Into the Stacks - Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

Child 44

by Tom Rob Smith

Published April 2008

The truth can kill you! Especially in Stalinist Russia where even a hint of disloyalty will get you twenty-five years of hard labor, execution by firing squad, or worse -the train ride to the Gulags.

Leo Stepanovich Demidov is a War Hero. He is an MGB officer proud to serve Stalin and protect the State. He finds traitors and brings them to justice by any means necessary. He doesn't question his orders, he's a brave soldier, a loyal Russian, he serves the "greater good" - that of the State. But what if the State is lying? What if the State isn't protecting its people but just its power? Leo is going to find out the truth, about himself, and the State.

This novel is a nail biter! Love suspense, action, danger? Want to be dropped into the middle of a nightmare? This is the book for you, as long as you aren't squeamish. Read it and see what happens when power goes unchecked, or in Leo's case totally unrecognized.

From the Publisher - "There is no crime."

"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. Death is a whisper away. The mere suspicion of ideological disloyalty-owning a book from the decadent West, the wrong word at the wrong time-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, even providing a decent apartment for his parents. 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, Raisa, remaining at his side, Leo must confront the vast resources and reach of the MBG to find and stop a criminal that the State won't admit even exists."

Books by Tom Rob Smith-
Child 44 (2008) 2008 Steel Dagger Award, 2009 Barry Award for Best First Novel

The Secret Speech (2009)