Product Details
Simon & Schuster UK, April 2009
eBook, 480 pages
ISBN-10: 1847398081
ISBN-13: 9781847398086
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Chapter 1
Description
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.
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.
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1. Hear Tom Rob Smith's chilling research for CHILD 4403:5661767317001 -
2. Tom Rob Smith: CHILD 4401:1516656741001 -
3. Tom Rob Smith: Tips for new writers01:1916748954001 -
4. Tom Rob Smith: The writers who influenced CHILD 4401:3716743435001 -
5. Tom Rob Smith: The Research behind CHILD 4401:3916659648001 -
6. Tom Rob Smith: Child 44 Audio Clip06:0916651462001 -
7. Tom Rob Smith: How CHILD 44 evolved01:4916653814001 -
8. Tom Rob Smith: The Influences behind CHILD 4401:4916650829001 -
9. Meet Tom Rob Smith00:593827745001
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"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.
"An excellently written account of what life was like in Stalinist Russia."
-- Evening Standard
"Smith's plain, elegant prose powerfully evokes the bleakness of the era, and sympathetic characterisation gives the story flesh without slowing the plot. Impressive stuff."
-- Lottie Moggach, thelondonpaper
"This gripping thriller has everything you could wish for in a holiday read - and more. A real page-turner, its murder mystery plot acts as a device to explore the terrible workings of Stalinism. At its heart is a kind of catch-22 whereby the Soviet state won't acknowledge murder or prostitution, allowing vice and slaughter to continue unchecked. Bleak but compelling, this is just the thing to make a long-haul flight fly by."- The 50 Best Summer Reads, Independent
Guardian.co.uk, June 25, 2010
...maybe you come away feeling happier." Although no crime novel has won the Booker in the past, Tom Rob Smith's thriller Child 44 was longlisted in 2008 – and that year's winner, Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger, follows the story of a ...
Wetherby News, June 1, 2010
...in Black, the stage adaptation of which has been running on the West End stage since 1989; and Tom Rob Smith, whose debut novel Child 44 caused a stir after being longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2008. A major accolade in the crime ...
Daily Express, May 14, 2010
...may be as dangerous to him as to those he tracks down. This sounds like the award-winning novel Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. In fact it is also the premise of William Ryans crime debut The Holy Thief and, after all, theres no reason why a ...
Associated Content, April 13, 2010
...cloak, a serial murderer can carry on his mission with very little interference. Such is the premise of Child 44. But this book is so much more than a crime novel. We learn what living in Communist Russia meant for millions of people. Fit ...
Arlington Connection, February 5, 2010
...Shogun' by James Clavell. I think he is a brilliant writer. I’m also a big fan of Tom Rob Smith’s novels, 'Child 44' and 'The Secret Speech.' I just read 'City of Thieves' by David Benioff and loved it as well. What or who inspired you ...
Livemint.com, January 29, 2010
...crime novel with a clever plot and plenty of blood and gore. I couldn’t wait to devour Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith, described by a The Times of London blurb as a “stylish, intelligent and gripping Cold War thriller” shortlisted for the ...
Cape Cod Online, January 3, 2010
...for, and didn't know it, ever since I read "Oryx and Crake." Other reading pleasures included "Child 44," by Tom Rob Smith, a murder mystery set in Stalinist Russia; "Rain Gods," another masterpiece by James Lee Burke; Jamie Ford's lovely ...
Suite101.com, December 26, 2009
...Child 44, a debut novel by Tom Rob Smith, has become an international bestseller, gathering acclaims from both Europe and the US. Readers immerse themselves into the world of the Soviet ...
stuff.co.nz, August 27, 2009
...Takapuna Library invites the public to hear acclaimed thriller writer Tom Rob Smith discuss his bestsellers Child 44 and The Secret Speech today. The British novelist is a Cambridge graduate who works as a screenwriter. Last year, Child 44, ...
