Smith's first 'Demidov' novel is fast-paced, gory, and packed with action. Moreover, it offers a slice of Russian history that is dramatised enough to take anyone's interest. But of course, there are issues with this book. As other reviewers have pointed out, the book is quite liberally laden with stereotypes, and the ending feels excessively 'neat and tidy' (in other words, rather unrealistic). Nonetheless, I love how the attention given to Demidov's wife, Raisa's, psyche. The way that their relationship alters throughout the novel is one of its more believable and affecting aspects. Some moments of Child 44 (for example, the train to the Gulags) are fantastically pacy and genuinely gripping, and you'll find you don't want them to end. But they do, and you're left with a bit of a lack-lustre climax.