Child 44

Cold War USSR, and the air is treacly with suspicion. Neighbour spies on neighbour, denunciation quickly follows, dissident turns in dissident and 12 is the legal execution age. The State secret police are everywhere apart from the right place. They chase after teachers and writers but lack the imagination to catch a serial chid killer.  The wrong suspect is the paradox at the heart of a society built on suspicion.

The atmosphere Tom Rob Smith creates in Child 44 may or may not capture what life really was like under Soviet Stalinism. Some readers might conclude it sails close to the wind of propaganda. Reading it simultaneously to Alan’s Bulloch’s work on Stalin and Stalinism tends to challenge that.

The author claims that ‘Soviet Russia is itself a character in the book – a peculiar blend of horror and absurdity.’ It works. Crime fiction situated in the West – Denmark is perhaps an exception - lacks the consuming broodiness that seems to go so smoothly with the turf when a crime novel is placed in the Stalinist East where an omnipresent grey provides the backdrop.  The landscape is desolate. Smith’s construction of predatory suspicion, soaking through like persistent drizzle, succeeds in creating the tension which keeps this crime novel throbbing from start to finish.

Hunger, drudgery, cold, and paranoia are the remorseless companions that stalk this narrative. They assemble everywhere, often in the company of each other. Deference, acquiescence and fear are their buddies. The cowering characters of Child 44 are so removed from the fighting Soviet citizenry of John Erikson’s splendid history of the ‘Great Patriotic War’ as to be unrecognisable. By the time a spirit of resistance is introduced by Smith the narrative loses some of its credibility, the blend too awkward. 

Leo Demidov is a secret police officer in the MGB, married to a beautiful woman which adds to the sense of envy and resentment his colleagues harbour.  He dismisses as an accident the death of a child and later comes to the conclusion that he was wrong. The envy and paranoia of his colleagues do not make his task easy. They are spiteful and vindictive. Life is cheap. State ideology-mongering blinds police operatives to facts on the ground. Crime of this genre does not happen in the Soviet socialist paradise. Anything that might suggest it does is Western propaganda, and the source for such a suggestion, rather than the killer of children, is most at risk from arrest.

The society of Child 44 is one where even marriage may not be done for love. A wife might be more in loathe with her husband than in love, matrimony being a means to some end other than wedded bliss. Dutifully practiced there seems no natural place in this novel for something as intense as the orgasmic union ascribed to Mellors and Connie in Lady Chatterly’s Lover.

Child 44 has been compared to Martin Cruz Smith’s Gorky Park, a book I read almost 30 years ago but did not enjoy.  Archangel  by Robert Harris, fresher in the memory, might offer a better point of comparison. While the plot comes over as forced in that events are pushed together rather than being drawn so, the quality of the story manages to prevail even if ultimately it might work better on the screen than in print. 

Twists aplenty, Child 44 is a gripping tale about a twisted society.

Tom Rob Smith, 2009, Child 44. Pocket Books: London

32 comments:

  1. AM,
    What is the name of the book released before Christmas about Women Republican prisoners? I'll be in town tomorrow, was going to pick it up.

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  2. In The Footsteps of Anne. Marty here gave it to me at Xmas. It seems to be a very good book

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  3. Seems a bit to grey for me Anthony.for crime novels I love Joseph Wambaugh,his book Choirboys is brill,

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  4. Marty,

    it is a good read, Carrie had read Joseph Wambaugh. There are none to go past Stieg Larsson in my experience. I think the best crime fiction I have ever read is Larsson along with Michael Slade's Headhunmter and Lawrence Sanders' The First Deadly Sin

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  5. Billy Mc Neill was a guest of Craig Whyte,s at Ibrox last weekend ,in the hospitality lounge after the game,Ally Mc Coist asked Billy "how do you think the current Rangers team would fare against the Lisbon Lions of 1967?" Billy replies"I think it would be a close run thing maybe a draw"Ally walks away feeling very pleased with himself when Billy shouts across the room,"mind you we havent trained in 30 years"....I,ll never forget how happy I was when I saw my missus walking down the aisle towards me,my heart was beating fast and the excitement was unbearable,it seemed to take forever,but eventually there she was,stood beside me,I gave her a cheeky wink and said "get that trolly over here love,they,re doing 3 cases of Bud for the price of 2"..

