CHILD 44

TITLE: CHILD 44
AUTHOR: TOM ROB SMITH
Pages: 470
Date: 18/04/2009
Grade: 4
Details: no. 1 Leo Deminov Thriller
Library

First of, let me say that this book was very well written and plotted. And I can only guess at the amount of research that must have gone into writing this book.
Yet, having said all that, I found myself reluctant to go back to this book every time I put it down. Not because of the gruesomeness of the murders of little children, although they were gruesome without a doubt, but because of the realities that came with living in the Soviet Union in the 1950's. I found myself flying through the parts of the book dealing with the investigations of the murders, but every time the story turned to the politics of terror as inflicted by a government and those following it blindly or out of fear, I would stall.
Here's the story:
Leo Deminov is a hero of W.W. II and an officer of the Ministry of State Security when he's asked to visit the house of a colleague whose son has been found dead. The colleague and his family claim that the boy has been murdered. However, official documentation states he died as result of an accident, since in the ideal Soviet society there is no need for murder, hence it doesn't happen. Leo has to convince the family to tow the line, which he does. However, for Leo this is the moment his blind faith starts to crumble. And when he learns of more, identical deaths, he knows he has to investigate.
But what starts out as an illegal and dangerous investigation soon turns into one that he has to solve successfully if Leo and his wife are to have any chance of surviving.
There is a second book featuring Leo, but I'm not sure if I will want to read it.