The Secret Speech - Tom Rob Smith

The Secret Speech
Tom Rob Smith
Simon & Schuster

Former MGB officer Leo Demidov returns in this fast paced action packed novel. Three years after Child 44, the Soviet Union is undergoing dramatic change. Stalin is dead and his successor Khrushchev pledges an end to the violent regime via a secret speech. A speech that once known to the general public, will reveal the extent of the cruelty and torture inflicted on the Soviet people.

In the midst of such potential upheavel, Leo finds himself yet on another impossible mission, fighting to save his family and himself from the ghosts of his past. He travels from the Siberian Gulags, to the belly of the Soviet underworld and finally the Hungarian revolution.

Throughout the book Smith raises some interesting questions. At times of great cruelty and injustice, who are the people that are really to blame: The system that allows and even encourages such behaviour; the perpetrators that actively take part in it; or those who stand by and do nothing. All dictators manage to reign through fear and the reluctance of masses to do anything. One cannot exist without the other, hence when serving out punshment, how wide should the net be spread?

Another issue which I found interesting was the effect of long term anger and bitterness on the individual's heart. Freara's (Leo's antagonist) single minded revenge on losing her child had blackened her heart to the point that she seemed void of any other human emotion with devastating result.

After reading Child 44 I had high expectations from this book which unfortunately for me Smith did not meet. He did not offer the reader anything new, just more of the same as Child 44. The Secret Speech is still a thoroughly enjoyable read delivered at a fast and furious pace in short punchy chapters.

For me, it was good but not great, enjoyable but not special.