Child 44

New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2008. Advance Reading Copy of first edition. Trade paperback. 439 p. In Stalin's Soviet Union, it's a crime against the State to suggest that a murderer--much less a serial killer--is on the loose. Exiled from his home, a war hero must find and stop a criminal that the State won't admit even exists, in this instant bestseller. This is the author's first novel. From Wikipedia: Tom Rob Smith (born 1979) is an English writer. The son of a Swedish mother and an English father, Smith was born and raised in London. Author Tom Rob Smith studied at St. John's College, Cambridge, following his graduation in 2001 he received the Harper Wood Studentship for English Poetry and Literature and continued his Creative Writing studies for a year at Parvin University in Italy. After completing his studies, Smith worked as a writer and a script editor, including a stint story-lining Cambodia's first soap opera in Phnom Penh with the BBC. His first novel, Child 44, published in early 2008 was inspired by the true-life case of Andrei Chikatilo, who committed a series of child murders in Stalinist Russia. That same year it was awarded the 2008 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller of the year by the Crime Writers' Association, named on the long list for the 2008 Man Booker Prize, nominated for the 2008 Costa First Novel Award (former Whitbread). In July, 2009, he won the Waverton Good Read Award for first novels and the Galaxy Book Award for Best Newcomer with Child 44. It has been translated in 36 languages and in January, 2011, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan listed it in their Book Club 100 Books of the decade. The film rights for Child 44 have been optioned by Ridley Scott. Smith's follow-up to Child 44, The Secret Speech, was published in April, 2009, and the next novel in the series, Agent 6, was published in 2011. Also from Wikipedia: Child 44 is a thriller novel by British writer Tom Rob Smith, and features disgraced MGB Agent Leo Demidov, who investigates a series of gruesome child murders in Stalin's Soviet Union. The novel is based on the crimes of Ukrainian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, also known as the Rostov Ripper, who was convicted of and executed for 52 murders in the Soviet Union. In addition to highlighting the problem of Soviet-era criminality in a state where "there is no crime, " the novel also explores the paranoia of the age, the education system, the secret police apparatus, orphanages, homosexuality in the USSR and mental hospitals. The book is the first part of a trilogy. The second part is called The Secret Speech and also features the character of Leo Demidov and his wife, Raisa. The third part, called Agent 6 was published by Simon and Schuster in the UK in July 2011. It will be published in the US in early 2012. Child 44 has been nominated for 17 International Awards and was the winner of seven. It was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and was the winner of the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award in 2008. Child 44 was on the Richard and Judy Book of the Decade list and won the Waverton Good Read Award in 2009. It was also shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize for a first novel in 2008. Tom Rob Smith was awarded the 2008 Galaxy Book Award for Best New Writer. The New York Times called it a "tightly woven", "ingeniously plotted", "high-voltage story". The Sunday Telegraph praised it as a "memorable debut": "the atmosphere of paranoia and paralysing fear is brilliantly portrayed and unremittingly grim". Kirkus gave it a starred review, calling it "smashing"; "nerve-wracking pace and atmosphere camouflage wild coincidences". In a Guardian review, Peter Guttridge praised it as a "thrilling, intense piece of fiction". It was also called "an adequate police procedural" by another New York Times reviewer, and a review of the paperback edition in The Guardian said that "the story is exciting, but the characters and dialogue are underdeveloped, and the prose studiously bland." A movie based on the novel was supposed to be in the works, with Ridley Scott as director. As of October. Condition: Good. No dust jacket. Cover has some wear and soiling.

Keywords: Andrei Chikatilo, Rostov Ripper, Leo Demidov, KGB, Steel Dagger Award, Waverton Good Read, Police Procedural

ISBN: 9780446402385

[Book #65981]

Price: $35.00

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