJames
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith is a very popular book. You can read glowing reviews of it at dovegreyreader and therapsheet. (These are both excellent sites that you should check out anyway.) Janet Maslin's review at the Times is more in line with my own. I'll probably never get on the list for free
The book starts with a graphic scene detailing the torturous killing of a cat. (Many of you may already hate it, but stay with me, it gets worse.) We're in Stalinist Russia during the winter, and food shortages have gotten so bad that the rare sighting of a house cat is cause to get out your snares. The story really begins when one of two boys, brothers, is hit on the head and dragged into the woods. When the surviving brother tells his mother, she knows that she'll never see her son again, that he has become food for some man driven to desperation by hunger. Next chapter, it's 2o years later and we're off to Moscow!
Already the book reads like a movie. (The movie rights were bought before the book hit the stands, and the author is a screenwriter.) This is a big problem for the book in my view. Too much of the plot is written for the screen, which is fine for a screenplay, but not for a novel. The plot jumps back and forth all over Russia as we follow the detective then the killer, who in this case is killing children throughout the country.
The big idea/marketing gimmick is that in Stalinist Russia there can be no murder because there is no motive for it in a classless society. So the detective, Leo Demidov, cannot investigate a murder without committing a crime against the state. This is an interesting idea and in the hands of a novelist might produce an interesting novel. In the hands of screen writer it might produce an interesting screenplay. However, in the hands of a screen writer it can only produce an airplane book. (Airplane book: n, book suitable for passing the time on a flight from San Francisco to Chicago or someplace further away.)
Once the opening scenes have passed, the novel settles into an entertaining pace, more of a procedural than a whodunit. We follow Leo and his wife as they suffer at the hands of Leo's rival Vasili. Leo and Vasili both work for the MGB which is in charge of investigating internal cases of sedition by tracking down traitors, who are all innocent citizens in this case caught up in Stalin's purges of the 1940's and 50's. It's very difficult to generate much sympathy for Leo once the tables are turned and he becomes a suspect. He has spent so much of the novel torturing and killing innocent people, how can we now start rooting for him? You have to make the killer and Leo's rival really awful, even if this means graphic scenes of violence.
Leo almost stumbles on the case of a serial killer who targets children and has killed over 40 by the time Leo discovers him. Leo is forced out of the MGB by Vasili, so he must continue his investigations as an outsider with the help of his wife Raisa and a few other people he meets along the way. Frankly, I just don't believe this would have been possible in the real Stalinist Russia. There was a real serial killer in Russia who spent several decades murdering children, but there was no rogue cop capable of working outside the system to catch him. In fact, the real killer operated in the 1970's and 80's long after the end of the Stalinist era and was eventually captured after several botched police investigations and a very large police manhunt.
Leo and Raisa are eventually sent to a gulag, but along the way the novel turns into Indiana Jones and the Trans-Siberian Express. A series of death defying escapes and wild plot twists follow. I won't detail them here because you may be one of the millions who'll enjoy this book, but I will say that the plot twist on page 400 left me mumbling "oh please" out loud. And not in a good way. We are expected to believe that the killer's ridiculous reason for committing so many murders, sending a message to his brother, actually turned out to work. It's the sort of twist that can be kind of fun in a movie, if you don't spend much time thinking about it, but if you're someone who cares too much about their brain to "check it at the door" you'll be disappointed at least.
I could go on, and on, and on, but what would be the point. If you've read this far you get the idea. Google the book and every other review you'll find but one will have high praise for it. I stand almost alone in giving Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith two out of five stars. Read at your own risk. The book has been hyped, but you have been warned.
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review copies because of this, but I didn't like it. Not at all.The book starts with a graphic scene detailing the torturous killing of a cat. (Many of you may already hate it, but stay with me, it gets worse.) We're in Stalinist Russia during the winter, and food shortages have gotten so bad that the rare sighting of a house cat is cause to get out your snares. The story really begins when one of two boys, brothers, is hit on the head and dragged into the woods. When the surviving brother tells his mother, she knows that she'll never see her son again, that he has become food for some man driven to desperation by hunger. Next chapter, it's 2o years later and we're off to Moscow!
