Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Child 44
- Child 44, Book 1
- Narrated by: Jamie Parker
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
Buy Now for £12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
OVER 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD
AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER IN OVER 30 LANGUAGES
A THRILLER UNLIKE ANY YOU HAVE EVER LISTENED TO
MOSCOW, 1953.
Under Stalin’s terrifying regime, families live in fear. When the all-powerful State claims there is no such thing as crime, who dares disagree?
An ambitious secret police officer, Leo Demidov believes he’s helping to build the perfect society. But when he uncovers evidence of a killer at large – a threat the state won’t admit exists – Demidov must risk everything, including the lives of those he loves, in order to expose the truth.
But what if the danger isn’t from the killer he is trying to catch, but from the country he is fighting to protect?
Nominated for seventeen international awards and inspired by a real-life investigation, CHILD 44 is a relentless story of love, hope and bravery in a totalitarian world. From the screenwriter of the acclaimed television series, THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY.
What listeners say about Child 44
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sophie
- 14-08-24
Fantastic story
A fabulous story with a lot of history based on life during the Stalin era. Couldn’t stop listening to it
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pauline C.
- 29-11-23
Distracting sounds
Brilliant thriller.
However, the reader repeatedly makes a lot of what I can only describe as 'wet mouth sounds' - i.e audible swallowing of saliva, wetting of lips, slimy mouth smacking at the beginning of a sentence.
Horribly off-putting and difficult to stay immersed in the story when I'm constantly feeling repulsed and uncomfortable. It's something I can only put down to lazy editing as, having a large audible library, this is something I've never encountered - presumably because such sounds get diligently edited out.
Such a shame, makes it a chore to sit through in some parts.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 18-03-23
Outstanding narrative.
This is the best book that I have listen to on Audible for a long time. Despite there being many twists and turns in the plot the story was totally believable. The impression was so similar to an actual historical account that I believed in the plot entirely. Although fiction I feel that I have been given insight to what it was like to live in the Soviet Union of the era.
The narration was well paced and sympathetic to the text.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Frank Mc
- 02-04-23
Fantastic Story.
I've read the book numerous times and now bought the audio book trilogy. i thoroughly recommend the them. To hear of the lengths these people had to resort to in order to survive, be it famine or the State is humbling. T. R. Smith thank you for introducing me to an insight into 20th Century Russia
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 06-10-23
Gripping stuff
I have read the book and then watched the film - and now enjoyed the audio. What I love about the whole experience is how Tom Rob Smith captures a time in such a way - we feel so immersed in. Now, if we are to understand Russia of today we must see it raw and unformed in the past.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeffrey Healy
- 27-01-23
Fantastic thriller!
A very sobering insight into Stalinist Russia and how corruption penetrates every level of society.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Blue_23
- 28-08-23
More compelling, thought provoking than enjoyable
Authors want to capture their audience in their first lines, first chapter, and Tom Rob Smith certainly does that. The story opens in 1933. Two starving young children hunt, ensnare an emancipated cat for food, but they were not alone hunting for meat, the older brother is taken, such is the existence of families during the Ukraine famine.
Fast forward twenty years and a series of horrific child murders are taking place but as 'there is no crime' in this totalitarian society, there is no official investigation.
This is a bleak but compelling, all too believable portrayal of life under Starlin's grim regime where 'for the greater good' people live in fear of the state, where no-one is above suspicion, where presumption of guilt not innocence is the norm.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- cliffaw
- 14-02-23
Suffer Little Children
This made me think long and hard as to why I choose to listen to so many books featuring murder as their theme. I can't say i 'enjoyed' this book, very well written though it is, and it would be a strange person that claimed they were 'entertained' by it. There are so many 'victims' here and we are introduced to them personally before whatever trauma happens to befall them. This is a difficult listen and is not for the faint of heart.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 13-06-23
Excellent brutal human drama
I loved it. I came in cold knowing nothing about these books and downloaded the rest of his work straight after. Motors along without a second wasted and includes some of the best action scenes I’ve read in ages along with crime drama, soviet history exploration and general human drama. The idea of solving a crime when the soviet system means you can’t admit a crime can exist gives a really interesting twist to a neat and perfectly crafted crime thriller. Just buy it’s great
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 05-06-23
Loved it.
As I was listening to this book I wanted everybody I spoke to to read it and have now bought a couple of copies to give to friends and family. Narration is great, story is fantastic.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful