Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
Thriller, 436 pages
Grand Central Publishing

FTC Disclaimer: Purchased 

When I think of the thriller genre, this book will become an example I point to.

This author keeps it simple, and I like it. There is no extraneous writing. The pace is brisk, the story enthralling, and several of the sub-plots are just as good as the main one.

Initially, when I think “thriller”, I think of action, but what Smith offers is much more. Child 44 brings forth the trials and tribulations of relationships. It’s tough enough working through these interactions normally, but when set against a society caught up in tremendous upheaval, they stand out more as the forces working against them from the outside are just as powerful as the ones coming from within.

In the pursuit of a killer, one hundred and fifty men would lose their lives, if not literally, then on every other level – they’d lose their families, their homes. And she realized, seeing her husband’s hunched shoulders and drawn face, that he never did anything without believing in it. There was nothing cynical or calculating abut him. If this was true then he must also have believed in their marriage: he must have believed it was built on love. Steadily all the fantasies he’d created – about the State, about their relationship – had been shattered . . . She stepped forward, sitting beside him on the bed. Tentatively, she took his hand. Surprised, he looked at her but said nothing, accepting the gesture. And together they watched as the snow began to melt.

There are twists and turns in this novel, as there should be. Some are predictable. However the way they’re presented, and timed, you forgive the writer. I wasn’t kidding about my reading this quickly. I couldn’t put it down and I wanted to get to the end as soon as I could. My advice? Don’t start this book before you go to bed.

His follow-up, The Secret Speech is just as good, and I hear there is a third book coming. I don’t pre-order many books, but I will for A New World.

A definite recommendation!