Is It Time Yet?

Not everyone is pleased to see Tom Rob Smith’s first novel, Child 44, a serial-killer thriller set in Stalinist Russia, find a place on this year’s longlist of nominees for the Man Booker Prize. In a piece for the Los Angeles Times, critic-blogger Sarah Weinman quotes Canongate Books publisher Jamie Byng as saying, “I cannot respect a judging committee that decides to pick a book like ‘Child 44,’ a fairly well-written and well-paced thriller that is no more than that.”

But Weinman suggests that the inclusion of Child 44--the first thriller to be named on the Booker longlist “since such lists were made public and official in 2001”--may not be quite the aberration it seems. “Indeed,” she writes, “this is the most recent example of the blurring of the line between crime fiction and literature, which makes me hopeful that the so-called genre wars are lurching toward, if not [to] an end, then at least a tentative cease-fire.” She goes on to recount the notorious history of crime and thriller fiction being overlooked and dissed by noteworthy critics, but also points out how genre awards, including the Edgars, have increasingly gone to authors of more or less mainstream fiction.

What’s most remarkable about Child 44’s nomination is that the novel isn’t really all that remarkable--a point well made in Weinman’s piece by both Byng and American-born, London-based reviewer Michael Carlson. It’s certainly a propulsive read, a good, solid thriller with characters finding their places up and down the range of moral virtues and (mostly) vices; and it bears in its protagonist and his wife two brilliantly nuanced figures whom readers ought to be anxious to see more of in the near future. Nonetheless, Child 44’s basic plot--about dead children and the realization that some one individual is behind their slayings--isn’t a ground-breaker. The book itself is less a standout than several others published this year, including Philip Kerr’s A Quiet Flame and Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. What’s most significant about Smith’s work is that the combination of publicity, trenchant storytelling, and perhaps a willingness among judges to see beyond the blinkered limits of what should be considered “literary” in 2008 have combined to earn crime fiction a place at the Big Name Awards table. A place that it has deserved for many years already.

Child 44 might finally be the novel to set a precedent. (In prizes as in politics, 2008 could turn out to be the year that hope makes a comeback.) But even if it isn’t, its nomination for the Booker will have opened a door through which other crime, thriller, and mystery fiction works might one day pass. Proudly.

READ MORE: “Confessions of a (Somewhat) Biased Reader,” by Sandra Ruttan (On Life & Other Inconveniences); “One Step,” by Xavier Lechard (At the Villa Rose).

Exactly the Same. Only Different.

Book publishing is a crazy game. Anyone who indulges in it should get their head examined.

Let me tell you what’s led me down this path today: there are two books in front of me. They are equal. In fact, if they had been published in different years, I would have thought one had inspired the other. But they were published within a few months of each other. There was no time for cross-pollination.

I’m currently reading one of them. There’s been a lot of buzz about Child 44 and it’s everything it’s been cracked up to be. And it’s been cracked up to be a lot. Everyone is taking about Tom Rob Smith’s first novel, and they’re right: it’s a great book. Set in Russia during the early part of the Cold War, this is a view we’ve not seen often, presented with a tone and attitude we’ve arguably not seen at all.

I read the other book earlier this year and commented on it briefly in this space. Pavel & I is a debut novel by a fairly young author, Dan Vyleta. It is set in Berlin during the earliest part of the Cold War and, just about anything you want to say about Child 44 can be said about Pavel & I. The book is nuanced and practiced and intelligent and brave. It’s a thriller and it thrills. If anything, Pavel & I is a little more edgy than Child 44, a little more stylish, slightly more raw, but that might just be a matter of taste. The point is, these books have more in common than not. Both authors are youngish. Both went to Cambridge--Smith graduating in 2001, Vyleta in 2002, but with a PhD. And, most importantly, both Vyleta and Smith have created complete and beautifully rendered fictions with their debut works.

Why then, with all these things being equal, have you probably heard of Child 44, and probably not heard of Pavel & I? And that’s where the nuttiness of this business comes in. See, both books are well published--in the United States, Child 44 comes from Grand Central, Pavel & I from Bloomsbury. Both are great houses with loads of cred, respect, and other top authors in their stables. Rights for both books were sold internationally right out of the gate. And yet ...

There is no moral to this story. No happy ending. Not even a solid question. I’ve chosen these two books for my example today--Pavel & I and Child 44--because they’re right here and they’re what brought this to mind. However, it would not take much for me to dig back over the last five years and come up with example after example of very similar stories. Two equal books, one with a starkly different result than the other.

And both of these really are terrific books. But you don’t have to choose one over the other: read them both. If you liked Child 44, you will definitely love Pavel & I. We are now midway through 2008, and it’s still the best thing I’ve read all year.

Out of the Cradle, Into the World

After hearing and reading so many favorable responses to Tom Rob Smith’s debut novel, Child 44 (see here and here), I was delighted to receive an invitation to one of the hottest literary events in London, Simon & Schuster’s launch party for the book. It seems that a great deal of money has already been invested in this novel, with more to be spent, as Sarah Weinman reported recently in The Guardian’s books blog:

Over the Christmas holidays [American novelist Jed] Rubenfeld’s dissector, Jeffrey Trachtenberg of the Wall Street Journal, fixed his reporter’s eye on 2008’s first Buzz King, Tom Rob Smith. Once again, the madlib theory holds: he’s “a little-known, 28-year-old British screenwriter whose credits include working on a Cambodian soap opera” (check), his debut thriller Child 44 garnered $1m and a slew of foreign rights sales from its U.S. publisher, Grand Central (check), the movie rights have been sold to Ridley Scott (super-check) and Grand Central plans an ad campaign that includes New York city transit, television, radio and of course, the internet (ultra-check!). Dear oh dear, it’s going to be awfully hard to make money back on Mr. Rob Smith in America, never mind what Simon & Schuster--his UK publisher--will face having forked over “merely” £200,000 for the privilege of publishing Child 44 this March.

The problem with articles such as this is that they reinforce the short-term amnesia that has become frightfully common for off-the-page books coverage. The reader is supposed to be impressed with the news that Grand Central printed up over 3,000 galleys of Child 44--despite the fact that this is exactly the same number that was printed for [Rubenfeld’s] The Interpretation of Murder, and roughly one-third the number printed and circulated for The Da Vinci Code long before it became a bestselling phenomenon.

With Smith’s Stalinist-era serial-killer thriller having finally reached UK bookshelves (and due out in the States in late April), Simon & Schuster must be relieved that reviewers are giving it their thumbs up. Profiling its 29-year-old author for The Observer, Peter Guttridge calls Child 44 “a thrilling, intense piece of fiction” that had an unlikely start and a not altogether smooth entry into the world:

‘I was reading about real-life cases,’ Smith says. ‘And I stumbled upon Andrei Chikatilo.’ Chikatilo, the Ripper of Rostov, murdered and cannibalised around 55 women and children over a 13-year period beginning in 1977.

Smith makes his protagonist a policeman at first reluctant to investigate, then stymied in his work by the way the state views crime. Kafka in a crime novel is pretty much a first, but Smith thought of his idea originally in film terms. He wrote a treatment for his agent who decided that a spec script from an unknown set in Stalinist Russia would be a hard sell. He suggested Smith write it as a novel.

‘I wondered if I could do it. Then I read Robert Conquest’s The Harvest of Sorrow [about the horrors of the famine imposed on the Ukraine by Stalin and his policies] and thought, well, if the rest is going to be as good as this ...’ For the next two-and-a-half years, Smith researched and wrote ‘in the background’ to his regular freelance work in TV.

‘Although I did visit Russia, my research was absolutely based on the books I read. It helped that I focused on people’s emotional states rather than on physical or geographical detail.’

When he’d finished Child 44, his agent ‘told me it wasn’t finished at all and made me write it again’.