Already the book reads like a movie. (The movie rights were bought before the book hit the stands, and the author is a screenwriter.) This is a big problem for the book in my view. Too much of the plot is written for the screen, which is fine for a screenplay, but not for a novel. The plot jumps back and forth all over Russia as we follow the detective then the killer, who in this case is killing children throughout the country.
The big idea/marketing gimmick is that in Stalinist Russia there can be no murder because there is no motive for it in a classless society. So the detective, Leo Demidov, cannot investigate a murder without committing a crime against the state. This is an interesting idea and in the hands of a novelist might produce an interesting novel. In the hands of screen writer it might produce an interesting screenplay. However, in the hands of a screen writer it can only produce an airplane book. (Airplane book: n, book suitable for passing the time on a flight from San Francisco to Chicago or someplace further away.)
Once the opening scenes have passed, the novel settles into an entertaining pace, more of a procedural than a whodunit. We follow Leo and his wife as they suffer at the hands of Leo's rival Vasili. Leo and Vasili both work for the MGB which is in charge of investigating internal cases of sedition by tracking down traitors, who are all innocent citizens in this case caught up in Stalin's purges of the 1940's and 50's. It's very difficult to generate much sympathy for Leo once the tables are turned and he becomes a suspect. He has spent so much of the novel torturing and killing innocent people, how can we now start rooting for him? You have to make the killer and Leo's rival really awful, even if this means graphic scenes of violence.
Leo almost stumbles on the case of a serial killer who targets children and has killed over 40 by the time Leo discovers him. Leo is forced out of the MGB by Vasili, so he must continue his investigations as an outsider with the help of his wife Raisa and a few other people he meets along the way. Frankly, I just don't believe this would have been possible in the real Stalinist Russia. There was a real serial killer in Russia who spent several decades murdering children, but there was no rogue cop capable of working outside the system to catch him. In fact, the real killer operated in the 1970's and 80's long after the end of the Stalinist era and was eventually captured after several botched police investigations and a very large police manhunt.
Leo and Raisa are eventually sent to a gulag, but along the way the novel turns into Indiana Jones and the Trans-Siberian Express. A series of death defying escapes and wild plot twists follow. I won't detail them here because you may be one of the millions who'll enjoy this book, but I will say that the plot twist on page 400 left me mumbling "oh please" out loud. And not in a good way. We are expected to believe that the killer's ridiculous reason for committing so many murders, sending a message to his brother, actually turned out to work. It's the sort of twist that can be kind of fun in a movie, if you don't spend much time thinking about it, but if you're someone who cares too much about their brain to "check it at the door" you'll be disappointed at least.
I could go on, and on, and on, but what would be the point. If you've read this far you get the idea. Google the book and every other review you'll find but one will have high praise for it. I stand almost alone in giving Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith two out of five stars. Read at your own risk. The book has been hyped, but you have been warned.
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LibraryThing member SamSattler
What happens when a serial killer of children is on the rampage and no one with the power to stop him wants to admit that he even exists? Children die by the dozen...and the count keeps growing.
"Child 44," set in Russia near the end of the Stalinist era, shows just how ludicrous a system of
MGB (the State Security Force) officer, Leo Demidov, was not about to rock the boat even when he suspected that he might be arresting an innocent person or, even worse, destroying a man's whole family in the process of making that arrest. He believed that "the means justified the ends," and that his job was to protect his country from those within it that wanted to destroy it by overthrowing its government. If a few innocents were caught in his net, that could not be helped. He had to protect Mother Russia.
But, when the system turns on Leo and his own family, his eyes are awakened to his past sins. Now, all he wants to do is live long enough to destroy the man who has been allowed to kill so many of Russia's children.
Tom Rob Smith has written a real page-turner here and this one should greatly appeal to fans of crime fiction, thriller fiction, and historical fiction. It was a huge success when published in 2008, but it you haven't read it yet, there's still time. Grab it now.