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  6. Bkeane- if you manage to find the book "In the Footsteps of Anne" by Eileen Hickey could you let me know by posting where you picked it up?

    I have tried to find it and I have been told the first print run sold out before the new year. I have also tried (unsuccessfully) online. Apparently the original print run was low.

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  7. Simon ,Eileen did not write In the Footsteps of Anne,she initiated it after she died the book was compiled by Eve Brady,Kate Mc Kinney, Rosie Hamill Eva Patterson and Pauline Jackson, and yes the first run was sold out within days,I can supply you with a hard back at £12.. if it of any help..

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  8. JUSTICE for Marian Price
    Marian Price is spending her ninth month in isolation in an all male prison(Maghaberry).She is the victim of internment without trial.psychological torture and political vindictiveness.
    Marian was twice granted bail on charges brought against her yet remains interned at the whim of sos Owen Patterson,a man with no mandate here and unaccountable to the people here.
    It is claimed that Marian Price was returned to prison on the revocation of a licence,however this licence was over ridden when Marian was pardoned under the royal prerogative of mercy due to serious ill health shortly after her release in 1980.
    The british authorities have recently admitted to shredding this pardon,a document Marian,s solicitor is confident would secure her release,why shred a document of such significance?.
    Marian Price is 57 years old and has multiple illnesses which are exacerbated by the torture of isolation.the sharp deterioration in Marians health is causing her family major concern.
    Juan Mendez the UN,s leading expert on torture advises"short time isolation is permissible for prisoner protection but all solitary confinement longer than 15 days should be banned"
    The reality of this situation is Marian Price is back serving time for offences committed nearly 40 years ago,offences she was pardoned for.
    HOW CAN YOU HELP
    Contact your local mla,clergy,trade union and human rights groups and ask them to use their influence to encourage a sensible resolution.
    THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE THIS IS A HUMANITARIAN ISSUE.

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  9. Simon,
    No luck,Easons and Waterstones in Cork never even heard of it and it didn't show up on their computers. They said it might be privately published. I would agree with you though, that there was a low print run.

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  10. Such a thorough review Child44 i feel like i've read it... How the hell do you manage to read so many books is beyond me...
    BK & Simon yeah me too I was searching for In the footsteps of Anne book online for it to no avail. They must have taken preorders
    Marty where to get info plz Ta

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  11. SMH,

    I don't read anywhere ner as many as I would like. I got a Kindle from mywife at Christmas and have been dipping in and out of Blood Meridean but am less than a third of the way thru.

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  12. Marty,

    it is a humanitarian issue but we should not lose sight of the fact that behind the British inhumane treatment of Marian is a very political motive. They are targetting her for political reasons. So much for political policing being a thing of the past.

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  13. SMH Hi hon I have 2 hardback copies of the book here,at £12 plus p and p,there is about to be a re-run of the soft back version,these should be ready in a few weeks at £8 plus p.p.I will have more details later.

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  14. Marty- £12 sounds good. How do I go about exchanging details? Is there any way Anthony can give you my email address without putting it on the web?

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  15. Simon,

    post your email address as a comment and I will send it on to Marty. It will not be appproved for publication which means it will not appear on the blog. I will just delete it the minute I send it to Marty

    Anthony

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  16. Simon thats why Anthony steers this machine and we do the peddling,

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  17. Bob doh Brains was over heard complaining to Gerry Itwasnt me,that one of the lads wasnt wearing his high visibility jacket,"ok "says Gerry Itwasntme "I,ll go have a word with him,where is he? Bob replied "Doh I dont know I havent seen him all day doh".....

