A very refreshing debut novel from Tom Rob Smith, set in Stalinist Russia. The writing is very direct and to the point. It pulls the reader deeper and deeper into the contradiction that was a crime free Communist Russia and one mans quest to undercover a serial killer, that the State denies even exists. A great first novel and an author to look out for in the future.
Synopsis
MGB officer Leo is a man who never questions the Party Line. He arrests whomever he is told to arrest. He dismisses the horrific death of a young boy because he is told to, because he believes the Party stance that there can be no murder in Communist Russia. Leo is the perfect soldier of the regime. But suddenly his confidence that everything he does serves a great good is shaken. He is forced to watch a man he knows to be innocent be brutally tortured. And then he is told to arrest his own wife. Leo understands how the State works: Trust and check, but check particularly on those we trust. He faces a stark choice: his wife or his life. And still the killings of children continue...
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