A review by d_audy
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A very dark dive into one of the very dark periods of the Soviet Union, loosely inspired by the life of a true Russian serial killer.  The story is relentless and well plotted, the mystery isn't the hardest to puzzle out but it's not the main focus of this psychological thriller that throws a realistic, uncompromising eye on the horrors of WWII and its aftermath in Eastern Europe, and on the paranoia, dehumanization and constant oppression of the last years of the Stalinian regime through the eyes of an officer of the MGB (the precursor of the better known KGB) caught in a spiral of events that may end costing him everything.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Police brutality, War, Child death, Classism, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence