Leo Demidov — a military hero working for the MGP — is ordered to tell a family that their son was not murdered, and that they must stop telling other people that he was murdered, or there will be dire consequences. Leo thinks nothing more of it, returning to a case he was working on earlier. Suddenly, Leo finds himself ordered to investigate his wife Raisa, who is being accused of working with Western spies.

Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith

Leo is faced with a tough decision: denounce the woman he loves and continue living in safety while she is executed, or go against the State and claim her innocent, sending them both to be executed. What he doesn’t know is, this won’t be the last tough decision he will be faced with.

Child 44 — based on a real crime spree — is crafted with twists and turns, and full of vivid depiction of Stalinist and post-Stalinist Russia in the 1950′s. As I read the story, I was also given a very accurate history lesson, making me feel as if I’d lived in Russia during that period. While the first historical fiction novel I read, Eye of the Red Tsar, was very good, it didn’t even come close to Child 44.

I decided to read Child 44 because while reading reviews of Eye of the Red Tsar, I came across one that said “Red Tsar” was very similar to Child 44. However, the only similarity is that both novels are set in Stalinist Russia. Pekkala, the main character in “Red Tsar,” is a royal investigator, and Stalin is depicted as an ally. In Child 44, Stalin is depicted as the exact leader he was. The novel uses tons of the quotes and rules that Russia was supposed to live by during his reign. Author Tom Rob Smith (Child 44) shows the sheer harshness of living in Russia during those times. While Sam Eastland (Eye of the Red Tsar) doesn’t fail to depict how tough those times were on the Russian people, he doesn’t come close. Both authors clearly did their research, but Smith made sure that he gave enough examples that the reader felt just as afraid as many of the citizens. There were times when I cried, swore aloud, or just mulled something over because it was just so horrible — and because I knew that things like it happened all of the time.

The pace of the novel is perfect. The main characters are showered with complications and betrayals, just as the novel itself is spun with twists and turns. Most authors might not be able to handle all of that action and make it believable. Tom Rob Smith does, and does it brilliantly.

When I read the last sentence of the novel, I wished it were the first. Luckily, Tom Rob Smith has already written a sequel that came out on April 1st, 2010, and he is currently working on the third and final book.

This was one gets five out of five from me. What did you think of it?