"Child 44," set in Russia near the end of the Stalinist era, shows just how ludicrous a system of
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government was imposed on the Russian people during that period. Since Stalin and his followers insisted that their governmental system was perfect, no one could afford to admit that crime took place inside the country's borders. Everyone was said to have everything they needed to live a good life, jobs were supposedly plentiful, and the government took such good care of the citizens of Russia, that there was simply no reason for crime to exist...so it didn't. And anyone who dared say otherwise, risked being declared insane or an enemy of the state. Either way, they were probably never going to be seen again.MGB (the State Security Force) officer, Leo Demidov, was not about to rock the boat even when he suspected that he might be arresting an innocent person or, even worse, destroying a man's whole family in the process of making that arrest. He believed that "the means justified the ends," and that his job was to protect his country from those within it that wanted to destroy it by overthrowing its government. If a few innocents were caught in his net, that could not be helped. He had to protect Mother Russia.
But, when the system turns on Leo and his own family, his eyes are awakened to his past sins. Now, all he wants to do is live long enough to destroy the man who has been allowed to kill so many of Russia's children.
Tom Rob Smith has written a real page-turner here and this one should greatly appeal to fans of crime fiction, thriller fiction, and historical fiction. It was a huge success when published in 2008, but it you haven't read it yet, there's still time. Grab it now.
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LibraryThing member planetmut
The background and atmosphere of Stalinist Russia is done superbly, but the killer's motive is utterly ridiculous and yanks you right out of the book. If Smith had put half as much effort into the reasons for the murders as he put into the environment it would have been much, much better. And
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contrary to what the cover quote says, it's nowhere near as good as Gorky Park. Show Less
LibraryThing member nohablo
Ok, so it's not Tolstoy, bit it's still a very competent, very deft thriller. Smarter and grimmer than your average and propelled by a rusty, andriod Soviet heart. WRITING WISE: Eh. Plenty of cliches and a lot of predigested prose. CHILD 44 is pretty much prefabricated for the big screen and has
All in all, finished this b in about 3 days - which is something considering its less-than-svelte profile and my two second attention span.
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its share of clunky writing - made all the better with the outraged edits ("misplaced modifier!!!!") pencilled in my copy - but it's still absorbing and shakes off the constraints of its genre enough to be genuinely surprising at all the right turns. And while it does thaw and mellow a bit towards the end, CHILD 44's exceptional for its initial callousness: everyone will behave very badly! And selfishly! And inhumanly! Like a bunch of Ayn Rand super-humans (blegh). However, unlike Ayn Rand's novels, this trait is actually good! And absorbing! At least in this form. It creates the tension and viciousness that all pulpy beach-lit needs to keep fleet-footed and stony-eyed. All in all, finished this b in about 3 days - which is something considering its less-than-svelte profile and my two second attention span.
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LibraryThing member ShellyS
First in a trilogy. Set primarily in 1953 (there's a prologue set 20 years earlier) in the Soviet Union, this mystery/thriller packs a real punch. Leo Demidov, a war hero now working as a security officer in the MGB in Moscow, is tasked with hunting down dissidents. A naive, idealistic believer in
Throughout the book, Leo remains a loyal citizen, but he slowly loses his naivete. Forced into exile with his wife, Leo must work a menial job with the local militia far east of Moscow, Leo discovers more deaths of children that match the circumstances of his former colleague's dead son. But to investigate means risking far more than exile this time, yet Leo knows the killer will keep killing unless someone stops him.
Smith captures the paranoia of Stalin's Russia and captures what it must have been like to live in a society where neighbors turn in neighbors as a survival technique and no one can be sure who among them is a spy for the State. Against that backdrop, Leo is compelled to solve a mystery that becomes increasingly dangerous for him, his wife, and the parents he left behind in Moscow.
The book works as a mystery and as historical fiction and while I started figuring out aspects of the mystery ahead of the reveal, that didn't diminish the storytelling in the least. My only quibble with the book is that Smith uses a technique I've seen before and don't like, using dashes and italics to set off dialogue rather than using quotation marks. I don't know how this got started, but it's really annoying, making me think I'm reading someone's thoughts rather than their spoken words. But that doesn't take away from a compelling story well told.
