Child 44

I really liked the way the author brought the terrors of Stalinist Russia to life. The fear, the resignation, the apathy. Well researched. The story itself was not so much to my liking, but interesting enough to keep me reading on. The characters seemed pretty real with their own agendas and motivations. What bugged me was that we didn't get to know what Vasili's personal problem with Leo was. Was it purely a competition thing? Or a way to show his obsessive and psychotic character? The transformation of Leo was nicely done, didn't seem too far fetched and was neatly explained by his tendency to selective perception through his childhood experience. All in all a good read with vivid descriptions, but I would have wished for a stronger crime story.