Child 44 (Tom Rob Smith, 2008)

I tend to avoid thrillers mostly, but this one was given to me as a gift by a very special friend, so needless to say, I had to check it out. Can't say I have something specific against the genre; it's just that I don't have time to go through these formulaic and predictable 500+ pages monstrosities about brutal serial killers, usually "spiced up" by some sinister occult crap, which, more often than not, uses exotic historical events for its background.

Child 44 checks all the above requirements with one slight modification - the role of Satan is taken over by the communist regime in the former Soviet Union. An Orwellian state where twelve-year-old kids get executed and working people are sent to Gulags if they are half an hour late for work. Etc etc etc

In this nightmarish and crime-free surrounding (people are simply too scared to break the law), our hero needs to hunt down and stop the serial killer of kids. And in the process, save his marriage. And face his long-buried dark family secret. And naturally re-evaluate his beliefs and loyalty to the communist regime.

By painting this picture of hell on earth more intensely, the author only succeeds in making it increasingly boring. And after halfway through, this crap becomes simply laughable. Almost pissed my pants when Raisa tests her hubby's Quo Vadis transformation by suggesting that he kill a peasant who gave them a ride.

Mess of a book that works only as cheap brainwashing propaganda. It is an insult even to the intelligence of the average airport book shopper. For the life of me, I can't understand why this piece of shit was long-listed for a Man Booker prize.

1/5

Facts:

Hero:
Leo Demidov, MGB (former KGB) agent

Location:
Moscow and some godforsaken village in the Urals

Body count:
There are no official police records, so we can only trust the book's title

Dames:
Raisa, Leo's wife

Blackouts: 
He has nightmares about all the innocent people he has killed.

Title: The 
44th murder is the one that kicks off the investigation. At least I think so.

Cover: 
Standard bestseller type of stuff, and somehow related to the story, as murders do take place along the railroad.

Cool lines: 
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