Meanwhile, for The Independent, Barry Forshaw picked Child 44 as one of his 10 favorite crime novels, and The Telegraph’s Susanna Yager called it “a memorable debut,” adding that “The atmosphere of paranoia and paralysing fear is brilliantly portrayed and unremittingly grim.” And the student newspaper at Cambridge, his alma mater, looks toward young Mr. Smith’s future plans:

For now, Smith has put aside screen and TV writing to concentrate on the follow-up to Child 44. Could a classic detective series be in the works? “Possibly there’s a third book there, [but] it’s not something that could go on for, say, seven books. It’s not like you have a protagonist and everyone else disappears and you have a new book with a new adventure and all new people, like a James Bond. The first book is about Leo [Demidov]’s relationship with his wife; the second book is about the family--there’s only so many times you can twist those relationships.” Moreover, he doesn’t see himself specifically as a crime writer: “If I was going to talk about the future, what appeals to me is a good adventure.” He cites Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Conrad, and Graham Greene, as well as filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, as influences. “The crime element might be important, but the adventure side is the key.”

So, on the evening of the Simon & Schuster launch fête--and with a strong feeling of déjà vu--I sauntered over to the Marques of Granby pub in Shaftsbury Avenue to meet novelist Nick Stone (Mr. Clarinet) and his wife, Hyacinth, along with my Shots colleagues Mike Stotter and Ayo Onatade. After some beers, as well as talk about Smith’s novel and its promotion in London tube stops and at bus stops around town, we headed across to Soho and the Union Club, which I seem to have seen a lot of lately (what with the John Harvey launch and the more recent Penguin Books party there). After being herded to the rear room, we were greeted by the Simon & Schuster crew and joined both Forshaw and critic-bookseller Maxim Jakubowski, who had brought his wife (another Child 44 fan, it turns out; she was brought to tears by Smith’s authentic depiction of Russia in the 1950s). We also had the chance to talk briefly with the star of this show, Smith, who looked shell-shocked by all of the attention he’s receiving.

Once we were all gathered, with drinks in hand, Smith’s editor, Suzanne Baboneau (who is also Simon & Schuster UK’s publishing director), took to the podium. She recalled how she’d received the manuscript of Child 44 last year, and despite it having been a rough week, when she dove into Smith’s single-spaced pages her eyes widened and she became trapped in this dark tale. She said, “I just had to have it, as it was like discovering Gorky Park!” She then spent a long time telling everyone how much Simon & Schuster was investing in pushing this book out to readers. I have rarely witnessed such enthusiasm from a publisher translated to commercial actions, especially on behalf of a writer of such youthful years. Baboneau let us know, too, how happy she was to see S&S UK beating Smith’s U.S. publisher, Grand Central, to market with an English edition of this new novel. (She added, however, that the first edition of Child 44 was actually produced in Germany.)

Somewhat nervously, Tom Rob Smith delivered a short speech, in which he tried to thank everyone behind the success of Child 44. He was clearly not accustomed to being in the limelight, but nonetheless seemed happy to have people enjoying his work.

After a rousing and deserved toast to the author, we refilled our glasses and proceeded to mingle, as one must do during these affairs. I got the chance to chat with S&S senior editor Kate Lyall-Grant, who told me that she was the second person to read Smith’s novel--and was no less dazzled by it. We went on to discuss the continuing success of U.S. writer Vince Flynn (Protect and Defend), and how much she had enjoyed seeing Mike Stotter huffing and puffing through Simon & Schuster’s “combat day” last year. Lyall-Grant mentioned, too, that she is very excited about Kitty Sewell’s follow-up to Ice Trap (2007), which is scheduled for publication in Britain later this year.

Finally, after thanking Simon & Schuster’s tireless Joe Pickering for the invitations to this party, Nick and Hyacinth Stone surprised Stotter and I with a treat. Knowing that I was a big fan of singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, the Stones had booked a table for the lot of us at Lee Hook Fook’s Chinese Restaurant in London’s Chinatown. That eatery was of course immortalized by Zevon in his popular 1978 song “Werewolves of London.” What else could I order, while we talked about the often frustrating vagaries of publishing, but a plate of beef chow mein?

To see more photographs from the Child 44 launch party, click here.

