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Leo Demidov #3
賲丕賲賵乇 鄱
Tom Rob Smith鈥攖he bestselling, award-winning author of Child 44, and one of the most critically-acclaimed new writers of our time鈥攔eturns with a thrilling and provocative new novel: Agent 6.
How far would you go to solve a crime against your family?
It is 1965. Leo Demidov, a former secret police agent, is forbidden to travel with his wife and daughters from Moscow to New York. They are part of a "Peace Tour," meant to foster closer relations between the two Cold War enemies. On the tour, Leo's family is caught up in a conspiracy and betrayal that ends in tragedy. In the horrible aftermath, Leo demands one thing: that he be allowed to investigate and find the attacker that struck at the heart of his family on foreign soil. From the highest levels of the Soviet government, he is told No, that is impossible. Leo is haunted by the question: what happened in New York?
In a surprising, epic story that spans decades and continents鈥攆rom 1950s Moscow to 1960s America to the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s鈥擫eo's long pursuit of justice will force him to confront everything he ever thought he knew about his country, his family, and himself.
How far would you go to solve a crime against your family?
It is 1965. Leo Demidov, a former secret police agent, is forbidden to travel with his wife and daughters from Moscow to New York. They are part of a "Peace Tour," meant to foster closer relations between the two Cold War enemies. On the tour, Leo's family is caught up in a conspiracy and betrayal that ends in tragedy. In the horrible aftermath, Leo demands one thing: that he be allowed to investigate and find the attacker that struck at the heart of his family on foreign soil. From the highest levels of the Soviet government, he is told No, that is impossible. Leo is haunted by the question: what happened in New York?
In a surprising, epic story that spans decades and continents鈥攆rom 1950s Moscow to 1960s America to the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s鈥擫eo's long pursuit of justice will force him to confront everything he ever thought he knew about his country, his family, and himself.
515 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2011
404 people are currently reading
7,298 people want to read
About the author
Tom Rob Smith
31听books2,149听followersTom Rob Smith (born 1979) is an English writer. The son of a Swedish mother and an English father, Smith was raised in London where he lives today. After graduating from Cambridge University in 2001, he completed his studies in Italy, studying creative writing for a year. After these studies, he worked as a scriptwriter.
His first novel, Child 44, about a series of child murders in Stalinist Russia, appeared in early 2008 and was translated into 17 languages. It was awarded the 2008 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller of the year by the Crime Writer's Association. It was recently a Barnes & Noble recommended book. On July 29, 2008 the book was named on the long list for the 2008 Man Booker Prize. In November 2008, he was nominated for the 2008 Costa First Novel Award (former Whitbread).
Child 44 followed-up by The Secret Speech (2009)and Agent 6 (2011).
Japanese: 銉堛儬 銉儢 銈广儫銈�
His first novel, Child 44, about a series of child murders in Stalinist Russia, appeared in early 2008 and was translated into 17 languages. It was awarded the 2008 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller of the year by the Crime Writer's Association. It was recently a Barnes & Noble recommended book. On July 29, 2008 the book was named on the long list for the 2008 Man Booker Prize. In November 2008, he was nominated for the 2008 Costa First Novel Award (former Whitbread).
Child 44 followed-up by The Secret Speech (2009)and Agent 6 (2011).
Japanese: 銉堛儬 銉儢 銈广儫銈�
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,208 reviews
April 7, 2023
Please, DON鈥橳.
Leo Demidov, retired ex agent of the secret police, leads a tranquil life with his family, with many ups and downs, but peaceful nevertheless. His life turning upside down when a crime and a family tragedy pulls him out of his well deserved but not so appreciated retirement. From Russia, to the United States, up to Afghanistan, in an investigation that carries him through many continents and several decades; Leo will try to find a solution to a crime so difficult to understand as impossible to resolve.
An average sequel, somewhat entertaining, yet pretty tedious from time to time. Far from the great second book, and infinitely farther still from que unforgettable Child 44. The story is good, the execution not so much. This was far longer that it should had been, and it required a lot of patience and discipline to finish it. The awesome thrilling atmosphere of the previous books gone,
The story may be acceptable, but ultimately this is something I wish I had never read. I would鈥檝e preferred with all my soul never knowing what transpired in this book and just stayed with The Secret Speech鈥檚 ending. So if you are reading this, I strongly advise not to read it. Trust me, you don鈥檛 want to have this ending in your memory.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[2011] [469p] [Crime] [Historical] [2.5] [Highly Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
鈽呪槄鈽呪槄鈽� 1. Child 44
鈽呪槄鈽呪槄鈽� 2. The Secret Speech
鈽呪槄鈽呪槅鈽� 3. Agent 6 [2.5]
-----------------------------------------------
Por favor, NO.