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  18. Child 44 is good. I agree with you about the initial recoiling from over-the-top criticism of the Soviet state - but you read something like, in my case, Stalin and his Hangmen by Donald Rayfield, and the scales fall from your eyes. More on it here http://blackwatertown.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/why-is-it-easier-to-teach-kids-about-hitler-than-stalin/

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  19. Marty,
    Could I get a copy of that book? Im down south but I would pay all postage if you sent it down

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  20. Blackwatertown,

    'recoil' would be too strong a term. I would have few doubts about the inhumanity and brutality of the Stalinist system. Yet there is a propagandist way to describe that system and a more grounded way. The difference might come down to tone.

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  21. BKeane no problem a cara I have one hard back left ,no soft backs are available yet.I will find out the p&p cost later,if you do as Anthony suggested to Simon we can then contact you and sort you out .

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  22. BKeane, I can supply you a hard back book at £18 That is for postage and packaging.

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  23. Great Craic; page 13 lucky for some of todays Irish News aka the Vatican Times,headline;Sinn Fein MLA defends Paisley prayer plea. We are shown some of the responses to Martina (I,m a model,Bread fans will understand)Andersons facebook plea for prayers for that hopefully dying git.Responses range from "are you for real",to "aint gonna happen" Anderson is more concerned for the well being of a scumbag who is probably responsible for more deaths here than anyone else, than for an innocent former comrade interned in her masters gaol Maghaberry,if she feels the need to pray she should pray for Marian Price who by all accounts is suffering both physically and mentally instead of that waster, but mind you Pappa Doc was probably the main man who helped put her and her cronies on to the gravy train.

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  24. Paisley has been diagnosed with alzheimers disease.he was last seen marching down the Shankill rd shouting NO REMEMBER....Just heard Paisley wanted transferred to the Royal ..apparently the Ulster said no..

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  25. Marty,
    I left my email with AM. I'll get that up to you as soon as I hear from you, thanks.

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  26. Sent texts to pro Stanley Unwin lookalike ie., Paul Maskey mp mla qsf about the plight of his constituent Marian Price, no reply from his office at either Westminster or Srormont,he must be busy!!! and I sent a facebook message to Martina I,m a model Anderson qsf mla to add Marian to her prayer list alongside that waster Paisley

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  27. Simon,

    did you get those emails?

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  28. How come those people who love to be seen and heard suddenly go of scene when asked a question that they would rather was not asked.I refer here to Paul Maskey qsf mp mla and Martina Anderson qsf mla ,and the question was simply what are they doing re the continuing internment and deteriorating health of Marian Price,and while we are on the subject of silence,I see that Catherine Mc Cartney sister of Robert Mc Cartney murdered by ra and qsf members has called on Deirde Hargey qsf buddie of messers Robinson and Mc Guinness,to put qsf,s call for the public to cooperate with the police into practice, the bold Deirde was one of the hundreds in the toilet in Magennis,s bar the night Robert was murdered, qsf have been very vociferous in calling for people to tout on criminal activity,so one can expect that Deirde and the other witnesses to this horrific murder will be soon be visiting her local ruc/psni station to spill the beans, not a mission I bet. sort of makes qsf look like a bunch of hypocrites dont you think...

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  29. Marty thanks Anthony has my email address Can u email him how i order the book (i will get fam member to get it for me and post over here) Anthony u can give Marty my email address if u want Grma

    NB A note to Irish OUTSIDE of Ireland - Re situation re Marion Price and others... Consider marching on Paddys Day with a huge placard/poster highlighting human rights abuse/political policing etc. It won't make u popular on the day (they may ask u to step out of the parade but that's aok just march along the streets with it) It surely will give voice to the truth. Tip Unveil placard after parade starts & ensure u are right in the middle of the parade.

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  30. SMH,

    I sent it onto Marty. Hope you are well

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