Child 44

This article is about the novel. For the film adaptation, see Child 44 (film).
Child 44

1st US edition
Author Tom Rob Smith
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre Thriller
Publication date
 2008
Media type Print (hardcover and paperback)
Pages 400
ISBN 1-84737-126-4
Followed by The Secret Speech

Child 44 (published in 2008) is a thriller novel by British writer Tom Rob Smith. This is the first novel in a trilogy featuring former MGB Agent Leo Demidov, who investigates a series of gruesome child murders in Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union.[1]

Themes

This novel, the first in a trilogy, takes inspiration from the crimes of Andrei Chikatilo (though he operated much later), also known as the Rostov Ripper, the Butcher of Rostov, and the Red 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 explores the paranoia of the age, the education system, the secret police apparatus, orphanages, homosexuality in the USSR, and mental hospitals.

The second book in the trilogy, called The Secret Speech (April 2009)[2] like its predecessor and successor, Agent 6 (published by Simon and Schuster in the UK in July 2011 and in the US in January 2012),[3] features the character Leo Demidov and his wife, Raisa.[4][5]

Awards

Child 44 was nominated for 17 international awards and won seven. It has been translated into 36 languages.[6] Ridley Scott optioned the film rights.[7]

In 2008, it was named on the long list for the Man Booker Prize, nominated for the 2008 Costa First Novel Award (former Whitbread), and received the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award for best thriller of the year from the Crime Writers' Association.[8] It was also shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize for a first novel in 2008,[9] and Smith was awarded the 2008 Galaxy Book Award for Best New Writer.[10]

In July 2009, he won the Waverton Good Read Award for first novel[11][12] and the Galaxy Book Award for Best Newcomer.

In January, 2011, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan listed it in their Book Club 100 Books of the Decade.[6]

Reception

The New York Times called Child 44 a "tightly woven", "ingeniously plotted", "high-voltage story".[13] The Sunday Telegraph praised it as a "memorable debut": "the atmosphere of paranoia and paralysing fear is brilliantly portrayed and unremittingly grim".[14] Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, calling it "smashing"; "nerve-wracking pace and atmosphere camouflage wild coincidences".[15] In an Observer review, Peter Guttridge praised it as a "thrilling, intense piece of fiction".[16]

Another New York Times reviewer called it "an adequate police procedural",[17] and a review of the paperback edition in The Guardian said "the story is exciting, but the characters and dialogue are underdeveloped, and the prose studiously bland".[18] This view was mirrored by a further review for The Guardian, by Angus Macqueen, who stated that while "this is a compelling detective story", "the desire for the plot to encompass every element of Soviet history eventually overrides any sense of artistic seriousness". Macqueen did state that the novel "remains a real achievement" and that it delivers "all the pleasures of a brilliant airport read".[19]

Film adaptation

Main article: Child 44 (film)

A film based on the novel was announced in 2009, with Ridley Scott originally attached as director.[20] Instead, the film was directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) while being produced by Scott and his longtime production collaborator Michael Costigan via Scott Free Productions. Child 44 stars Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Charles Dance, and Joel Kinnaman.[21] It was filmed on locations in the Czech Republic, including Prague, Kladno, and Ostrava.[22]

A previous HBO made-for-TV movie about the killer Andrei Chikatilo, not based on the book Child 44, was called Citizen X. This movie starred Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland, and Max von Sydow.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Tom Rob (2008). Child 44. ISBN 978-1847371263.
  2. ↑ Smith, Tom Rob (2009). The Secret Speech. ISBN 978-1847371287.
  3. ↑ Smith, Tom Rob (2011). Agent Six. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1847371287.
  4. ↑ "Child 44". Amazon.
  5. ↑ "Agent 6 Synopsis".
  6. 1 2 "Tom Rob Smith Child 44 Foreign and Awards".
  7. ↑ Film News. "Ridley Scott Adopts Child 44". Time Out.
  8. ↑ "Tom Rob Smith wins the 2008 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger". Thecwa.co.uk. 2011-10-13. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  9. ↑ "Desmond Elliott, The Desmond Elliott Prize 2009, Arlington Books, The Desmond Elliott Charitable Trust, The prize for new fiction, literary agent, publisher - Previous Winners - The 2008 Prize - The Shortlist - Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith". Desmondelliottprize.org. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  10. ↑ 2009 winners (2010-12-15). "Culture Vulture - Galaxy Book Award winners". Culturevulture.uk.com. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  11. ↑ "100 Books of the decade - Book Club News - Richard and Judy Book Club". Richardandjudy.co.uk. 2011-01-27. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  12. ↑ "Waverton Good Read | FAQ". Btinternet.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  13. ↑ Maslin, Janet (May 8, 2008). "Forget It, Comrade. This Is Moscow.". The New York Times.
  14. ↑ Yager, Susanna (March 9, 2008). "A crime that officially doesn't exist". The Sunday Telegraph (London).
  15. ↑ Eastland, Sam. "CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith | Kirkus Book Reviews". Kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  16. ↑ Peter Guttridge (2 March 2008). "Interview: Tom Rob Smith". The Observer (London). Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  17. ↑ Koelb, Tadzio (March 13, 2011). "Churchill, Depression and a Talking Dog". The New York Times.
  18. ↑ Koelb, Tadzio (28 February 2009). "Review: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith". The Guardian (London).
  19. ↑ Angus Macqueen (2008-04-12). "Review: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  20. ↑ "Child 44 Movie". Themovieinsider.com. 2007-05-07. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  21. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014763/
  22. ↑ Opatrná, Anežka. "Ridley Scott dobývá Prahu!". Student Point (in Czech). Retrieved 29 August 2013. a tak bude od 10.6. do 20.9. v Praze, Ostravě nebo v Barrandovském studiu probíhat natáčení amerického velkofilmu.
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