The Birth of a “Child”

I recently expressed my enthusiasm on this page for the remarkable debut thriller, Child 44, from 28-year-old British novelist Tom Rob Smith. But apparently, I’m not the only reader captivated by Smith’s dark, Soviet-era tale. Child 44’s first territorial release was in Germany, where it zoomed to third place on hardcover bestseller lists after more than 40,000 copies were purchased in the first three weeks of its release--a remarkable achievement for a premiere novel by a writer who’s so damned young.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, I just read at The Bookseller’s Web site that Smith’s novel will be ubiquitous at supermarket chain stores, when the book is released here in March. Smith’s British publisher is planning a huge advertising campaign:

Sainsbury’s will be promoting Simon & Schuster’s much-hyped literary thriller Child 44 at its check-outs, the first time it has done so with a hardback title.Tom Rob Smith’s Stalin-era literary novel is published on 3rd March and 30,000 copies of the book have been supplied to retailers. The title will go straight into Sainsbury’s, Asda and Tesco’s charts display. It will be promoted front of store at W.H. Smith and placed in its chart, with the travel wing putting it into its 2 for £20 promotion.

Amid all of this excitement, and just after Smith returned home from meetings in Los Angeles, Simon & Schuster’s Joe Pickering arranged for the young novelist to speak with The Rap Sheet about his debut work, his reading tastes, and his history of screenwriting. But before we dive into that interview, let me just say three words: believe the hype. Child 44 is truly scary, and it’s full of insights into the good and bad that lurk at the core of what it means to be human.

Ali Karim: Can you tell us a little about your early reading and the works that inspired you to take up the pen?

Tom Rob Smith: I couldn’t name a single author who made me want to write. There was no epiphany after having finished a particular book. I don’t think as a child I made any distinction between the appeal of watching movies and television, as opposed to reading books. I’m not sure I make any distinction now. I wanted to work in fiction, making stuff up, creating stories--I guess that’s what it boils down to. To that extent, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were probably as influential as Roald Dahl in nudging me towards becoming a writer.

AK: So who encouraged your reading and future writing?

TRS: Obviously, I owe my parents a great deal. They both ran their own business, which they started from scratch, so they always understood how difficult being freelance is. I remember, after I’d graduated, and didn’t have much money, I was struggling not to buckle to the pressure of getting a steady job. My parents were very good at persuading me to brave it out. I should also mention my drama teacher at school, Mr. Jolly, [who] gave me a great opportunity--he staged a one-hour play that I’d written. I’m very grateful to him. In fact, I’m grateful to all the wonderful teachers I had, in whatever subject.

AK: I see that you started out as a screenwriter. Why did screenwriting appealed to you?

TRS: In fact, I started work on long-running television shows. My first job was as a story editor on Family Affairs. I then did some work on a drama series, Bad Girls. I then started to win some interesting freelance commissions. At that point I was able to work from home, which was when I started writing movie scripts. Screenwriting is very disciplined. Something of that discipline, I hope, has crossed over into my prose writing.

AK: Any films that made an impression on your psyche?

TRS: Anything by Spielberg, [George] Lucas, Robert Zemeckis … and later on, James Cameron, Ridley Scott: I like big adventure stories, which, in some ways, is how I see Child 44.

AK: And what’s this about your writing in Cambodia?

TRS: I was hired by the BBC World Service Trust to help storyline Cambodia’s first soap opera. The BBC WST sets up these soaps to transmit important health messages, such as about HIV/AIDS. I spent six months working on the show in Cambodia, writing alongside a team of Khmer writers. The show was a huge hit and an incredible experience.

AK: What other screenwriting projects have you tackled?

TRS: I adapted a really great Jeff Noon short story called “Somewhere the Shadow,” which is currently with a film company called Qwerty, who have just produced The Duchess. We’re hoping that movie will go into production sometime soon. It’s a science-fiction thriller. I also sold an original script called Put Together to Dan Films, and they’re currently trying to attach a director.

AK: I understand that Child 44 was inspired by the real-life Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. How did that come about?

TRS: I was researching “Somewhere the Shadow.” The short story is about a future world where serial killers can be rendered safe by a neuro-surgical procedure. In order to understand what that procedure might be, I had to try and find out what lay behind these crimes, how these people might be “made safe.” I stumbled across the real-life case of Andrei Chikatilo and I thought it would make the great basis for a story.

AK: Has your reading often taken you into the crime/thriller genre? And if so, what sort of books have appealed to you?

TRS: Most of my reading for Child 44 has been non-fiction, rather than, say, other thrillers. More generally, I’ve never really been particularly loyal to any genre. There isn’t any kind of book I wouldn’t read. I guess I feel a little under-read compared to many crime/thriller lovers. I’ve read everything by Thomas Harris: my copy of The Silence of the Lambs literally broke apart, I read it so many times. Thomas Harris is an incredible writer. Hannibal Lecter is a great character. I’ve also recently really enjoyed Dan Brown, Dean Koontz, Lee Child, [and] Scott Turow.

AK: What is it about serial killers that you think appeals to modern readers and filmgoers alike?

TRS: There is the puzzle element: killers leaving clues and detectives trying to piece those clues together. That side is always fun, but a serial-killer story can also cut into society in an interesting way. The case embodies something of the society in which the crimes happen--whether its issues of racism, or corruption, or [as] in Child 44, the political ideologies of the time.

AK: Child 44 appears to have been heavily researched. So, are you interested in the Stalinist period of Russian history? And I thought you might also be familiar with George Orwell’s 1984--am I right?

TRS: I hope it doesn’t appear too heavily researched. I was keen to make the research feel light. Yes, Orwell’s novel 1984 is an amazing book, but I can’t say I thought about it very much while I was writing. The world depicted in 1984 is very stylized. I’ve tried to make the world of Stalinist Russia feel less far away--this is about real events, and events that took place not that long ago.

AK: The characters in your novel are quite vibrant, whether it’s the husband and wife duo of Leo and Raisa Demidov, or the villains of the piece, such as Vasili. How critical was it to go so deeply into characterization?

TRS: If you get the combination of characters right, you can draw enormous drama from very confined spaces. It means you don’t always have to stage an action set piece to generate excitement. Characters are absolutely critical. They’re the reason you care.

AK: Sometimes the most despicable traits of villains are not always the most visceral. I found the scene in which Vasili and his men ransack Leo Demidov’s apartment, while Leo watches Vasili rummage through Raisa’s underwear, sniffing the contents, probably the most disturbing and repellent part of the novel. Do you agree?

TRS: Yes, that is horrible! You’re right, though: paradoxically, depictions of violence can often become less disturbing the more graphic it becomes.

AK: Did you have to plot out Child 44 extensively, or did the narrative flow naturally?

TRS: I was working from a detailed treatment, but all the way through I’d be making changes, coming up with better ideas. It’s a combination of both extensive groundwork and then abandoning lots of that work and making up changes as I went along.

AK: On a technical note, I see that you abandoned the usual “speech markings” and instead reverted to italics, preceded by a dash, to show when something is in dialogue. Was this due to your screenwriting bias, or were you trying to suggest a Russian translation? Or was there some other reason for this?

TRS: You’re right on both counts. I was concerned about putting in speech marks, because, obviously, it’s not in Russian. And you’re right again: I did want to borrow from screenplays, where the dialogue is visually very distinct from the stage directions. I hope that doesn’t come across as just empty experimentalism. I thought it might make the dialogue read easier.

AK: Did you perhaps write Child 44 originally as a screenplay, as it does flow in a very cinematic format?

TRS: I wrote it as a treatment. I never wrote the screenplay. Instead of turning it into a screenplay, I turned the treatment into a novel, at the suggestion of my film agent.

AK: So tell me how you got Child 44 into print, as the book was subject to numerous hype-fueled rumors following the big London Book Fair last year?

TRS: This is a case where the truth is probably less interesting than the rumors. In fact, I’m not even sure I know what the rumors are. It was a very straightforward sale. It was sent out to a clutch of publishers. Three ended up bidding for it, and Simon & Schuster UK won. By the time of the London Book Fair, it was being bought internationally. Those sales proceeded along very similar lines.

AK: And what about the film rights? Have you had any involvement in the coming film production?

