How do you track a killer in a society that won't admit he exists...? (Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith)

Member Name: sparkymarky1973

Product:	Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith
Date:	23/08/09 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gripping and very historically believable, a great cold-war crime thriller

Disadvantages: Some of the tense moments stretch credubility at times... climax a tad predictable

The stunning debut novel from author Tom Rob Smith, who has just recently had his follow-up novel, The Secret Speech, released in this country, Child 44 is a political thriller with a difference. It follows the investigation by MGB Officer, Leo Demidov into a series of child murders committed in a country where crime does not officially exist. It is the late '50's in Soviet Russia, at the end of Stalin's reign, and everyone is encouraged to believe in and propogate the myth that they are living in the perfect model society. This, even as innocent people are everyday snatched from the streets and forced to confess their anti-communist intentions on the flimsiest of evidence and often mere heresay. Into this chapter of history, we are introduced to Leo who has been encouraged to convince a fellow officer that his son's death was an accident following an incident with a train. This despite his colleague's insistence that there are witnesses that his son's body was not found as described in the Official Party Report. Of course, none of the witnesses are willing to colloborate this and refuse to make anything official for fear they may be made an example of and Leo walks away convinced his fellow Officer has been merely rendered delusional through grief.

He returns to his pursuit of an Enemy Of The State who, in his absence, has done a runner. Forced to give chase in order to save face, Leo finds himself quickly at odds with one of the men under his command who has ambitions of his own that do not include Leo. And when their target is apprehended, Leo becomes slowly convinced that their suspect might well be innocent. An opinion his subordinate does not share and is eager to disprove. Returning to Moscow, and following a very intense interrogation, Leo finds his own wife implicated in a conspiracy against the goverment and all he believes in and his loyalty is put to the test. Refusing to charge his wife with treason, and knowing full well the consequences of his actions, Leo becomes disgraced and is ostracized to a lowly position out in the back country. And it is there he learns of another child's body found in similar conditions to that, allegedly, of his former colleague's son.....and there may even be more....

Rejected by everything he has ever believed in, forced to readdress everything he has ever been taught about The State and forced to go against orders to the contrary, Leo realises it is up to him alone to track a killer no one will ever admit exists. For if Stalin's perfect society can create a killer, how can it possibly be any better than that of the Capitalist West? Hunted by his own people and hindered at every turn, Leo must fight against the odds to solve a crime that can never be acknowledged and idenify a killer who has everything on his side. The result ~ a truly original, well thought-out and cleverly crafted thriller that has echoes of Martin Cruz Smith and equally uses similar ideas explored in Robert Harris' Fatherland.

Though at times some of Leo's exploits come close to stretching credubility, just how many times CAN he escape his own people by the narrowest of margins, still this a great portrayal of a society that actually existed ~ albeit long before most of our life-times. The feeling of paranoia and tension shown here echo the things I have read about fellow communist Mao's regime and never fail to send little shivers of terror down the spine. After all, this kind of society could never exist now, could it? True, at times the story feels a little convienient and the plot devices a little too Hollywood cliff-hanger, and is it any coincidence that this book has already been commissioned for a film project by Director Ridley Scott of Bladerunner and Gladiator fame, still this is a gripping read inspired by the tale of a true-life child murderer who left more than sixty victims in his wake across the vast continent of Russia. Nominated for the Man Booker Prize, the opening pages are full of critical praise and acclaim and though all this hype might put off some readers, all of it bar none is justified. Rob Smith's writing style is fairly easy and the plot never becomes too bogged down by the historical facts of the era whilst still managing to educate as well as entertain and the only fault I had was the way Smith characterises his speech.

Whenever a character talks, his words are put into italiacs with no evidence of speech-marks and it is only a small thing, but I did find this more than a little distracting and overly annoying right through to the end of the novel! True it is a slight niggle but enough to make me want to drop this otherwise cracking novel a star. And that is a shame, as if anything deserves five stars it is this but I'm afraid something that troubled me that much continousally can not be ignored. This aside, Child 44 is an astounding novel, a real page-turner, that is worth picking up even if "this sort of thing is not normally my cup of tea!"

Think a better version of Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko and you will get a good idea what to expect. Leo Demidov is an uneasy hero at times and strangely rather niave but by the end of the novel, you will certainly be rooting for this unlikliest of good men. And the good thing is, if you like this he returns for The Secret Speech which looks back at Leo's life before Child 44 and will explore what lies ahead for the future of Russia's Secret Police following the death of Stalin and the gradual collapse of a society as all in Russiance knew and accepted. Personally, I'm quite looking forward to that and, after this, I am confident you will be too.....

Summary: A killer stalks Soviet Russia but is unintentionally shielded by The State in it's blinkered beliefs