Child 44

Author Tom Rob Smith tells of Stalin's Russia, 1953. In a time when the only crimes acknowledged are those against the state, one man is determined to uncover the truth behind a series of murders the government denies.

Inspired by the crimes of real-life serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, nicknamed the Butcher of Rostov, Child 44 is a thrillingly dark literary debut by a 29-year-old Cambridge graduate Tom Rob Smith.

Drawing on elements from Chikatilo's life, including his traumatised childhood growing up during the famine caused by Stalin's agricultural policies, and his luring of victims from train stations into nearby woods before killing and mutilating them, this thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat while enveloping you in the claustrophobic and paranoid Russia that existed under Stalin's rule.

When Leo Demidov, one of the country's most loyal Security Ministry officers starts to question the State cover-up of crimes, his comfortable life takes a dramatic turn. Forced by senior officials to dismiss the horrific murder of young boy and witnessing the torture of an alleged spy Leo knows is innocent, he chooses to give up his protected life to save his marriage, already on the brink of collapse. His decision leads Leo and his wife Raisa to a town deep in the Ural Mountains where he uncovers the murder of another child, a murder which bears a frightening resemblance to the earlier child murder he was forced to deny.

With a killer on the loose, murdering children and dumping their bodies near train tracks all over the country, Leo and his wife set off on a wild hunt across Russia, risking disgrace, torture and death to hunt down the killer.

Capturing the incredible poverty and the terrifying world the Russian people endured under Stalin's rule, Child 44 is thrilling and horrifying, an intense detective story that will haunt you long after you've read the last page.

Tom Rob Smith is a Cambridge graduate who works as a screenwriter. Child 44 is his first novel and the film rights have been sold to Ridley Scott. He lives in London and is currently working on his next book, a follow-up to Child 44.

Simon and Schuster
Author: Tom Rob Smith
ISBN: 9781847371270
RRP: $32.95