Book Review: Child 44

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Hello Enthusiasts,

Child 44 is a historical thriller written by Tom Rob Smith, set in Stalin's Soviet Union. The story follows Soviet operative Leo Demidov as he attempts to solve the murders of several children. However, Soviet Russia refuses to acknowledge that their society is anything less than perfect, so even admitting that there's a murderer out there would be to go against the State. Leo decides to pursue this on his own and ends up having to face some serious consequences from the State. Without giving anything away, there's a good twist as to who the killer ends up being.

This is actually the first book in a series of three, and it is by far the strongest title. Smith's writing is engaging, and I was surprised by the historical accuracy. As an agent of the State, Leo isn't really a police officer, since the State is so perfect nobody would want to commit crime (that's the company line at least). Instead, his job is to find westerners and those who have been corrupted by western influence. Those that he catches, and he catches almost everyone he pursues, end up facing torture before execution. I found this set up to be particularly clever, as it allows Leo to be an officer of the law, despite there not being the same kind of formal police force that readers might be familiar with.

I would say that one of the best aspects of this book is how it captures the paranoia of Stalin's Soviet Union. Anyone in the story will turn on anyone else and call them a traitor if there's any evidence to support it at all. The government encourages people to keep an eye on their neighbors and to report them, with the possibility of some reward for doing so. The reader can almost feel the fear that everyone must be living in within the society. This fear is best represented by Leo's wife, Rita, though to go into the details of why would give away a little too much of the story.

While the book is overall a page-turner, be ready for some chapters that are straight exposition. The crashing halt of action and detective work really slows the momentum that Smith works to build. The exposition is far from useless, a lot of it ends up greatly altering the course of the story, but the dialogue is dry.

When it's all said and done, Child 44 is an interesting story with a compelling mystery and surprising historical accuracy. There is a film adaptation of this book as well, though I have yet to see it, but I can only hope it holds up to the book. While it's not flawless, I would still recommend this to anyone I could see enjoying a historical thriller.

I give Child 44 an 8 out of 10

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast