Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith - Revision history

Sue at 10:23, 8 August 2020

2020-08-08T10:23:48Z

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2018-03-02T10:00:46Z

Sue at 07:15, 21 May 2015

2015-05-21T07:15:39Z

Sue at 14:49, 21 December 2014

2014-12-21T14:49:59Z

Sue at 14:34, 8 September 2012

2012-09-08T14:34:58Z

Keith: 1 revision

2009-10-24T17:55:21Z

1 revision

Keith at 15:46, 19 June 2009

2009-06-19T15:46:05Z

New review

{{infobox
|title=Child 44
|author=Tom Rob Smith
|reviewer=Dan Hooper
|genre=Crime
|summary=A flawed but engaging detective thriller, which will almost certainly make a great movie.
|rating=4
|buy=No
|borrow=Yes
|format=Paperback
|pages=482
|publisher= Pocket Books Ltd
|date=February 2009
|isbn=978-1847391599
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847391591</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0446402389</amazonus>
}}

Leo is a hero after World War 2 and a successful agent in the MGB; a man unquestioningly loyal to his mother Russia, despite having to do questionable duties, until he discovers a mistake in the system and is powerless to do anything. He makes a vindictive and vicious enemy of the lower ranking but ambitious officer Vasili, a man whom Leo humiliates. Meanwhile, his wife Raisa is named as a spy and Leo's loyalty is tested. In the aftermath of the scandal, Leo's life is turned upside down and he is demoted and sent into exile in Southern Russia as a lowly militia man, where he discovers a series of child murders that the state has tried to cover up.

Tom Rob Smith's ''Child 44'' is a tale of one man in a corrupt system and his fight to do the right thing. The protagonist Leo is a communist Jack Bauer, a man who will sacrifice himself for the greater good, a conflicted man with a decent moral sense. Sadly as a direct result of his attempts at doing right, sometimes things have a knock on negative effect, a fact which does not escape Leo's attention – for example, after the murder of a young boy, Leo tries to organise a man hunt for the killer, but the homosexual population of a town is named and disgraced. The dynamic between Leo and Raisa is interesting as their marriage is revealed as a loveless sham, which neither is brave enough to leave. In a climate where friends and family could disappear without trace or investigation, their marriage is one based on fear and Raisa both loathes her husband and fears his position in the MGB.

Unfortunately this is where decent characterisation ends. Antagonist Visili is a comically Machiavellian figure of evil menace lacking redeeming features, while the child killer's motivations are crude at best, even though he's based on a genuine serial killer. As Leo's boss in the militia, Nesterov seems to transform himself much too quickly from enemy to ally of Leo. Other than the ticket office clerk Aleksandr, a young man with a secret, most of the supporting characters are too one dimensional to remember.

Smith's writing style is easy to read with the book having a natural flow to it. A sense of fear and depression is maintained and attention to detail is paid to the setting and era. Despite this Child 44 never truly conjures the sense of being in Soviet Russia; written in the third-person omniscient form, it sometimes reads like a commentary by an outsider, with references to Soviet Russia feeling unnatural thus keeping the reader detached from the setting, something which could have been avoided with use of better descriptions or a first-person narrative.

A flawed but interesting debut from Smith, ''Child 44'' remains a detective story that grips like a vice and is a real page turner, thanks to a very readable writing style and an interesting protagonist. Though the book goes a twist too far, with the ending seeming more at home in a Hollywood thriller (it is no surprise that it has already been optioned by Ridley Scott), fans of the detective thriller genre will be satisfied.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

If you enjoy this type of book you'll probably also like [[The Blue Zone by Andrew Gross]] or [[Fatherland by Robert Harris]].

