Friday, May 28, 2010

Child 44

I just finished the book Child 44, the story of a Secret Police Operative in Communist Russia, Leo. Leo is at the top of the game with a promising career until he receives the order to investigate his wife Raisa under suspicion of being a traitor. He knows that if he claims Raisa is a traitor, then she will be killed but he will survive. If he denounces Raisa, then not only he but his parents as well will be killed or sent to work camps. Leo is prepared to denounce her when he finds out that she is present. He decides to say that she was not a traitor, and waits to be arrested. But it is months before that day comes. Finally, when he believes that he is about to be executed, he is taken in to headquarters and reassigned. He is sent down to a small town where he is given the role of simple beat cop. He thinks his life is over, until he stumbles upon the murder of a child. Then another. And another, all killed in the same way. Suddenly, he and his wife are deep into an investigation that leads them back to their old life in Moscow. With all the odds against them, they still must find a way to stop a cold-blooded child killer.

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