I'm impressed! Just a few weeks back, I watched the movie, “Child 44” (2015), starring Tom Hardy (who very much resembles my son, Hoyt) as Leo Demidov, and absolutely LOVED it. I have never heard of this book nor the movie, and I’m usually not into this kind of detective/investigative/thriller type genre at all. But, Tom Rob Smith did an excellent job in keeping me interested through to the very last page. In fact, he’s got a few twists in the book that didn’t come out in the movie. Surprise, surprise! You really do get the feel of what life was like under a strict totalitarian regime like in the USSR during the war. Fear, being the driving force behind the paranoia of every human behavior and action. If you want to know what it will be like living in a totalitarian run country, read this book.

The author got the idea for this novel from his research on the investigations of the MGB (the State Security Force) and the true serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo, who went around killing over 52 women and children in and around Moscow between 1978 and 1990. Smith’s research uncovered such gruesome interrogations brought down on so many innocent people by the State Security Force, but decided not to include them here in this book because he thought people wouldn’t believe it and claim he was only trying to create a shock effect. I kind of wish he would have laid it all out here. Instead, he used Camphor oil as the truth serum to get the truth from certain suspects….not as interesting or thrilling, as this novel is considered a "thriller". Although, this is said to be just a novel, I would consider it to be more of a historical novel, based on a time and era that actually existed.

It is 1953, Stalin's Russia, a time when no one was innocent, not even your best friend, whom you trust...but you must watch with mistrust. The MGB were after anyone who even slightly spoke or thought negatively against the country. Everything you said or did was noted in a suspicious nature, even things beyond your control...such as a sickness. Why were you sick at this particular time? Were you faking it? Now, you are being watched. How about a school teacher? Had to be on the good side of all students because it would take just one to go home and tell their parents what was said or done against a student. Then that teacher would be watched and sooner or later brought down. It didn’t take much. An argument between two people could find one or the other being watched. And anyone being watched would eventually be found "guilty" for something, brought in for interrogation, tortured to start revealing names of other so-called insurrectionists and killed. Once other names are spoken, then those are brought in and tortured until more names and more innocent people are brought in, and the cycle continues.

This was the job of the MGB, the political police, and Leo Demidov was an MGB rounding up innocents for interrogation. But, when the murder of a friend’s child hits close to home, and Leo later discovers other children murdered in the same fashion, he finally refuses to accept the lies of the State Security Force and feels it his duty to find out the truth and the person committing these atrocities because, after all, they were taught there is no “crime” in Russia. Leo was found out and demoted...well...that was the excuse from a subordinate who had it out for him and turned him in on information based on lies. Leo was transferred out with his wife to deplorable conditions in a small, poor town out in the country, outside of Moscow, to face the greatest of humiliations. From there, the novel becomes quite the page-turner while he attempts to hunt down this serial killer.
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List of books highly recommended by the author for further reading:
1. Man Is Wolf to Man – Janusz Bardach [memoir] (2003)
2. Gulag – Anne Applebaum (2004)
3. The Gulag Archipelago – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (2003)
4. The Harvest of Sorrow – Robert Conquest (2002)
5. Everyday Stalinism – Shelia Fitzpatrick (1999)
6. Russian Pulp – Anthony Olcott (2001) [pertaining to Russian police procedures]
7. The Uses of Terror – Boris Levytsky (1972)
8. The Killer Department – Robert Cullen (1993) [real-life navigation into the crimes of Andrei Chikatilo] ( )

There's a serial killer on the loose in post WW 2 Russia and only one man Leo Demidov, has any interest in admitting this. With paranoia of Stalin's death camps running rampant, admitting this would be declaring a flaw in "The State", most likely leading to time in the Gulags, or even worse death. Convincing people that the serial killer even exist is Leo's first problem. Trying to find people to help catch the killer is Leo's next problem. Despite the really implausible plot twist, which I wont reveal here, this was one of the most enthralling page turning novels I've read in quite awhile. Really really enjoyed it ! ( )

Un libro que engancha de principio a fin y donde no decae la historia en ningún momento, ademas de crear un ambiente muy opresivo a la altura del periodo y en país donde se ubica.

Lo que no me ha gustado es su final, por un lado demasiado apresurado y con bastantes conveniencias. Y el cierre bastante "disney" el cual no encaja dentro de la premisa que ha establecido el propio libro.

Aun así recomendado si queréis una lectura entretenida y fácil de leer. ( )

While this book was slow, it wasn't boring. It built landscape and culture around the story. It weaved understanding of the USSR's state police/security and the "big brother" nature of the everyday person. It made you understand how risky and fearful anyone outside the group-think must feel. It also told the story of family, neighbors and friends quietly protesting the brutal state power. It was so captivating and fascinating even for such a slow burn. I really enjoyed it. ( )

Estamos en la Rusia soviética, en los últimos años de Stalin. El protagonista es Leo, un miembro del MGB, la policía de seguridad del Estado. Es un antiguo héroe de guerra que ha subido rápido en el escalafón, teniendo un puesto de importancia. A ello contribuye su obediencia ciega a las órdenes que recibe, las que nunca ha cuestionado. Pero cuando le ordenan detener a un supuesto espía, que resulta ser un inocente veterinario, toda su perspectiva del mundo cae y se da cuenta de que las cosas no son como parecen. Le ponen a prueba para ver su lealtad y, no habiendo resultado satisfactoria, Leo y su mujer Raisa son exiliados a una ciudad del interior donde ha de trabajar en uno de los puestos más bajos de la milicia. Allí va a descubrir que hay un psicópata matando niños, a los que roba el estómago y llena de tierra la boca. El problema es que en Rusia los asesinos seriales "no existen", eso sólo existe en Occidente, y no se le permite investigar. Pero viendo que son muchos los niños asesinados, Leo y Raisa inician una investigación por su cuenta que, en caso de ser descubiertos, les supondrá algo muchísimo peor que el exilio: ser ejecutados.