{{toptentext|list=Costa Book Awards 2008}}

{{toptentext|list=Independent Booksellers' Prize 2009}}

{{amazontext|amazon=1847391591}}

{{commenthead}}
{{comment
|name=Paul Curd
|verb=said
|comment= While I agree with much of Dan’s critique, I feel I must offer a slightly different view. Rather than never truly conjuring the sense of being in Soviet Russia, I found the sense of time and place one of the outstanding strengths of this novel. Not only does Smith paint a brilliantly evoked picture of the Stalinist Soviet Union, he uses his hero, a fundamentally good man who is part of a fundamentally evil system, to explore in more detail how the State controlled the lives of ordinary people. It is like Orwell making Winston Smith a member of the Thought Police. Smith (the author) manages to capture the overwhelming sense of day-to-day paranoia in Stalinist Russia and the effects this has on love, friendship and trust, the way it can so easily turn them into hatred and betrayal.

To me, Leo’s nemesis, Vasili, is a perfect example of this. His initial admiration for Leo (possibly verging on a necessarily suppressed homosexual desire, punishable by death in Stalin’s Russia) turns to vicious hatred because of the system. Rather than being a comically Machiavellian figure, I found him a complex character, deftly drawn with subtle hints and nuances. In fact, I thought the whole novel was infused with a subtlety unusual in a straightforward thriller. The relationship between Leo and his reluctant wife, Raisa, is a brilliantly evoked example.

The plain simplicity of Smith's prose drives the narrative relentlessly forward. As Leo pursues the killer, pursued himself by Vasili, the novel works perfectly as a tightly-plotted thriller. But it also works on a different level, with its examination of a totalitarian society and its effect on human relationships, and I for one am not surprised that this book was a contender for both the Booker and Costa prizes.
}}

