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A review by nella580
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
4.0
For me, Child 44 was one of those un-put-downable books that I hated to leave behind as I went to bed at night and as I went about my daily chores, unable to spend 24/7 gulping it down. The story was so much fun that I'm willing to forgive this book quite a few faults.
The plot of Child 44 is very reminiscent of The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo, however, in my opinion, Stieg Larsson does a better job as a writer than Tom Rob Smith does. One of the main reasons, I think, is that Larsson wrote what he knew. He was a Swedish journalist who wrote a story about a Swedish journalist. He didn't deviate too far from his comfort zone while still creating an imaginative thriller. I always say that authors who have no experience with a foreign culture should not write about said culture as they're likely to twist and butcher it into something stereotypical and unrecognizable. And I did find lots of problems with Smith's portrayal of Stalin's Russia. Much of the Child 44 story wasn't particularly believable. Character emotions, personalities and reactions were tailored more to American standards rather than what people at that time, in that country would have done and thought. Even character names are uncommon, unpopular and downright ridiculous at times. Vitali Kozlovich Kapler apparently had a father whose name was "Goat," as that's what his patronymic would translate to. Things like this tend to bother me a lot, but in this particular book they were only minor annoyances as I was so intrigued by the plot, that these inaccuracies didn't matter.
Smith also is guilty of a lot of "telling instead of showing," a common and annoying author mistake in fiction. For example, when describing Leo and Raisa's wedding, Smith specifically tells his readers that there were no vows and no ceremony and that they simply signed their papers before witnesses. Why would something like this be stated outright in a book that's told from the perspective of the characters rather than from the "fly on the wall" perspective? This particular section is set from the perspective of Leo, the protagonist. Leo wouldn't think a phrase like that. Leo would take for granted that his ceremony is different from the traditional, American ceremony. Describing the ceremony as well as Leo and Raisa's emotions and reactions would have served a better purpose of not only allowing the reader to see the difference in the marriage tradition, but would have stayed true to the style of writing that Smith chose to use for this novel.
But, nitpicking aside, I very much enjoyed reading this book. It was fun, exciting and suspenseful, which makes it count as a success in my book. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the Stieg Larsson Millennium (AKA TGWTDT) series and to anyone who likes a fun thriller.
The plot of Child 44 is very reminiscent of The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo, however, in my opinion, Stieg Larsson does a better job as a writer than Tom Rob Smith does. One of the main reasons, I think, is that Larsson wrote what he knew. He was a Swedish journalist who wrote a story about a Swedish journalist. He didn't deviate too far from his comfort zone while still creating an imaginative thriller. I always say that authors who have no experience with a foreign culture should not write about said culture as they're likely to twist and butcher it into something stereotypical and unrecognizable. And I did find lots of problems with Smith's portrayal of Stalin's Russia. Much of the Child 44 story wasn't particularly believable. Character emotions, personalities and reactions were tailored more to American standards rather than what people at that time, in that country would have done and thought. Even character names are uncommon, unpopular and downright ridiculous at times. Vitali Kozlovich Kapler apparently had a father whose name was "Goat," as that's what his patronymic would translate to. Things like this tend to bother me a lot, but in this particular book they were only minor annoyances as I was so intrigued by the plot, that these inaccuracies didn't matter.
Smith also is guilty of a lot of "telling instead of showing," a common and annoying author mistake in fiction. For example, when describing Leo and Raisa's wedding, Smith specifically tells his readers that there were no vows and no ceremony and that they simply signed their papers before witnesses. Why would something like this be stated outright in a book that's told from the perspective of the characters rather than from the "fly on the wall" perspective? This particular section is set from the perspective of Leo, the protagonist. Leo wouldn't think a phrase like that. Leo would take for granted that his ceremony is different from the traditional, American ceremony. Describing the ceremony as well as Leo and Raisa's emotions and reactions would have served a better purpose of not only allowing the reader to see the difference in the marriage tradition, but would have stayed true to the style of writing that Smith chose to use for this novel.
But, nitpicking aside, I very much enjoyed reading this book. It was fun, exciting and suspenseful, which makes it count as a success in my book. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the Stieg Larsson Millennium (AKA TGWTDT) series and to anyone who likes a fun thriller.