Child 44

By: Tom Rob Smith

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award, Thriller and Suspense, 2009

Thriller Award Winner, Best First Novel, 2009

It is a society that is, officially, a paradise. Superior to the decadent West, Stalin's Soviet Union is a haven for its citizens, providing for all of their needs: education, health care, security. In exchange, all that is required is their hard work, and their loyalty and faith to the Soviet State.

Leo Demidov knows this better than most. A rising, prominent officer in the State Security force, Leo is a former war hero whose only ambition is to serve his country. To defend this workers' paradise - and to guarantee a secure life for his parents and for his wife, Raisa - Leo has spent his career guarding against threats to the State. Ideological crimes - crimes of thought, crimes of disloyalty, crimes against the revolution - are forcefully suppressed, without question.

And then the impossible happens. A different kind of criminal - a murderer - is on the loose, killing at will. At the same time, Leo finds himself demoted and denounced by his enemies, all but sentenced to death. The only way to salvage what remains of his life is to uncover this criminal. But in a society that is officially paradise, it's a crime against the state to suggest that a murderer - much less a serial killer - is in their midst.

To save his life and the lives of his family, Leo must confront the vast resources and reach of the security forces, with only Raisa remaining at his side, to find and stop a criminal that the State won't even admit exists.

©2008 Tom Rob Smith (P)2008 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Child 44 is a remarkable debut novel - inventive, edgy and relentlessly gripping from the first page to the last." (Scott Turow)

Interesting story

Loved the twists and the s in the plot as well as the character relationships. Well narrated too

Best of the Year

This is the best book I've read/listened to this year, including the 3rd book in Stieg Larsson's trilogy. The plot comes entirely from the characters -- no deus ex machina. The characters grow and develop. The changes in Russia from WW II, to Stalinism, to post-stalinism create villains and heroes, but the lines get blurred in this utterly credible book. Shows how evil takes hold of us, but then how the struggle against it empowers us. Great young author and the reader is superb, turning the book into a drama with his voice. I want to read this author's next book (already available in paperbook) but I'm torn -- I really want to hear it read by this same narrator. I hope Audible gets it soon.

AMAZING!!!!

There is no other word to discribe this book.

Amazement!

This book will hold your interest from start to finish! Very well written and very well narrated! I was entrapped in the narrators voice and accent. It set the scene wonderfully for the time and place in the book. The book was very easy to get lost in. So many story lines that would come up and leave you a bit confused, only to later be blended with the main story and make perfect sense. This book kept me on the edge of my seat with every moment that passed and I never wanted to turn it off. The story was so well written I often got lost in the book and felt a part of it, it was hard to distinguish story and reality, a very large fete for being a different era. I am looking forward to finishing out the series.

character voices all the same

it was a great story andthe narration parts were good and clear but when the characters spoke they all sounded the same, no variation.

Impressive

Honestly I purchased this book because it was on sale but I was pleasantly surprised by the plot and the author's story telling skill. His writing was so descriptive without dragging too much that I almost felt that I was watching a movie. I also like the Russian accent the narrator spoke, which added more character to each person. The degree of completeness is quite high and I am sure someone will make a movie out of this book.

Fun story, terrible narrator

The audio's butchering of common Russian names drove me bonkers (pronouncing Russian names by what I have to assume are Spanish rules?), and the bad Russian accent (why bother?) for dialogue didn't help. The story itself was bleak but engaging. Felt a *bit* like anti-communist propaganda at times with how hard it drove home the corruption/misery angle, but eh. It made for a decent setting for the story.

enjoyable, but a preposterous plot

A fun read, but a totally unbelievable story. Can't say much more than that. sorry!

Intriguing thriller

Somehow embedding a horrifying crime within a perhaps more horrifying society, Smith recreates the world of Post-Stalin Russia. The repression, misery, and suffering of the people who had survived the Great War infuses one man’s efforts to bring a killer to justice. We experience his frustration and squirm under the constant threats he faces in just trying to survive in a vicious autocracy.

First of a series of three books following these characters by a terrific master of the genre.

Based on a Real Serial Killer

This is the best book I've read in years. I have practically forced many of my friends to read it and they all loved it too. In the midst of those recommendations, I wanted to read it again. I listened to it instead and was not disappointed. I appreciate that the narrator does not over do it with his Russian accents. I didn't love the sound effects /music, but it wasn't heavy handed.
As for the story, I have never read anything with more twists that actually surprised me. Tom Smith sets up the story very well and the characters are brilliantly written, even in passing.
One of my friends sent me a link for The Romanov Ripper and this is based on a real serial killer who operated with almost no opposition because of Russia ' s utopian myth. Facinating.