TRS: [The novel] was sent out by my agent, St. John Donald (United Agents) and Bob Bookman (CAA). The same process again; I think there were three bidders. [20th Century] Fox and Ridley Scott won. I’ve just met the Fox team when I was in L.A. They’re incredible. Although he wasn’t there this time, I’ve had breakfast with Ridley Scott before. He’s a wonderful guy. Very generous, and he’s made some of [my] favorite movies of all time. They’ve hired Richard Price to adapt it, so it’s in the best possible hands.

AK: Has the recent U.S. screenwriters strike affected your own work?

TRS: The strike has meant no film or television work. But I’ve been working on the follow-up to Child 44. … Obviously, the strike has delayed Richard Price.

AK: I see that the legendary screenwriter-director Robert Towne has spoken highly of Child 44. What was his involvement in getting this work to market?

TRS: He read the novel after it had sold. As part of the film submissions [process], he was sent the manuscript by [agent] Bob Bookman. We then spoke on the phone and he had some great ideas. I fed lots of his thoughts into the book during the editing process. Robert Towne has been incredibly generous with his time. I met him for the first time last week and he’s just the most wonderful guy, in addition to being a writing hero of mine. I gave him a copy of the UK first edition as (small) thanks for taking the time to talk to me back in April 2007.

AK: At times your book shows great compassion, despite its dark subject matter. How careful were you to ensure that you didn’t fall into the pathos trap?

TRS: I think I’m quite sentimental. I don’t think of sentimentality as a bad thing. There’s good sentimental and bad sentimental. It’s like anything--you either pull it off, or you don’t. I guess because I’m aware that I have a sentimental streak, I’m always looking to make sure it’s kept in balance, and that it never topples into excess.

AK: I see that you have traveled extensively. How important is travel in broadening a writer’s canvas?

TRS: I think there’s a danger in thinking that if you travel around the world enough times, you’re going to end up with a novel at the bottom of your rucksack. Child 44 is a book that owes almost everything to [my] reading and only a tiny amount to traveling.

AK: Have you sold rights yet for a Russian edition?

TRS: No. … I think we’re at 26 countries [that have bought the rights] so far, but not … Russia.

AK: You mentioned before that you’re working on a sequel to Child 44. Are you very far along in that yet?

TRS: I should have it finished in a couple of months. I’m very excited about it.

AK: Do you feel any pressure about delivering book number two, given how much hype and expectation were attached to your debut?

TRS: The pressures have changed. With the first book, I had the pressure of not being paid and wondering if I was wasting my time. With the second book, I have the pressure of meeting expectations, which is, in many ways, a much easier pressure to deal with than the pressure of writing a first book.

AK: And what books have passed over your reading table recently?

TRS: I just finished [Robert Louis Stevenson’s] Kidnapped, which I loved--another great adventure story. I don’t know why it’s always seen as a children’s book. In addition to that, I have a bunch of research books I’m working on. In a secondhand bookshop in Seattle, I found a first edition … of The Gulag Archipelago. I’d previously only read the Harvill abridged version, so now I’m reading the missing chapters.

AK: Finally, what do you do to relax these days?

TRS: I watch movies. I used to run, but I hurt my knee. I live very near the river, so I like to walk by the Thames. Once all the promotion is done on Child 44, I’m thinking about buying a dog.

(Author photo courtesy of C.J. Bauer/Simon & Schuster UK)

From Russia with Death

Books preceded by hype usually put me off. And many, if not most, heavily promoted debut works never live up to their public relations budgets. But 2008 is shaping up to be an exceptional year for crime-fiction introductions. First, we had Stieg Larsson’s stunning The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Quercus). Now we have Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith, which I originally heard about only in hushed rumors, spread during last year’s London Book Fair. After the excitement of speaking with Dean Koontz via Margaret Atwood’s LongPen device, though, Smith’s novel slipped my mind.

Then came a post from British literary agent Simon Trewin. He explained that the troubled literary agency PFD, which has lately been in the news almost as much as its authors, had signed the promising Smith to its stable:

PFD fielded a large team in the International Rights Centre with Tom Rob Smith’s thriller CHILD 44 scooping the pool as the hottest book of the fair with a large number of deals being done worldwide. Ridley Scott snapped up the film rights 48 hours before the fair began and PFD’s new Adult Foreign Rights Director, Jessica Craig, and Tom Rob Smith’s literary agent, James Gill, were soon besieged by publishers keen to read and bid for this exceptional debut.

