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.
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