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 }}
-Leo is a hero after World War 2 and a successful agent in the MGB; a man unquestioningly loyal to his mother Russia, despite having to do questionable duties, until he discovers a mistake in the system and is powerless to do anything. He makes a vindictive and vicious enemy of the lower ranking but ambitious officer Vasili, a man whom Leo humiliates. Meanwhile, his wife Raisa is named as a spy and Leo's loyalty is tested. In the aftermath of the scandal, Leo's life is turned upside down and he is demoted and sent into exile in Southern Russia as a lowly militia man, where he discovers a series of child murders that the state has tried to cover up.
+Leo is a hero after World War 2 and a successful agent in the MGB; a man unquestioningly loyal to his mother Russia, despite having to do questionable duties, until he discovers a mistake in the system and is powerless to do anything. He makes a vindictive and vicious enemy of the lower-ranking but ambitious officer Vasili, a man whom Leo humiliates. Meanwhile, his wife Raisa is named as a spy and Leo's loyalty is tested. In the aftermath of the scandal, Leo's life is turned upside down and he is demoted and sent into exile in Southern Russia as a lowly militiaman, where he discovers a series of child murders that the state has tried to cover up.
-Tom Rob Smith's ''Child 44'' is a tale of one man in a corrupt system and his fight to do the right thing.  The protagonist Leo is a communist Jack Bauer, a man who will sacrifice himself for the greater good, a conflicted man with a decent moral sense.  Sadly as a direct result of his attempts at doing right, sometimes things have a knock on negative effect, a fact which does not escape Leo's attention – for example, after the murder of a young boy, Leo tries to organise a man hunt for the killer, but the homosexual population of a town is named and disgraced.  The dynamic between Leo and Raisa is interesting as their marriage is revealed as a loveless sham, which neither is brave enough to leave.  In a climate where friends and family could disappear without trace or investigation, their marriage is one based on fear and Raisa both loathes her husband and fears his position in the MGB.
+Tom Rob Smith's ''Child 44'' is a tale of one man in a corrupt system and his fight to do the right thing.  The protagonist Leo is a communist Jack Bauer, a man who will sacrifice himself for the greater good, a conflicted man with a decent moral sense.  Sadly as a direct result of his attempts at doing right, sometimes things have a knock-on negative effect, a fact which does not escape Leo's attention – for example, after the murder of a young boy, Leo tries to organise a manhunt for the killer, but the homosexual population of a town is named and disgraced.  The dynamic between Leo and Raisa is interesting as their marriage is revealed as a loveless sham, which neither is brave enough to leave.  In a climate where friends and family could disappear without trace or investigation, their marriage is one based on fear and Raisa both loathes her husband and fears his position in the MGB.
-Unfortunately this is where decent characterisation ends.  Antagonist Visili is a comically Machiavellian figure of evil menace lacking redeeming features, while the child killer's motivations are crude at best, even though he's based on a genuine serial killer.  As Leo's boss in the militia, Nesterov seems to transform himself much too quickly from enemy to ally of Leo.  Other than the ticket office clerk Aleksandr, a young man with a secret, most of the supporting characters are too one dimensional to remember.
+Unfortunately, this is where decent characterisation ends.  Antagonist Visili is a comically Machiavellian figure of evil menace lacking redeeming features, while the child killer's motivations are crude at best, even though he's based on a genuine serial killer.  As Leo's boss in the militia, Nesterov seems to transform himself much too quickly from enemy to an ally of Leo.  Other than the ticket office clerk Aleksandr, a young man with a secret, most of the supporting characters are too one dimensional to remember.
-Smith's writing style is easy to read with the book having a natural flow to it. A sense of fear and depression is maintained and attention to detail is paid to the setting and era.  Despite this Child 44 never truly conjures the sense of being in Soviet Russia; written in the third-person omniscient form, it sometimes reads like a commentary by an outsider, with references to Soviet Russia feeling unnatural thus keeping the reader detached from the setting, something which could have been avoided with use of better descriptions or a first-person narrative.
+Smith's writing style is easy to read with the book having a natural flow to it. A sense of fear and depression is maintained and attention to detail is paid to the setting and era.  Despite this Child 44 never truly conjures the sense of being in Soviet Russia; written in the third-person omniscient form, it sometimes reads like a commentary by an outsider, with references to Soviet Russia feeling unnatural thus keeping the reader detached from the setting, something which could have been avoided with the use of better descriptions or a first-person narrative.
-A flawed but interesting debut from Smith, ''Child 44'' remains a detective story that grips like a vice and is a real page turner, thanks to a very readable writing style and an interesting protagonist.  Though the book goes a twist too far, with the ending seeming more at home in a Hollywood thriller (it is no surprise that it has already been optioned by Ridley Scott), fans of the detective thriller genre will be satisfied.
+A flawed but interesting debut from Smith, ''Child 44'' remains a detective story that grips like a vice and is a real page-turner, thanks to a very readable writing style and an interesting protagonist.  Though the book goes a twist too far, with the ending seeming more at home in a Hollywood thriller (it is no surprise that it has already been optioned by Ridley Scott), fans of the detective thriller genre will be satisfied.  You might also enjoy [[A Killing Winter by Tom Callaghan]].
 I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 |name=Paul Curd
 |verb=said
-|comment= While I agree with much of Dan’s critique, I feel I must offer a slightly different view. Rather than never truly conjuring the sense of being in Soviet Russia, I found the sense of time and place one of the outstanding strengths of this novel. Not only does Smith paint a brilliantly evoked picture of the Stalinist Soviet Union, he uses his hero, a fundamentally good man who is part of a fundamentally evil system, to explore in more detail how the State controlled the lives of ordinary people. It is like Orwell making Winston Smith a member of the Thought Police. Smith (the author) manages to capture the overwhelming sense of day-to-day paranoia in Stalinist Russia and the effects this has on love, friendship and trust, the way it can so easily turn them into hatred and betrayal.
+|comment= While I agree with much of Dan’s critique, I feel I must offer a slightly different view. Rather than never truly conjuring the sense of being in Soviet Russia, I found the sense of time and place one of the outstanding strengths of this novel. Not only does Smith paint a brilliantly evoked picture of the Stalinist Soviet Union, he uses his hero, a fundamentally good man who is part of a fundamentally evil system, to explore in more detail how the State-controlled the lives of ordinary people. It is like Orwell making Winston Smith a member of the Thought Police. Smith (the author) manages to capture the overwhelming sense of day-to-day paranoia in Stalinist Russia and the effects this has on love, friendship and trust, the way it can so easily turn them into hatred and betrayal.
 To me, Leo’s nemesis, Vasili, is a perfect example of this. His initial admiration for Leo (possibly verging on a necessarily suppressed homosexual desire, punishable by death in Stalin’s Russia) turns to vicious hatred because of the system. Rather than being a comically Machiavellian figure, I found him a complex character, deftly drawn with subtle hints and nuances. In fact, I thought the whole novel was infused with a subtlety unusual in a straightforward thriller. The relationship between Leo and his reluctant wife, Raisa, is a brilliantly evoked example.
@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 |name=Liz Goodwill
 |verb= said
-|comment=Maybe this is an "old" book, but as its recently been put into film format, it has only just come to my attention. The synopsis is a little baffling, not really designed to encourage the reader, to read what is in effect an exceptionally well written book. The descriptions of soviet life, from housing, to clothes to social standing are exceptional, but not "patronising" in the belief than non russians wouldnt understand. The plot, based on one of russia's most infamous murderers, is expertly woven into the main characters lives., into peoples conception of Russia in that era. Whilst the first few chapters seem a little "bogged" down , with rhetoric, there is something about this book, that then "grabs" you and leaves you with not wanting to put down until finished!. I thoroughly enjoyed it, gasped, shed a few tears, and as a consequence, bought the follow up books, and a "stand alone" novel by the same author.
+|comment=Maybe this is an "old" book, but as its recently been put into film format, it has only just come to my attention. The synopsis is a little baffling, not really designed to encourage the reader, to read what is in effect an exceptionally well-written book. The descriptions of soviet life, from housing to clothes to social standing are exceptional, but not "patronising" in the belief than non-russians wouldn't understand. The plot, based on one of Russia's most infamous murderers, is expertly woven into the lives of the main characters., into peoples conception of Russia in that era. Whilst the first few chapters seem a little "bogged" down, with rhetoric, there is something about this book, that then "grabs" you and leaves you with not wanting to put down until finished!. I thoroughly enjoyed it, gasped, shed a few tears, and as a consequence, bought the follow-up books, and a "stand-alone" novel by the same author.
 }}
 [[Category:Thrillers]]