Gay.com, August 6, 2009
...There?s a sci-fi geek inside Tom Rob Smith -- the author known for his hair-raising novels, 2008?s Child 44 and its sequel, The Secret Speech -- and he?s unleashing it for a film adaptation ...
Lower Hudson Online, July 5, 2009
...whatever bizarre sort of family you have, you're better off with it than without. 'The Secret Speech.' Tom Rob Smith. Grand Central. 403 pages. $24.99. In the sequel to last summer's riveting 'Child 44' - one of the best thrillers of the ...
FilmForce, June 26, 2009
...fans have necessarily heard of before. The report comes from Comics2Film, whose sources say that award-winning British novelist Tom Rob Smith has been hired on to the project. Smith's 2008 debut novel Child 44 is about a series of child ...
Animation World Network, June 25, 2009
...to '+ 'Animation Flash newsletter now at http://www.awn.com/flash.'+ ' '+ ' '+ 'Mania.com reports that Tom Rob Smith has been hired to take another stab the live-action ROBOTECH feature. The film has been in development since 2007 with ...
Forbes.com, June 8, 2009
...The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (Harcourt). -- Marisa de los Santos' Belong to Me (William Morrow). -- Tom Rob Smith's Child 44 (Grand Central Publishing). -- Ethan Canin's America America (Random House). -- Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie ...
Book Reporter, June 8, 2009
...Tom Rob Smith writes as if he is channeling the ghost of a street-level Soviet bureaucrat. Alternately, one could not be blamed if they reached the conclusion that Smith transcribes the ...
Sun Herald, June 8, 2009
...bizarre sort of family you have, you?re better off with it than without. ? ?The Secret Speech.? Tom Rob Smith. Grand Central. 403 pages. $24.99. Out now. The sequel to last summer?s riveting ?Child 44? has a lot to live up to: Smith?s ...
Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 30, 2009
...This is one of the most eagerly anticipated books of the season, and for good reason. Tom Rob Smith's debut novel, 'Child 44,' was a high-voltage blockbuster that was nothing short of sensational. In this, the sequel, he has accomplished ...
The Independent, May 12, 2009
...To say that Tom Rob Smith's debut novel, Child 44, caused something of a sensation in the crime-thriller field would be to understate the case. Here, unarguably, was a novel of striking authority ...
Coventry Telegraph, April 20, 2009
...THE author of acclaimed novel Child 44 weaves a compelling plot through the chilling world of Soviet secret police, Siberian gulags, criminal gangs and bloody revolutionaries. The detective Demidov of Child 44 returns as the unlikely ...
Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2009
...book: the Drive-By Truckers, Josh Ritter, Steve Earle and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are on his playlist. Nominee 'Child 44' by Tom Rob Smith made a surprise appearance on last year's Booker Prize long list -- surprise because the Booker ...
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, March 10, 2009
...Tremain, Diana Athill, Costa prize winner Sebastian Barry and Aravind Adiga, who picked up the 2008 Booker prize. Tom Rob Smith's thriller Child 44 gets nominations in both the newcomer and the crime thriller categories. Kate Atkinson's When ...
PRWeb, March 4, 2009
...are subplots about Aboriginal shamanism and the early days of the Australian governments genocide efforts. Academy Award nomination. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. Set in the 1950s Soviet Union, this debut suspense thriller pits MGB agent Leo ...
Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2009
...the North'Rick Wartzman, '' Mystery/Thriller:Colin Harrison, 'The Finder'Michael Koryta, 'Envy the Night'Simon Lewis, ''Nina Revoyr, ''Tom Rob Smith, 'Child 44' PoetryFrank Bidart, 'Watching the Spring Festival: Poems'Jorie Graham, 'Sea ...
Tom Rob Smith's Books
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The Secret SpeechThe hotly anticipated follow-up to Tom Rob Smith's widely celebrated, Booker-longlisted debut novel Child 44Read More
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