Books
CHILD 44
Moscow, 1953. Under Stalin’s terrifying regime, families live in fear. When the all-powerful State claims there is no such thing as crime, who dares disagree?
An ambitious secret police officer, Leo Demidov believes he’s helping to build the perfect society. But when he uncovers evidence of a killer at large – a threat the state won’t admit exists – Demidov must risk everything, including the lives of those he loves, in order to expose the truth.
But what if the danger isn’t from the killer he is trying to catch, but from the country he is fighting to protect?
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An amazing debut – rich, fully-formed, mature... and thrilling’
LEE CHILD
‘The atmosphere of paranoia and paralysing fear is brilliantly portrayed and unremittingly grim’
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
‘Child 44 is a debut novel with guts ... His mastery of suspense will make any reader’s heart pound’
FINANCIAL TIMES
‘A thrilling, intense piece of fiction’
OBSERVER
‘Astounding ...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’
SCOTSMAN
‘One of the rare pleasures of the book-reviewing trade is first hearing all sorts of advance hype about a novel and then finding out that every word was true’
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
‘A fast-paced and thought-provoking journey into a sinister world of brutal torture and a corrupt, all-controlling state’
WATERSTONE’S BOOKS QUARTERLY
‘Smith is good at keeping us in suspense. He also succeeds in saying something new on a well-worn subject’
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
‘Tightly woven ... ingeniously plotted ... a high voltage story’
NEW YORK TIMES
‘Stunning ... Smith captures the bleak Russia of 1953. The fear and mistrust engendered by the regime is palpable ... The characterisations are pinpoint accurate, leaving the reader as paranoid as the protagonists ... This is heart-stopping stuff ... It’s little wonder that Ridley Scott snapped up the film rights. There’s nothing as gripping, chilling or as intense out there’
GAY TIMES
‘Cleverly plotted, packed with chilling psychological drama and densely researched’
WALL STREET JOURNAL