Having read and loved Tom Rob Smith's debut novel Child 44, I had no doubt I'd be reading the follow-up novel The Secret Speech. The Secret Speech takes us back to 1950's Russia where former Secret Police Officer Leo Demidov lives with his wife Raisa and the two young girls they adopted. The young girls have not forgiven him for his part in their parents murder. It seems they're not the only ones who haven't forgiven Leo... Stalin's successor Khrushchev has written a secret speech and it is distributed to the nation. The speech denounces Stalin as a murderer and, as such, the police are now enemies. With someone intent on revenge, Leo finds himself and his ...  Read the complete review

This sequel to bestselling thriller Child 44 is something of an unfortunate disappointment. Readers of my reviews will recall that the first novel recounted the investigation by MGB Officer Leo Dormidov into a series of child murders, hampered by the Stalinist society that strived to insist that there was no crime. Betrayed at every step by his colleagues and forced to lead his investigation in his own time in secret, constantly facing opposition from his superiors, Leo nonetheless proved he was correct and that a murderer was managing to slip through the system which in turn lead to him getting a promotion of sorts. Now, Leo has his own department dedicated to tracking .  Read the complete review