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the rightness and justice of the Soviet system, Leo has blinders on when it comes to the basic lies holding the Soviet system in place. When a colleague's son turns up dead in a bizarre fashion and the State claims it was a mere accident, the seed of doubt is planted in Leo's mind that things might not be as they seem in Stalin's USSR. But it's not until he's assigned to investigate his own wife and refuses to denounce her, that he truly begins to question the realities of the Soviet system. After all, there can be no murder in a system where everything is perfect; only deviants can commit crimes. For every death, there must be a swift resolution, from labeling it an accident to finding a drunk or homosexual to blame.Throughout the book, Leo remains a loyal citizen, but he slowly loses his naivete. Forced into exile with his wife, Leo must work a menial job with the local militia far east of Moscow, Leo discovers more deaths of children that match the circumstances of his former colleague's dead son. But to investigate means risking far more than exile this time, yet Leo knows the killer will keep killing unless someone stops him.
Smith captures the paranoia of Stalin's Russia and captures what it must have been like to live in a society where neighbors turn in neighbors as a survival technique and no one can be sure who among them is a spy for the State. Against that backdrop, Leo is compelled to solve a mystery that becomes increasingly dangerous for him, his wife, and the parents he left behind in Moscow.
The book works as a mystery and as historical fiction and while I started figuring out aspects of the mystery ahead of the reveal, that didn't diminish the storytelling in the least. My only quibble with the book is that Smith uses a technique I've seen before and don't like, using dashes and italics to set off dialogue rather than using quotation marks. I don't know how this got started, but it's really annoying, making me think I'm reading someone's thoughts rather than their spoken words. But that doesn't take away from a compelling story well told.
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LibraryThing member YossarianXeno
This is an accomplished debut novel, achieving the rare trick of maintaining the pace of a thriller and a sense of historical realism. The lead character, an MGB (forerunner of the KGB) agent has all his preconceptions challenged as his world is turned upside down when he is asked by his boss to
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denounce his wife as a traitor. Without giving to much away, he ends up on the trail of a serial killer of children. Throughout, Smith consummately conveys the fear and hopelessness of those enduring the Stalinist tyranny. The one weak spot in the novel is the really unbelievable (and unnecessary) "twist" right at the end, but don't let that put you off an absorbing, well-written and well-researched book. Show Less
LibraryThing member ChuckS65
An amazing page turner and a wonderful debut novel. It captured my attention in the first chapter and carried me through to the end. It was on my "to read" shelf for a long time. I am sorry I waited.
LibraryThing member sscarllet
This was the first thriller I've read in a long time and it make me want to read more. I forgot how exciting they could be.
Child 44 is a race through communist Russia that will leave your heart racing and wanting more. Good thing there is are more!
Child 44 is a race through communist Russia that will leave your heart racing and wanting more. Good thing there is are more!
LibraryThing member ladycato
I don't usually read thrillers, but something about the concept of Child 44 grabbed me. I was born in 1980. The Soviet Union was the big bad guy. I haven't read much on the subject of communist Russia, and this book seemed like a good opportunity. Wow, was it ever. I was hooked within the first
First of all: this is not a happy book. It's bleak. It's hopeless. At the same time, it's beautiful. Smith does a masterful job of showing how horrid things were in Russia, from the mass starvation to the ease of betrayal. People need to be reminded of the horrible things they are capable of so that we learn to never, ever do such things again. But that darkness still made this a difficult read at times.
Leo is a strong lead character. He's a decorated war hero who becomes a victim of the very system he has believed in his entire life. In the first chapters, it's easy to understand his idealism, even as he commits terrible acts as an MGB agent. There is still that sense that he's a good person beneath all of that. The mystery itself develops in layers as more bodies are found and the web of betrayal around Leo grows more intricate.
My one concern was that the end was almost too tidy, but in retrospect I can't see how it could have ended any other way.
