Secret Speech

Tom Rob Smith's follow-up to Child 44 is set in post-Stalinist Russia where Khrushchev – Stalin’s successor - denounces his master as a tyrant and a murderer. This ‘Secret Speech’ causes a massive backlash against the MGB and the past rises up to confront former MGB agent now homicide detective Leo Demidov. People connected to an arrest at the beginning of Leo’s career are committing suicide and the person at the center of the spider’s web has a agenda against Leo, his family and particularly his daughter Zoya. Smith’s chilling glimpse into Soviet Russia on the eve of great upheaval repels and attracts in equal measure. Difficult to put down.