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Title details for Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith - Available

Child 44

#1 in series

by Tom Rob Smith
Dennis Boutsikaris
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available
A terrifying look at a paranoid world where no one can be trusted. A surprising, unexpected story of love and family, of hope and resilience. CHILD 44 is a thriller unlike any you have ever experienced.
Stalin's Soviet Union strives to be a paradise for its workers, providing for all of their needs. One of its fundamental pillars is that its citizens live free from the fear of ordinary crime and criminals. But in this society, millions do live in fear . . . of the State. The mere suspicion of ideological disloyalty sends millions of innocents into the Gulags or to their executions. Defending the system from its citizens is the MGB, the State Security Force. And no MGB officer is more courageous, conscientious, or idealistic than Leo Demidov.
A war hero with a beautiful wife, Leo lives in relative luxury in Moscow. His only ambition has been to serve his country. For this greater good, he has arrested and interrogated. 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, his world turned upside down, and every belief he's ever held shattered. The only way to save his life and the lives of his family 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. Exiled from his home, with only his wife remaining at his side, Leo must find and stop a criminal that the State won't admit even exists.
From the Compact Disc edition.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Leo Demidov

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    May 13, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415954539
      • File size: 357494 KB
      • Duration: 12:24:46

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from June 30, 2008
      Dennis Boutsikaris expertly conveys the fear and paranoia that permeates Smith's outstanding debut novel of murder in 1950s Stalinist Russia. Leo Demidov, decorated hero of WWII and an officer in Moscow's MGB (a forerunner of the KGB), refuses to denounce his wife as an enemy spy. He is subsequently demoted, disgraced and dispatched, along with his wife, to a backwater factory. A brutal murder with the same characteristics as one Leo was once forced to cover up convinces him that a serial killer is stalking Russian children. Using Russian accents to their full advantage, Boutsikaris infuses his characters' dialogue with a deep sense of downtrodden melancholia. His staid, deliberate reading captures the soul-numbing oppressiveness of life under a totalitarian regime, as well as one man's desperate fight against it in order to do what's right. A Grand Central hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 3).

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 3, 2008
      Set in the Soviet Union in 1953, this stellar debut from British author Smith offers appealing characters, a strong plot and authentic period detail. When war hero Leo Stepanovich Demidov, a rising star in the MGB, the State Security force, is assigned to look into the death of a child, Leo is annoyed, first because this takes him away from a more important case, but, more importantly, because the parents insist the child was murdered. In Stalinist Russia, there's no such thing as murder; the only criminals are those who are enemies of the state. After attempting to curb the violent excesses of his second-in-command, Leo is forced to investigate his own wife, the beautiful Raisa, who's suspected of being an Anglo-American sympathizer. Demoted and exiled from Moscow, Leo stumbles onto more evidence of the child killer. The evocation of the deadly cloud-cuckoo-land of Russia during Stalin's final days will remind many of Gorky Park
      and Darkness at Noon
      , but the novel remains Smith's alone, completely original and absolutely satisfying. Rights sold in more than 20 countries.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      If life in Stalinist Russia seems hard to imagine, then reading CHILD 44 will only make it even more difficult to fathom. Smith's debut novel is the chilling story of Leo Demidov, a "true believer" and war hero who simply wants to serve his country. Faced with the reality that a serial killer of children is on the loose, Leo is conflicted, and eventually demoted and exiled. Leo never gives up his search for the truth, however, with astounding results. Dennis Boutsikaris's nuanced delivery, especially his deftly varied tones, adds significantly to the book's allure and, perhaps, makes this audio version more intense than mere written words. D.J.S. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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