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 committing 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.[2]

The second and third books in the trilogy, titled The Secret Speech (April 2009)[3] and Agent 6 (July 2011),[4] respectively, also feature the protagonist Leo Demidov and his wife, Raisa.[2][5]

Awards

Child 44 has been translated into 36 languages. Additionally, it was nominated for 17 international awards and won seven.[6]

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.[7] It was also shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize for a first novel in 2008,[8] and Smith was awarded the 2008 Galaxy Book Award for Best New Writer.[9]

In July 2009, he won the Waverton Good Read Award for first novel[10][11] 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".[12] The Sunday Telegraph praised it as a "memorable debut": "the atmosphere of paranoia and paralysing fear is brilliantly portrayed and unremittingly grim".[13] Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, calling it "smashing"; "nerve-wracking pace and atmosphere camouflage wild coincidences".[14] In an Observer review, Peter Guttridge praised it as a "thrilling, intense piece of fiction".[15]

Another New York Times reviewer called it "an adequate police procedural",[16] 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".[17] 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".[18]

Film adaptation

Main article: Child 44 (film)

In April 2007, it was announced that Ridley Scott had optioned the film rights.[19] Fox 2000 bought the project, and in 2009, a film based on the novel was announced, with Scott originally attached as director[20] and producer.[21] In reality, however, the film Child 44 (2015) was produced by Scott and his longtime production collaborator Michael Costigan, via Scott Free Productions, and directed by Daniel Espinosa [Safe House (2012)]. Child 44 stars Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Charles Dance, and Joel Kinnaman,[22] and was filmed on locations in the Czech Republic, including Prague, Kladno, and Ostrava.[23]

Citizen X, a previous HBO made-for-TV movie about the killer Andrei Chikatilo, starring Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland, and Max von Sydow, is not based on the book Child 44.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Tom Rob (2008). Child 44. ISBN 978-1847371263.
  2. 1 2 "Agent 6 Synopsis". CurtisBrown.co.uk.
  3. ↑ Smith, Tom Rob (2009). The Secret Speech. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1847371287.
  4. ↑ Smith, Tom Rob (2011). Agent Six. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1847371287.
  5. ↑ "Agent 6". Amazon.
  6. 1 2 "Tom Rob Smith Child 44 Foreign and Awards".
  7. ↑ "Tom Rob Smith wins the 2008 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger". Thecwa.co.uk. 2011-10-13. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  8. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ 2009 winners (2010-12-15). "Culture Vulture - Galaxy Book Award winners". Culturevulture.uk.com. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  10. ↑ "100 Books of the decade - Book Club News - Richard and Judy Book Club". Richardandjudy.co.uk. 2011-01-27. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  11. ↑ "Waverton Good Read | FAQ". Btinternet.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  12. ↑ Maslin, Janet (May 8, 2008). "Forget It, Comrade. This Is Moscow.". The New York Times.
  13. ↑ Yager, Susanna (March 9, 2008). "A crime that officially doesn't exist". The Sunday Telegraph. London.
  14. ↑ Eastland, Sam. "CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith | Kirkus Book Reviews". Kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  15. ↑ Peter Guttridge (2 March 2008). "Interview: Tom Rob Smith". The Observer. London. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  16. ↑ Koelb, Tadzio (March 13, 2011). "Churchill, Depression and a Talking Dog". The New York Times.
  17. ↑ Koelb, Tadzio (28 February 2009). "Review: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith". The Guardian. London.
  18. ↑ Angus Macqueen (2008-04-12). "Review: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  19. ↑ Total Film (April 17, 2006). "Ridley Scott Adopts Child 44". GamesRadar.
  20. ↑ "Child 44 Movie". The Movie Insider. May 7, 2007. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  21. ↑ "Ridley Scott to Direct and Produce Child 44". MovieWeb. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Child 44". IMDb.
  23. ↑ 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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