Child 44 (Leo Demidov, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Nov 20, 2016 ☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ rated it did not like it

Shelves: books-i-won-t-finish

How do you take a story of Chikatillo and make it somehow the government's fault?
Why take the serial crimes happening in 1978-1990s and place these in 1960s?

A get all about the artistic licence. And I'm no fan of USSR as well. But I'm no fan of blatant misrepresentation of widely-known facts.

You don't really make it seem like people can be forced to make allegations against their neighbours. When there was a slew of denunciations during the Stalin's terror yet, oh wonder!, there were people w ...more

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Aug 08, 2019 Ashleigh rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series-books

Set in the Stalin's Soviet Union, Child 44 follows Leo Demidov, a MGB officer who tends to lean more towards the morally right side of the spectrum. Some of his fellow officers do not. At the beginning of the book, Leo is searching for a spy and has been leading his men towards tracking the man down. Once they locate and interrogate the man, Leo believes the man is innocent but he is apprehended anyway and Leo's loyalty takes a hit. He is then ordered to investigate his own wife and after protes Set in the Stalin's Soviet Union, Child 44 follows Leo Demidov, a MGB officer who tends to lean more towards the morally right side of the spectrum. Some of his fellow officers do not. At the beginning of the book, Leo is searching for a spy and has been leading his men towards tracking the man down. Once they locate and interrogate the man, Leo believes the man is innocent but he is apprehended anyway and Leo's loyalty takes a hit. He is then ordered to investigate his own wife and after protesting her innocence, Leo and Risa are moved from Moscow to Voualsk as punishment.

Meanwhile, bodies of dead children have been showing up around Russia. The authorities do not believe the deaths are connected, and have been finding scapegoats to 'solve' the cases. When Leo comes across a case where an obviously innocent man was convicted of murdering a teenage girl, he decides to investigate the crimes secretly and find out just who is killing these children.

Been meaning to pick this up for a while because it has such a dark premise (and you know your girl loves some dark fiction) but just never gotten around to it. Glad I finally did read it, but it wasn't the amazing book I was hoping for.

So this book reminded me a lot of Fatherland, which I read earlier this year, purely because of the authority and government. Both books have a strong authority presence which is quick to persecute people if it is believed they are traitors or disloyal. Also, both books have a main character who is part of this authority, but not exactly the most devoted member. I know next to nothing about Russian history, excluding my limited knowledge about the Romanovs, so I enjoyed reading more about this period and what it was like living in that society.

It felt like this book was more about the society and time period, than the actual mystery. But the elements of the mystery we got I absolutely loved. Numerous times I gasped out loud while reading this book because of reveals. Reveals such as (view spoiler). Oh, so good.

This was an okay read, but if you're looking for a good mystery thriller, maybe try something else! ...more

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Jan 27, 2018 Chaitra rated it really liked it

Shelves: booker-prize-nominees, made-into-a-movie, thriller, serial-killers, historical-fiction

I have no idea why it took me this long to get to this book. It's been on my radar for a long time. I can only blame the panned movie, even though it had Gary Oldman in it. Perhaps especially because it had Gary Oldman in it, because as much as I love him, let's face it, he's been in some real stinkers. Anyway.

Leo Demidov is an MGB officer, doesn't question anything, believes absolutely in the state. Given that the state is Stalin's Russia, it's not going to end well. So he gets a rude awakening I have no idea why it took me this long to get to this book. It's been on my radar for a long time. I can only blame the panned movie, even though it had Gary Oldman in it. Perhaps especially because it had Gary Oldman in it, because as much as I love him, let's face it, he's been in some real stinkers. Anyway.

Leo Demidov is an MGB officer, doesn't question anything, believes absolutely in the state. Given that the state is Stalin's Russia, it's not going to end well. So he gets a rude awakening, when he's asked to denounce his wife as a traitor. He doesn't believe she's a traitor, and he doesn't denounce her. He's supposed to be executed, or at the very least sent to the Siberian gulags, but fate intervenes. Stalin dies, and there's a power vacuum where in no one knows what the right thing to do is, and Leo is sent to the militia as one of its lowest officers. Oh, there is also a psychopath killing children one after another but Russia obviously has no crime.

I liked the serial killer aspects of it, although I freaked myself out more reading about the guy this killer was inspired from: Andrei Chikatilo. He was way scarier. The book's serial killer is also batshit insane, but he actually does have a twisted motive which almost makes sense in a horrible way. But the heart of the book is Leo's relationships - with the state and with his wife. With his past even, although that becomes relevant only towards the end. There the book shines. I felt sorry for Leo every step of the way, because as terrible as he has been in the service of the state, it's hard to watch a true believer's faith crumble.

So is his relationship with Raisa - it starts off with him being oblivious to her inner life, until she lets him know in no uncertain terms that she loathes him but is stuck with him. It then evolves into something they both can live with, and even becomes tender. Not a whole lot of thrillers that do that. Sure, there are a couple of instances when Leo and Raisa are on the run where I rolled my eyes quite a bit, when Raisa holds her side up just as much as Leo, even after a couple of lamentations about how inadequately trained she is. But that's just carping, and in any case Tom Rob Smith held my attention in the action scenes, when it generally wanders in other books.

I liked this book, and though I already know that the rest of the series won't hold up to this one, I'll read them. I will probably even give the movie a go. ...more

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Jan 20, 2015 Olivermagnus rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: europe

Stalinist Russia of the 1950s is the setting for the crime thriller, Child 44. Security Ministry Officer Leo Demidov is a good man whose patriotism has led him to commit heinous acts against his fellow citizens “for the greater good” or so he tells himself. Lies, spying on friends and family, manufacturing evidence, even torture and murder are all acceptable as long as they help ensure the survival and security of Stalin’s “workers’ paradise”. When he begins to suspect there is a serial killer o ...more

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