@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 The plain simplicity of Smith's prose drives the narrative relentlessly forward. As Leo pursues the killer, pursued himself by Vasili, the novel works perfectly as a tightly-plotted thriller. But it also works on a different level, with its examination of a totalitarian society and its effect on human relationships, and I for one am not surprised that this book was a contender for both the Booker and Costa prizes.
 }}
 [[Category:Thrillers]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:34, 8 September 2012
Line 47:		Line 47:
	The plain simplicity of Smith's prose drives the narrative relentlessly forward. As Leo pursues the killer, pursued himself by Vasili, the novel works perfectly as a tightly-plotted thriller. But it also works on a different level, with its examination of a totalitarian society and its effect on human relationships, and I for one am not surprised that this book was a contender for both the Booker and Costa prizes.		The plain simplicity of Smith's prose drives the narrative relentlessly forward. As Leo pursues the killer, pursued himself by Vasili, the novel works perfectly as a tightly-plotted thriller. But it also works on a different level, with its examination of a totalitarian society and its effect on human relationships, and I for one am not surprised that this book was a contender for both the Booker and Costa prizes.
	}}		}}
		+	[[Category:Thrillers]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{infobox
+{{infobox1
 |title=Child 44
 |author=Tom Rob Smith
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 |date=February 2009
 |isbn=978-1847391599
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847391591</amazonuk>
+|cover=1847391591
-|amazonus=<amazonus>0446402389</amazonus>
+|aznuk=1847391591
 }}

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 |buy=No
 |borrow=Yes
 |pages=482
 |publisher= Pocket Books Ltd
@@ Line 36: / Line 35: @@
 {{amazontext|amazon=1847391591}}
 {{commenthead}}

← Older revision	Revision as of 17:55, 24 October 2009
(No difference)