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page.First of all: this is not a happy book. It's bleak. It's hopeless. At the same time, it's beautiful. Smith does a masterful job of showing how horrid things were in Russia, from the mass starvation to the ease of betrayal. People need to be reminded of the horrible things they are capable of so that we learn to never, ever do such things again. But that darkness still made this a difficult read at times.
Leo is a strong lead character. He's a decorated war hero who becomes a victim of the very system he has believed in his entire life. In the first chapters, it's easy to understand his idealism, even as he commits terrible acts as an MGB agent. There is still that sense that he's a good person beneath all of that. The mystery itself develops in layers as more bodies are found and the web of betrayal around Leo grows more intricate.
My one concern was that the end was almost too tidy, but in retrospect I can't see how it could have ended any other way.
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LibraryThing member Tanya-dogearedcopy
> I loved this story but I really wished I had read it in print instead of committing to listening to the audiobook. Child 44 is a suspense/thriller that depicts time, place, mood/atmosphere, emotions, action and, tension in articulate but easily accessible language. There is not a passage where
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you do not know what is happening and how it feels. The story itself is compelling: An MGB officer tempts fate by deciding to investigate a numbers of homicides (of children) in the Soviet Union, where felonies are equated with political crime. That said, there are a couple plot twists that are not surprising, but this may be due to the narrator’s rendition of the text. Tom Rob Smith and Child 44 get an “A” but the narrator, Dennis Boutsikaris, was less than impressive. The opening passages contain a number of shifts in POV, but DB rushed through the text. The directors (John Klemm and Michele McGonigle (yeah, I’m taking names!)) and the narrator were remiss in not taking the time to shape the text in the opening chapter. A pause between shifts in POV and more care & time with the text, would have drawn attention away from the narrator who sounds young, inelegant and, uneducated. The other issue I have with the narrator is his flat, American voice, which steamrolled the richness of the Russian names and places and made many of the characters sound like Yakoff Smirnoff. Show Less
LibraryThing member nicx27
Wow! What a book. This is not a book I would ever have chosen for myself, as for some reason it had just never really caught my eye. However, I was lucky enough to be sent a freebie and I thought it was an absolutely fantastic read.
Leo Demidov is an MGB agent in 1950s Russia. Stalin's regime is
The list of 44 facts about the regime at the end of the book makes for interesting and extremely shocking reading. It's hard to imagine how people lived in such fear. The author brought this across very well in this book and has created some great characters in Leo and his wife, Raisa.
This is a fast paced thriller, with some amazing twists. The first half of the book spends a lot of time setting the scene. This was never boring and it kept me interested, but I did wonder a few times how and when the main story was going to kick in. And then suddenly it did and it all pulled together into a tight and very well-plotted storyline.
I'm very eager now to get onto the second book in the trilogy, The Secret Speech. I highly recommend Child 44 if you like a really good thriller.
Leo Demidov is an MGB agent in 1950s Russia. Stalin's regime is
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unforgiving and brutal, and many people are executed or sentenced to hard labour for the merest of crimes (or no crime at all). Leo is not a bad man, but he's an officer of the state and is happy to do whatever is necessary to comply with their rules, until the murder of a child makes him reconsider his position.The list of 44 facts about the regime at the end of the book makes for interesting and extremely shocking reading. It's hard to imagine how people lived in such fear. The author brought this across very well in this book and has created some great characters in Leo and his wife, Raisa.
This is a fast paced thriller, with some amazing twists. The first half of the book spends a lot of time setting the scene. This was never boring and it kept me interested, but I did wonder a few times how and when the main story was going to kick in. And then suddenly it did and it all pulled together into a tight and very well-plotted storyline.
I'm very eager now to get onto the second book in the trilogy, The Secret Speech. I highly recommend Child 44 if you like a really good thriller.
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LibraryThing member teddyballgame
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith was one of the best books I have read within the last year. The story takes place during the early 1950s in Stalin's USSR. Leo Demidov, an MGB agent initially loyal to the state, becomes infatuated with a string of child murders that are seemingly being committed by the
The story is incredibly suspenseful and the characters are very intriguing. Smith's research was impeccable as you feel transported to this horrible time in Communist Russia. Overall, this is a great book by an up and coming young author. I look forward to reading his second book, The Secret Speech.
