Child 44 [Paperback]

The book begins very promisingly with the first chapter detailing the lives of a village on the brink of starvation in 1930s Russia. Two boys from one family go out hunting for the only piece of meat seen in the village for a long time - a cat. However, only one of the boys returned. The other has been killed.

The rest of the book is set in post-Second World War Russia where a young MGB, Leo, is hard at work doing the dirty work of the state until he is asked to deal with a colleague who suspects that his son has been murdered. There are no murders, in Soviet Russia as murders only happen in capitalist countries, so it is recorded as an accident on a railway line and Leo suggests that his colleague accepts the result. However, a series of similar child murders and a jealous rival mean that Leo's faith in the system is shattered through a series of unfortunate events. The rest of the book follows Leo's attempts to catch the murderer in a state that doesn't accept that murders can take place.

Overall, the novel is ok and deserves 4 stars. It is fast-paced and kept me engaged, without being ground breaking, from beginning to end. The ending is where I have an issue with the book. I overlooked the naivety of Leo, who as a seasoned MGB officer gets himself into some serious pickles, as it is a means to an end of keeping the story going. However, the ending is so unlikely it verges on the farcical. The series of events that combine to create the ending could and would never happen, regardless of the country that the book is set in. For this very reason, I have given the book 3 stars instead of the four I would have given it.

Having read a considerable amount of Russian history, and it having received such good reviews, I was eager to read Child 44 .
The story itself is set at a good pace and the plot unwinds nicely. The author has clearly done considerable research and taken great pains to accurately describe the various Soviet institutions encountered in the novel. Famous agencies like the MGB and buildings like Lubyanka are vividly drawn with confidence and the reader is given enough information to understand their importance in the world his characters inhabit. The comments on Soviet history occasionally feel forced and do not always flow from the narrative - on one occasion I felt as if I was reading a student's history exercise book rather than a novel - but on the whole it is done well. I give great credit to the author for conveying the paranoia and fear of Soviet life, the danger each person faced on a every day basis, and the cruel logic that the society used to torture an entire generation. Several ethical dilemmas are created which, though tragic and difficult for a modern western reader to understand, are interesting and extremely thought provoking. I liked the fact the author did not shy away from describing the dark - and rarely discussed by the West - events that happened during the Soviet period (like the great famine) and it is commendable that a novelist in the West writes about them with such honesty. The main characters, whilst believable, are not drawn well enough from the start, and I found myself unconcerned about their plight and uninterested by them towards the end. Scenes at the end comes across as mawkish and at odds with the dark subject matter. Where I feel the novel really lets itself down is the plot and the final twist. I found certain aspects of the plot to be improbable and the twist unnecessary. For this reason I found myself increasingly disinterested with the novel. Having read a considerable amount of Russian history from this period I was not convinced that the end would happen as it does. Also the novel ends abruptly and unsatisfactory - after the long build up it did not deliver the end promised.
I believe this novel would be enjoyed by people with a limited knowledge of Soviet history and its literature. I felt the novel did not live up to the good reviews it received, but it is still an enjoyable, thought provoking read, and a good starting place for anyone who wishes to learn more about this period of twentieth century history. For a first novel this is very good and I will be interested in what the young writer will produce in the future.
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I was amazed to see that this is the author's debut novel - the writing is very assured, and you know you're in the hands of a craftsman from the start.
The paranoid, shabby setting of the Soviet Union in the 1950s, still under Stalin's rule and still shadowed by the war, is beautifully done - as is the characterisation, the plotting, the sheer grip of the story.
Secret policeman and war hero Leo Demidov is Soviet Man incarnate - unswervingly loyal and unquestioning in his pursuit of the State's enemies - until a powerplay by a jealous subordinate threatens his life, and that of Raisa, his wife.
Thrown out of the MGB in disgrace and exiled to a bleak factory city in the Urals, Leo's world and beliefs are turned upside down. Then he discovers that in the Communist paradise that denies that crime is possible, there exists the worst criminal of all - a serial killer of children. He and Raisa must risk everything to pursue a terrifying killer, even if doing so makes them enemies of the State...

I understand that the author has written screenplays, and this thriller has a cinematic edge and suspense, wrapped up in very fine writing - it's one of the best I've read, and I can't recommend it highly enough. If you love thrillers, you won't be disappointed.