Controversially, and in my opinion inappropriately, long-listed for the Man Booker and appropriately short-listed for the Costa 1st Novel award (used to be the Whitbread), the Desmond Elliot prize and winner of the Crime Writers’ Association Ian Fleming award, this is a cracking good serial killer tale set in Stalin’s 1950’s Russia. It is certainly one of the best intelligent new thrillers I have read in a long time. Atmospheric, dark, evocative of the period and era, the gradual change in our hero is beautifully handled, as is the slow build in an intriguing plot. You must read it. We also have an exclusive pre-publication extract from his new book The Secret Speech, so be one of the first to read a chapter before it's published.
February 2009 Book of the Month.
Longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2010.
Winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2008.
Winner of the Galaxy New Writer of the Year 2009.
Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2008.Costa Book Awards 2008 Judges' comment: "This gripping, unputdownable thriller is an exciting new addition to the genre."
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 5 March 2009.
Comparison: Martin Cruz Smith, Robert Harris, John Le Carré.
| Primary Genre | Thriller and Suspense |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
Win an Escape Challenge and a copy of The Spy and the Snake by M J Robotham
Closing date: 02/08/2026
In Stalin's Soviet Union, crime does not exist. But still millions live in fear. The mere suspicion of disloyalty to the State, the wrong word at the wrong time, can send an innocent person to his execution.
Officer Leo Demidov, an idealistic war hero, believes he's building a perfect society. But after witnessing the interrogation of an innocent man, his loyalty begins to waver, and when ordered to investigate his own wife, Raisa, Leo is forced to choose where his heart truly lies.
Then the impossible happens. A murderer is on the loose, killing at will, and every belief Leo has ever held is shattered. Denounced by his enemies and exiled from home, with only Raisa by his side, he must risk everything to find a criminal that the State won't admit even exists. On the run, Leo soon discovers the danger isn't from the killer he is trying to catch, but from the country he is trying to protect.
Child 44 features in the following genres: Thriller and Suspense, Action Adventure, Crime and Mystery, Debut Books of the Month, Debuts, eBooks of the Month, Books of the Month, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
Child 44 is available in Paperback, Hardback
Child 44 was written by Tom Rob Smith and published by Pocket
Child 44 has 484 pages