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same person all over southern Russia. Invesigating these murders changes Leo's life in more ways than he could ever imagine. He is struggling with a difficult marriage, a coworker's vendetta, and his own tragic past. He discovers his true identity by hunting this brutal killer.The story is incredibly suspenseful and the characters are very intriguing. Smith's research was impeccable as you feel transported to this horrible time in Communist Russia. Overall, this is a great book by an up and coming young author. I look forward to reading his second book, The Secret Speech.
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LibraryThing member bigorangemichael
Child 44 is a novel that's hard to figure out where to place on the bookshelf. It's a political thriller, a murder mystery and a horror story all in one. Combining those elements alone would have been enough, but first-time novelist Tom Rob Smith takes is further, setting his story around the time
On the surface, a story about someone serial killing small children would be brutal and horrifying enough. But add in that under the Soviet system that the government was creating a worker's paradise in which crime can't and shouldn't exist and you get a further twist on the serial hunter genre. If there is no crime, then surely such brutal crimes can't be occurring, adding to the complications as our hero, Leo, investigates the killings.
And it's not that Leo doesn't have more than a few obstacles in his way. He starts the novel as high-ranking official in the MGB, a rising star whose job it is to find all those who are oppose Mother Russia. Along the way, he's had successes and has made enemies, including one who sets him up. Leo is forced to choose between betraying his wife, who is accused of being a spy, to save his own skin or siding with her. Leo makes the choice and his entire world shatters. He's humilated publically, his family's status is removed and he finds out that his romantic notions of his marriage are an illusion. Demoted and sent to a remote region as the lowest of the low in the police, Leo comes across evidence that an earlier crime he investigated may tie into killings in the region. Leo risks everything to investigate the crime.
Smith's novel is compelling and page-turning. Smith is an aspiring screen-writer and there are moments in the story that he paints scenes in a movie-like way. But to dismiss the novel as one of those "ready to be adapted for a movie" would be a mistake. Smith's ability to re-create Russia in the time of Stalin is compelling as are the characters of Leo and his family. There are horrors here and not just those committed by the serial killer. Leo is certainly no innocent victim and yet, you will find yourself rooting for him as the pages go on. (He's not the most likeable character when you first meet him).
A great debut by Smith and I can see why this has already been optioned for a big-screen adaption. But I will recommend that this is one of those cases where you will definitely want to read the book first.
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of the death of Stalin in the former Soviet Union. Smith recreates the atmosphere of paranoia, doubt and suspicion of the time and place with ease, adding an extra layer of tension to his story.On the surface, a story about someone serial killing small children would be brutal and horrifying enough. But add in that under the Soviet system that the government was creating a worker's paradise in which crime can't and shouldn't exist and you get a further twist on the serial hunter genre. If there is no crime, then surely such brutal crimes can't be occurring, adding to the complications as our hero, Leo, investigates the killings.
And it's not that Leo doesn't have more than a few obstacles in his way. He starts the novel as high-ranking official in the MGB, a rising star whose job it is to find all those who are oppose Mother Russia. Along the way, he's had successes and has made enemies, including one who sets him up. Leo is forced to choose between betraying his wife, who is accused of being a spy, to save his own skin or siding with her. Leo makes the choice and his entire world shatters. He's humilated publically, his family's status is removed and he finds out that his romantic notions of his marriage are an illusion. Demoted and sent to a remote region as the lowest of the low in the police, Leo comes across evidence that an earlier crime he investigated may tie into killings in the region. Leo risks everything to investigate the crime.
Smith's novel is compelling and page-turning. Smith is an aspiring screen-writer and there are moments in the story that he paints scenes in a movie-like way. But to dismiss the novel as one of those "ready to be adapted for a movie" would be a mistake. Smith's ability to re-create Russia in the time of Stalin is compelling as are the characters of Leo and his family. There are horrors here and not just those committed by the serial killer. Leo is certainly no innocent victim and yet, you will find yourself rooting for him as the pages go on. (He's not the most likeable character when you first meet him).