Still, I remained skeptical, if for no other reason than that the previously unknown Smith is a couple of years shy of his 30th birthday. It took a conversation with Lee Child (Bad Luck and Trouble) to make me more optimistic. Child had provided a complimentary blurb for Smith’s first novel (“An amazing debut--rich, different, fully formed, mature ... and thrilling.”), and his enthusiasm for this forthcoming work was infectious.

Well, having now read Child 44, I’m willing to say--oh so subtly--that it is a brilliant debut novel that had me clutching it with both hands as if my life depended on reading it in a single night. (How’s that for subtlety?) What makes this book so bewitching? First of all, its backdrop: the Soviet Union during Joseph Stalin’s cruel 20th-century regime, during which the Russian people were enslaved by poverty and paranoia. This is a most interesting canvas against which to pitch the fictional hunt for a child-murdering serial slayer, because the Soviet state refuses to credit the existence of any such crime amid its Communist nirvana. Secondly, we can’t forget the characters in this tale, especially Leo Demidov, a respected secret policeman, and his wife, Raisa, who find themselves on the wrong end of state politics when the case of a murdered child turns to obsession. They discover that a death on a railway track was not the accident that local authorities concluded. Nor is it an isolated case, for a trail of child murder snakes along the USSR’s railway system, showing the work of a seriously deranged mind, or minds. Finally, Child 44 is remarkable for how Smith portrays the cruelty of the instruments of the state oppressing its people with the threat of the Gulag, and contrasts all of that against the compassion and strength of the human spirit.

In this story loosely based on the case of prolific Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, “the Red Ripper,” we find Leo and Raisa exiled from their privileged home in Moscow to the freezing hinterlands. After an operation to capture a Soviet veterinary surgeon (and suspected spy) goes terribly wrong, Leo finds himself under scrutiny from his superiors, due in large measure to professional jealously on the part of a subordinate, the banally evil Vasili Ilyich Nikitin. The brutality of this book is shocking, but it’s placed into context of the terrible extremes of the Stalinist era. Concealed in the darkness, Smith shows a warmth and insight into the good within people who struggle against tyranny.

Child 44 feels very well researched, but the level of detail is not thrown in your face; rather, it’s painted subtly into the plot, enriching the narrative and giving fresh dimension to the hunt for a serial murderer. At some times this yarn is harrowing, at other times terrifying. And on occasion, it brings you to tears. I was concerned that the ambition of the book’s first half might not be sustained in the second half, but my concerns were for naught. The tension and terror of Child 44 is striated evenly throughout the narrative, all the way till the chilling and satisfying dénouement. This debut work might be looked at as part Martin Cruz Smith, part Thomas Harris, part Robert Harris, with a smattering of George Orwell thrown in. I really do not want to reveal anymore, for fear of spoiling one of this year’s greatest literary treats.

In a piece about Ridley Scott optioning Child 44 for the big screen, Variety reports that Tom Rob Smith’s first novel will not be his last:

Set in Stalinist Russia, [the] storyline revolves around an officer in the secret police who is framed by a colleague for treason. On the run with his emotionally estranged wife, he stumbles upon a series of child killings and launches his own rogue investigation, even though it means risking his own capture.

Scott Free president Michael Costigan and senior VP of production Michael Ellenberg brought in the project. At Fox 2000, Carla Hacken helped drive the deal.

Smith, a Cambridge graduate, has written for several British television shows, including “Doctors” and “Dream Team.” He also penned the story for Cambodia’s first-ever soap opera for the BBC World Service Trust.

Considering that author Smith is British, I’m pleased to see that Child 44 will be published on this side of the Atlantic (by Simon & Schuster) in March, more than a month before it goes on sale in the States (where it’s being published by Grand Central). It will be a nail-biting wait for the Americans, because this debut is one beautifully wild ride. For once, believe the hype.

(Author photo courtesy of C.J. Bauer/Simon & Schuster UK)