Child 44

customer reviews

In Stalin's Soviet Union, crime does not exist. But still millions live in fear. The mere suspicion of disloyalty to the State, the wrong word at the wrong time, can send an innocent person to his execution.
Officer Leo Demidov, an idealistic war hero, believes he's building a perfect society. But after witnessing the interrogation of an innocent man, his loyalty begins to waver, and when ordered to investigate his own wife, Raisa, Leo is forced to choose where his heart truly lies.
Then the impossible happens. A murderer is on the loose, killing at will, and every belief Leo has ever held is shattered. Denounced by his enemies and exiled from home, with only Raisa by his side, he must risk everything to find a criminal that the State won't admit even exists. On the run, Leo soon discovers the danger isn't from the killer he is trying to catch, but from the country he is trying to protect.

Choose a format:
Mass Market Paperback
eBook

Choose a format:

Book details:

Simon & Schuster UK |
512 pages |
ISBN 9780857204080 |
April 2011

£7.99 List Price

Buy from another retailer:

Praise

“An amazing debut - rich, different, and thrilling.”

– Lee Child

SEE ALL PRAISE (10)

“An amazing debut - rich, different, and thrilling.”

– Lee Child
“Child 44 telegraphs the talent and class of its writer from its opening pages, transporting you back to the darkest days of post-war Soviet Russia and ruthlessly drawing you into its richly atmospheric and engrossing tale.”

– Raymond Khoury, bestselling author of The Last Templar
“This is truly a remarkable debut novel. A rare blend of great insight, excellent writing and a refreshingly original story...Favourable comparisons to Gorky Park are inevitable, but Child 44 is in a class of its own.”

– Nelson de Mille
“Child 44 contrasts the bleakness of Stalinist Russia with a love story that unexpectedly and ironically blooms only because the lovers are nearly crushed by a relentless totalitarian regime hell bent on their destruction. As a husband and wife seemingly trapped in a chilly state-endorsed marriage attempt to solve a series of brutal shild murders the government is determined not to acknowledge, they must avoid being killed themselves in a simultaneous flight and pursuit across the wintry Russian landscape. Achingly suspenseful, it's full of feeling and of the twists and turns that one expects from Le Carre at his best. It's a tale that grabes you by the throat and simply never lets you go.”

– Robert Towne, Oscar-winning screenwriter, director, and actor
“The phrase 'master storyteller' is horribly over-used. In the case of young, first-time novelist Tom Rob Smith, it simply cannot do him justice. Child 44 is not only a thriller of the highest quality - addictive, pacey, frighteningly unpredictable -- but also a magnificently written novel with far more to offer than carefully managed tension and twists.”

– Fiona Atherton, Scotsman
“A thrilling, intense piece of fiction.”

– Peter Guttridge, Observer
“Child 44 is a thrilling read from the first page”

– The Sun
“Smith is good at keeping us in suspense. He also succeeds in saying something new on a well-worn subject.”

– TLS
“A dark, intelligent book that is virtually impossible to put down.”

– Attitude
“Tense, gripping and exquisitely written, Child 44 goes on the must-read list for this year.”

– 4 stars, City A.M.