A great debut by Smith and I can see why this has already been optioned for a big-screen adaption. But I will recommend that this is one of those cases where you will definitely want to read the book first.
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LibraryThing member ALinNY458
A terrific read! Highly suspenseful. I think one of the aspects I found must interesting was the depiction of life under a totalitarian and highly paranoid regime. Trust no one. The only reason I didn't give this a 5 rating is the final plot twist seemed just a bit over the top. Still, it didn't
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really detract from the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member lorielibrarian
Excellent suspense, bordering on literary mystery territory. A chilling and bleak portrayal of life in the Soviet Union during and shortly after Stalin. Graphic depictions of violence so not for the faint of heart. Some excellent heart thumping suspense scenes.
LibraryThing member crazy4novels
I've just finished "Child 44" by Tom Rob Smith, and I'm prepared to crown it as my summer reading standout for 2008. "Child 44" is a murder mystery set in the cold environs of Stalin's Soviet Union. The novel is a winner on three fronts: it has the page-turning quality of a compelling police
Leo Demidov is the golden boy of the USSR's State Security Force ("MGB"). He has a beautiful wife, a luxurious Moscow apartment, and a future that is as secure as can be hoped for in a society in which the slightest misstep -- the slightest rumor of nonconformity -- can destroy a comrade's life overnight. Demidov is under pressure to solve a delicate problem: a murdered child has turned up in his neighborhood, but murders are not supposed to occur in Stalin's USSR, a paradise where all citizens are supposed to live free from the fear of crime. Demidov must diffuse the situation, and quickly. The MGB is rife with backbiters, and Demidov's enemies are more than happy to see how he will wiggle his way out of this one.
The murders begin to mount up, and the bizarre, twisted way in which the young victims were killed points to the work of a madman. The confounding nature of the crimes, speculation as to the nature of the killer, and several well-placed clues and surprises enhance the page-turning quality of the novel, but that is only part of this book's charm.
The author's exploration of Demidov's evolving relationship with his wife, Raisa, as he gradually loses his "golden boy" status and questions everything he has based his career upon, is masterful. (Tidbits for thought: How much can any woman love a man who has the power to extinguish her future at will? How far can spouses be expected to go in order to save their own lives, each at the expense of the other? Why do they, or don't they?).
In addition, the book is a psychological and sensory primer on what it must have been like to live in the USSR under Stalin's rule. Smith writes in such a way as to make the reader experience the paranoia of being "found out" by one's neighbors and reported as an enemy of the state. He explains the Kafkaesque nature of the criminal justice system (all accusations of crime are fatal -- the accusation itself is decisive, since the Soviet system is perfect, and in a perfect system, there are no false accusations, etc.). Similarly, Smith's writing conveys the smell of a two-room apartment occupied by twelve people and twelve pairs of perpetually moist, slush-infused shoes with a verity that will send you to the window for a breath of air.
Smith's prose is also a powerful component of his book's success. I dare you to read the first sixteen pages of the book without reading more. If you read only one book for pleasure this summer, read this one.
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procedural novel; its descriptive prose immerses the reader in a sensory sea of Soviet life, complete with grey weather, grey expectations, and grey housing blocks; and the interpersonal relationships in the novel are explored with literary depth and insight.Leo Demidov is the golden boy of the USSR's State Security Force ("MGB"). He has a beautiful wife, a luxurious Moscow apartment, and a future that is as secure as can be hoped for in a society in which the slightest misstep -- the slightest rumor of nonconformity -- can destroy a comrade's life overnight. Demidov is under pressure to solve a delicate problem: a murdered child has turned up in his neighborhood, but murders are not supposed to occur in Stalin's USSR, a paradise where all citizens are supposed to live free from the fear of crime. Demidov must diffuse the situation, and quickly. The MGB is rife with backbiters, and Demidov's enemies are more than happy to see how he will wiggle his way out of this one.
