DP54Cover - Deadly Pleasures

Further, all conversation was done without attribution and
in italics without use of quotation marks.
So much for first impressions. Smith has told a
remarkable story here, one that deserves every word he
was using to give us the background necessary to get the
story to its gripping conclusion. This is a compelling (a word
I do not use all that often) tale that moves along in such a
suspenseful fashion that it is truly difficult to believe this is
a first novel. Furthermore, Smith does this with such well
developed characters that the reader’s emotions are
tossed from side to side as the protagonist, Leo Stepanovich
Demidov, is at first reviled as a tool of the Soviet State in
1953 and then as the only one with the courage to stand
up and fight for the truth to be known. This, in an era of
Stalinist oppression and persecution, where the State can
do no wrong and an individual can do no right.
The insight into the Soviet Union under Stalin,
with its torture and wholesale murder of innocents who
dare speak a word against the government, is frightening,
to say the least. Smith evokes this era with a sure hand,
showing a dictator without mercy and a populace wrapped
in fear of family and neighbors turning them in for the
slightest offense. For many there is simply no hope while
Stalin lives. For others, they try to take advantage of
opportunities to rid themselves of hated enemies.
Meanwhile, Smith keeps the surprises coming as
no one is who he or she appears to be, and events turn on
themselves and morph into something more dangerous
than first believed. While there are some pretty amazing
coincidences, for once they do not actually mar the story,
but rather enhance it. So for a book this engrossing, this
thrilling, this dynamic, this energetic and fast-paced, I
guess I can easily overlook some missing quotation marks.
Rating: A
Larry Gandle
Leo Demidov is a member of the feared MGB or
State Security force in Stalin’s Soviet Union. He is a very
competent, ruthless and powerful inspector with an aptitude
for solving crimes. He is also a well-respected military
hero and married to a beautiful woman. With the perks
that go with his job, life for Leo is as good as it gets in Soviet
Russia. It is this well structured and enviable life that comes
crashing down when his wife is declared a spy and Leo is
asked to investigate her activities. Anything short of proof
of her guilt will not go well for Leo and his parents. Adding
to the pressure of his current situation, Leo is haunted by
the deaths of young children, who appear to have been
killed by a serial killer. Problem: the strict party line is that
there are no serial killers in the worker’s paradise. If the
party were to be proved wrong, party officials would not
be happy. Nevertheless, Leo feels compelled to solve
these crimes no matter the cost.
Tom Rob Smith, in his debut effort, has given us
a vivid glimpse into the lives of the Soviet people under the
Stalinist regime. It is a world based on fear and suspicion
, where members of the society are almost always doomed
to failure. Thankfully, it is now only of historical interest .
Deadly Pleasures
23
Yet, there is a sense of
originality to the novel
despite the setting,
which most of us are
familiar with, having
lived through the Cold
War.
The story is absorbing
and the characters well
fleshed out. Some of the
printing and writing
techniques are a bit unorthodox,
such as dialogue
written in italics
without quotation
marks, and points of
view changing from one
paragraph to another.
These are not necessarily
problems in that they
were done intentionally
Tom Rob Smith
and result in something
of a unique style. In future works I would hope that Smith
tightens up the plot and leaves out some or all of the
lengthy, descriptive segments of the book that were
pointless and only served to bulk up the number of pages.
We may not learn as much about the background of the
story, but the pacing would be greatly improved. In my
world, pacing trumps boring description every day.
There is a lot of buzz in the publishing world about
this book and much of it is warranted. It is a worthwhile
read, not only for thriller fans, but for those who love a
solid, all-encompassing historical novel that seems to nail
an era that is thankfully long gone. Rating: A-
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