Book Review for

Child 44
by Tom Rob Smith
 

A thriller that takes place in 1953 in Stalinist Russia.
Leo Demidov, a former war-hero, works for the MGB, the state security force,
when he is assigned to look into the death of a child. The parents insist their
child was murdered, but Stalinist Russia will never admit that the state could
produce a murderer of children, so Leo is ordered by his superiors to rule the
child's death as an accident. Another child is found murdered in similar
circumstances, so Leo sets out on his own to look for what now appears
to be a serial killer of children. If discovered, he could forfeit his life.

During his investigation, he is forced to spy on his beautiful wife,
Raisa, then demoted, exiled, and hunted by a former subordinate
bent on destroying him. This story is very suspenseful,
well-written, and engaging from start to finish.

A murder mystery, a political statement of the superiority
of freedom over state oppression, and a love story.
Excellent.

 
Return to "Reading for Pleasure" page