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Child 44 (Mass Market Paperback)

by Tom Rob Smith (Author)

3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Price:	CDN$ 9.50 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
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Product Details

Mass Market Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 1 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446402397
ISBN-13: 978-0446402392
Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.2 x 3 cm
Shipping Weight: 273 g

Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #1,141 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#46 in Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Dennis Boutsikaris expertly conveys the fear and paranoia that permeates Smith's outstanding debut novel of murder in 1950s Stalinist Russia. Leo Demidov, decorated hero of WWII and an officer in Moscow's MGB (a forerunner of the KGB), refuses to denounce his wife as an enemy spy. He is subsequently demoted, disgraced and dispatched, along with his wife, to a backwater factory. A brutal murder with the same characteristics as one Leo was once forced to cover up convinces him that a serial killer is stalking Russian children. Using Russian accents to their full advantage, Boutsikaris infuses his characters' dialogue with a deep sense of downtrodden melancholia. His staid, deliberate reading captures the soul-numbing oppressiveness of life under a totalitarian regime, as well as one man's desperate fight against it in order to do what's right. A Grand Central hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 3). (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Review

"Smith's pacing is relentless; readers wanting to put the book down for a brief rest may find themselves persevering regardless. Expect the same kind of critical acclaim for this compelling tale that greeted the publication of Martin Cruz Smith's Gorky Park (1981) more than 25 years ago...a very, very good read. Don't miss it." (Starred BOOKLIST )

"A debut novel from a shockingly talented 28-year-old Brit...Nerve-wracking pace and atmosphere...Smashing." (Starred KIRKUS )

"Stellar debut...completely original and absolutely satisfying." (Starred PUBLISHERS WEEKLY )

"This is a truly remarkable debut novel. CHILD 44 is a rare blend of great insight, excellent writing, and a refreshingly original story. Favorable comparisons to Gorky Park are inevitable, but CHILD 44 is in a class of its own." (Nelson Demille )

"Achingly suspenseful, full of feeling and of the twists and turns that one expects from le Carré at his best, CHILD 44 is a tale as fierce as any Russian wolf. It grabs you by the throat and never lets you go." (Robert Towne )

"An amazing debut--rich, different, fully-formed, mature...and thrilling." (Lee Child )

"CHILD 44 is a remarkable debut novel-inventive, edgy, and relentlessly gripping from the first page to the last." (Scott Turow )

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Give The Hype A Rest, May 12 2008

By	taking a rest - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Child 44 (Hardcover)

The following are true; Mr. Smith is a talented young writer who has written a very good first book. He did his homework and lists as resources authors who have among them a winner of The Nobel Prize.
Reality check; he may someday enter the lists of writers that include John LeCarrre and other notables of this genre however he is not there at present and based on what I have read of this man I think he would be the last to suggest it. This work is a solid debut; it is not the greatest work since Guttenberg began his printing press.
I dont know where the line is drawn between fiction and historical fiction. The author moved the events that truly took place in the 1980s to Stalins 1950s when the stakes were much higher for someone who dared to risk opposing the State. That may be an understatement as Stalin presided over one of the most murderous, repressive cults of personality in History.
The story required a primary character that went through an about face in his beliefs and personal conduct. I found this to be a stretch based on the events in the book. As part of The MGB Leo Demidov zealously and actively engaged in horrific behavior based upon his State-Based conditioning. I found his change as a character too extreme to accept as a reader even though the author used Khrushchevs arrival to buttress the closing events of the book. I thought it made for an ending that was a bit too bright for 1950s Russia.
I really did enjoy the unwinding of the motivation for the serial killer. I cannot say much as it would spoil the tale for readers to come. I found it unique among the stories of its type. And unlike others I did not find there were any contrived gotcha moments or gratuitous twists in the book.
The book is an enjoyable read. It is also the authors first book. He is likely to write and grow and give readers finer work as he develops his talent. Talking of any authors first work in superlatives is unfair and unrealistic.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Closer to 4.5 stars, Nov 4 2009

By	Living Away (East Coast, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child 44 (Hardcover)

Surprisingly good. It's tight and fast-paced and gives a glimpse into a repressed culture in a repressed era. It could have had the feel of a history or anti-soviet lesson but managed to avoid that lecture-y feel.

Coming from our modern liberal world, it's hard not to wonder how anyone lived in that kind of repression, and how anyone managed to get anything done...

It's fiction but how much of it could have been true? Were/are there serial killers in countries that weren't/aren't caught because the government doesn't acknowledge their existence? Will we ever know?

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1.0 out of 5 stars Yet another bad buy, Aug 1 2009

By	Traveller - See all my reviews

I should have learned after reading the first Tom Rob Smith effort. This novel is full of cliches, overwrought language, and one-dimensional characters. Transforming it to a script for a two-star action movie wouldn't take much work.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping and chilling
I picked Child 44 up one day and knew nothing about the book but the cover caught my interest and the blurb on the back cover intrigued me. Read more

Published 6 months ago by David C. Halkett

5.0 out of 5 stars first rate thriller
This is a great thriller and an amazing debut novel. All sorts of well-researched historical details in a rarely written about time -- Stalinist Russia. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Marsha Skrypuch

5.0 out of 5 stars Child 44 is A-1
OK, this is his FIRST book. And with his FIRST book he crafts a stunning historical thriller, a murder mystery that is incredibly smart, and a human journey of change and... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Dave and Joe