The murders begin to mount up, and the bizarre, twisted way in which the young victims were killed points to the work of a madman. The confounding nature of the crimes, speculation as to the nature of the killer, and several well-placed clues and surprises enhance the page-turning quality of the novel, but that is only part of this book's charm.
The author's exploration of Demidov's evolving relationship with his wife, Raisa, as he gradually loses his "golden boy" status and questions everything he has based his career upon, is masterful. (Tidbits for thought: How much can any woman love a man who has the power to extinguish her future at will? How far can spouses be expected to go in order to save their own lives, each at the expense of the other? Why do they, or don't they?).
In addition, the book is a psychological and sensory primer on what it must have been like to live in the USSR under Stalin's rule. Smith writes in such a way as to make the reader experience the paranoia of being "found out" by one's neighbors and reported as an enemy of the state. He explains the Kafkaesque nature of the criminal justice system (all accusations of crime are fatal -- the accusation itself is decisive, since the Soviet system is perfect, and in a perfect system, there are no false accusations, etc.). Similarly, Smith's writing conveys the smell of a two-room apartment occupied by twelve people and twelve pairs of perpetually moist, slush-infused shoes with a verity that will send you to the window for a breath of air.
Smith's prose is also a powerful component of his book's success. I dare you to read the first sixteen pages of the book without reading more. If you read only one book for pleasure this summer, read this one.
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LibraryThing member icedream
How do you catch a brutal serial killer when to even admit a crime has occurred could have you murdered? This is the dilemma for Leo Demidov, a Soviet state officer. Leo was a perfect Soviet citizen, blinded to what was really going on around him until the mysterious death of a fellow officer's
It has been a while since I have read a great murder mystery/suspense book that I loved as much as Child 44. I am always captivated with a unique (to me anyway) premise and this book certainly had it. From the first chapter I was drawn into the richness of detail in Smith's writing. I love the combination of mystery and action, all of it very clever and fast-paced. There were no dry spots for me in this book, once I started I had to finish. I rate this book 5 stars and would recommend it to any fan of mystery and suspense novels. And a note to anyone who thought this was a spy novel, it's not. I found it more similar to Harlan Coben's and David Baldacci's books than John le Carre's.
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son. When Leo finally opens his eyes to the truth he and his wife become enemies of the state and must go on the run to hunt down this killer before they are captured and killed themselves.It has been a while since I have read a great murder mystery/suspense book that I loved as much as Child 44. I am always captivated with a unique (to me anyway) premise and this book certainly had it. From the first chapter I was drawn into the richness of detail in Smith's writing. I love the combination of mystery and action, all of it very clever and fast-paced. There were no dry spots for me in this book, once I started I had to finish. I rate this book 5 stars and would recommend it to any fan of mystery and suspense novels. And a note to anyone who thought this was a spy novel, it's not. I found it more similar to Harlan Coben's and David Baldacci's books than John le Carre's.
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LibraryThing member Clara53
A roller-coaster, page-turner of a book; mystery on the background of Stalinist purges.
Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 2008)
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2010)
Costa Book Awards (Shortlist — First Novel — 2008)
Audie Award (Finalist — Thriller/Suspense — 2009)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Mystery/Thriller — 2008)
Anthony Award (Nominee — First Novel — 2009)
Crime Writers' Association Awards (Shortlist — 2008)
Barry Award (Nominee — First Novel — 2009)
Indies Choice Book Award (Honor Book — 2009)
British Book Award (Winner — New Writer — 2009)
Independent Booksellers' Book Prize (Shortlist — 2009)
Waverton Good Read Award (Winner — 2008)
Dilys Award (Nominee — 2009)
International Thriller Writers Award (Winner — First Novel — 2009)
The Strand Critics Award (Winner — First Novel — 2008)
Theakstons Old Peculier Prize (Longlist — 2010)
Desmond Elliott Prize (Shortlist — 2008)
This Mystery is Amazing! (#1 — 2009)
Language
Original publication date
2008
ISBN
0446402389 / 9780446402385