The Child Thief
As seen:
By Dan Smith
avg rating
1 review
‘This is a pursuit thriller of the highest quality, reminiscent of the classic of the genre, Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male’ Irish Independent
‘Both an engrossing thriller and the story of a man struggling in the grip of historical events that he only partially understands’ Sunday Times
In the snow, death is not the coldest thing waiting for you…
From out of the whiteness, a dark figure comes…
December, 1930, Ukraine. After the horrors of war, Luka wants a quiet life with his family. His village has, so far, remained hidden from the advancing Soviet brutality – but everything changes the day a stranger arrives, pulling a sled bearing a terrible cargo: the bodies of two children. When the villagers’ fear turns deadly, they think they have saved themselves. And then a little girl vanishes.
Luka is the only man with the skills to find the stolen child in these frozen lands. And though his toughest enemy is the man he tracks through the harsh winter landscape, his strongest bond is a promise to his family back home…
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A terrific pursuit thriller which, although it’s set in December 1930, has a topical vibe because it’s set in Western Ukraine. Luka, a veteran of WW1 and the Russian Civil War, just wants to live a quiet life with his family. But the Soviets are advancing, either razing villages to the ground and killing their inhabitants, or deporting people to labour camps. When a girl from Luka’s village goes missing he agrees to try and find her and sets off with his two sons to search. But before long they realise the child has been abducted and they’re actually tracking a ruthless criminal. I found this atmospheric and gripping, but should warn you that it's gruesome too.
Review by: Pink Alpaca, Oundle Crime
