Child 44 cover art

Child 44

Child 44, Book 1

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Child 44

By: Tom Rob Smith
Narrated by: Jamie Parker
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About this listen

 OVER 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD
AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER IN OVER 30 LANGUAGES
A THRILLER UNLIKE ANY YOU HAVE EVER READ

MOSCOW, 1953.
Under Stalin’s terrifying regime, families live in fear. When the all-powerful State claims there is no such thing as crime, who dares disagree?

An ambitious secret police officer, Leo Demidov believes he’s helping to build the perfect society. But when he uncovers evidence of a killer at large – a threat the state won’t admit exists – Demidov must risk everything, including the lives of those he loves, in order to expose the truth.
But what if the danger isn’t from the killer he is trying to catch, but from the country he is fighting to protect?

Nominated for seventeen international awards and inspired by a real-life investigation, CHILD 44 is a relentless story of love, hope and bravery in a totalitarian world. From the screenwriter of the acclaimed television series, THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY.©2008 Tom Rob Smith (P)2008 Simon & Schuster, UK Historical International Mystery & Crime Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Russia Exciting Stalin

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Two things stand out in Child 44: 1) its unflinching description of the negative impacts of the lead character’s actions. 2) the slow pace of the lead character’s transformation. I loved its evocation of the claustrophobic, closed, stultifying culture of Stalin’s USSR. Towards the end I struggled with the plot’s machinations but overall think they were worth it.

Brilliant, tense evocation of Soviet Russia as a backdrop to a genre thriller

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A very sobering insight into Stalinist Russia and how corruption penetrates every level of society.

Fantastic thriller!

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Authors want to capture their audience in their first lines, first chapter, and Tom Rob Smith certainly does that. The story opens in 1933. Two starving young children hunt, ensnare an emancipated cat for food, but they were not alone hunting for meat, the older brother is taken, such is the existence of families during the Ukraine famine.
Fast forward twenty years and a series of horrific child murders are taking place but as 'there is no crime' in this totalitarian society, there is no official investigation.
This is a bleak but compelling, all too believable portrayal of life under Starlin's grim regime where 'for the greater good' people live in fear of the state, where no-one is above suspicion, where presumption of guilt not innocence is the norm.

More compelling, thought provoking than enjoyable

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As I was listening to this book I wanted everybody I spoke to to read it and have now bought a couple of copies to give to friends and family. Narration is great, story is fantastic.

Loved it.

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An enjoyable if sometimes harrowing yarn set in 1953 Soviet Union but with roots in the early 1930s. Many threads are created and woven together. The worst excesses and implications of the evil empire that was communist Russia are laid bare.

It’s a twister!

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Brilliantly read. A really shocking book in it’s telling of Stalinist Russia but with a great story interwoven with it. Highly recommended.

A riveting listen

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A fabulous story with a lot of history based on life during the Stalin era. Couldn’t stop listening to it

Fantastic story

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Brilliant thriller.
However, the reader repeatedly makes a lot of what I can only describe as 'wet mouth sounds' - i.e audible swallowing of saliva, wetting of lips, slimy mouth smacking at the beginning of a sentence.

Horribly off-putting and difficult to stay immersed in the story when I'm constantly feeling repulsed and uncomfortable. It's something I can only put down to lazy editing as, having a large audible library, this is something I've never encountered - presumably because such sounds get diligently edited out.

Such a shame, makes it a chore to sit through in some parts.

Distracting sounds

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Satisfying plot. Convincing depiction of Stalin era’s grimness. Steadily increasing tension. Multiple layers: thriller, historical novel, morality tale.

Propulsive, dark, immersive

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This is the best book that I have listen to on Audible for a long time. Despite there being many twists and turns in the plot the story was totally believable. The impression was so similar to an actual historical account that I believed in the plot entirely. Although fiction I feel that I have been given insight to what it was like to live in the Soviet Union of the era.
The narration was well paced and sympathetic to the text.

Outstanding narrative.

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