Leo Demidov, retirado ex agente de la polic铆a secreta, lleva una vida apacible junto a su familia, con muchos altos y bajos, pero tranquila al fin. Su vida dando un terrible vuelco cuando un crimen y una tragedia familiar lo sacan de su muy merecido pero no tan apreciado retiro. Desde Rusia, a los Estados Unidos, hasta Afganist谩n, en una investigaci贸n que lo lleva a trav茅s de varios continentes y muchas d茅cadas; Leo tratar谩 de encontrar la soluci贸n a un crimen tan dif铆cil de entender como imposible de resolver.
Una secuela promedio, algo entretenida, pero bastante tediosa de a ratos. Lejos de lo que fue el genial segundo libro, e infinitamente m谩s lejos a煤n de lo que fue el inolvidable Ni帽o 44. La historia es buena, la ejecuci贸n no tanto. Esto fue mucho m谩s largo de lo que deber铆a haber sido, y requiri贸 bastante paciencia y disciplina para terminarlo. La genial atm贸sfera de thriller de los libros pasados no estuvo,
La historia tal vez sea aceptable, pero en 煤ltima instancia esto es algo que desear铆a nunca haber le铆do. Hubiera preferido con toda mi alma jam谩s saber lo que transcurri贸 en este libro y haberme quedado con el final de El Discurso Secreto. As铆 que si est谩s leyendo esto, te aconsejo fuertemente no leerlo. Conf铆a en m铆, no quer茅s tener este final en tu memoria.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[2011] [469p] [Crimen] [Hist贸rica] [2.5] [Altamente No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Leo Demidov, retired ex agent of the secret police, leads a tranquil life with his family, with many ups and downs, but peaceful nevertheless. His life turning upside down when a crime and a family tragedy pulls him out of his well deserved but not so appreciated retirement. From Russia, to the United States, up to Afghanistan, in an investigation that carries him through many continents and several decades; Leo will try to find a solution to a crime so difficult to understand as impossible to resolve.
An average sequel, somewhat entertaining, yet pretty tedious from time to time. Far from the great second book, and infinitely farther still from que unforgettable Child 44. The story is good, the execution not so much. This was far longer that it should had been, and it required a lot of patience and discipline to finish it. The awesome thrilling atmosphere of the previous books gone,
The story may be acceptable, but ultimately this is something I wish I had never read. I would鈥檝e preferred with all my soul never knowing what transpired in this book and just stayed with The Secret Speech鈥檚 ending. So if you are reading this, I strongly advise not to read it. Trust me, you don鈥檛 want to have this ending in your memory.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[2011] [469p] [Crime] [Historical] [2.5] [Highly Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
鈽呪槄鈽呪槄鈽� 1. Child 44
鈽呪槄鈽呪槄鈽� 2. The Secret Speech
鈽呪槄鈽呪槅鈽� 3. Agent 6 [2.5]
-----------------------------------------------
Por favor, NO.
Leo Demidov, retirado ex agente de la polic铆a secreta, lleva una vida apacible junto a su familia, con muchos altos y bajos, pero tranquila al fin. Su vida dando un terrible vuelco cuando un crimen y una tragedia familiar lo sacan de su muy merecido pero no tan apreciado retiro. Desde Rusia, a los Estados Unidos, hasta Afganist谩n, en una investigaci贸n que lo lleva a trav茅s de varios continentes y muchas d茅cadas; Leo tratar谩 de encontrar la soluci贸n a un crimen tan dif铆cil de entender como imposible de resolver.
Una secuela promedio, algo entretenida, pero bastante tediosa de a ratos. Lejos de lo que fue el genial segundo libro, e infinitamente m谩s lejos a煤n de lo que fue el inolvidable Ni帽o 44. La historia es buena, la ejecuci贸n no tanto. Esto fue mucho m谩s largo de lo que deber铆a haber sido, y requiri贸 bastante paciencia y disciplina para terminarlo. La genial atm贸sfera de thriller de los libros pasados no estuvo,
La historia tal vez sea aceptable, pero en 煤ltima instancia esto es algo que desear铆a nunca haber le铆do. Hubiera preferido con toda mi alma jam谩s saber lo que transcurri贸 en este libro y haberme quedado con el final de El Discurso Secreto. As铆 que si est谩s leyendo esto, te aconsejo fuertemente no leerlo. Conf铆a en m铆, no quer茅s tener este final en tu memoria.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[2011] [469p] [Crimen] [Hist贸rica] [2.5] [Altamente No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
July 29, 2017
This is the final book in the Leo Demidov triology. The first book - was excellent, the second one - was good but the final book, I am sorry to say, is mediocre at best.
This book starts on the flashback mode and shows how Leo had met Raisa, his wife. You would get to see Leo as a bumbling lovestruck man.Certain portions of the book- where the Soviet officials were trying to convey how great life in the USSR was to a visiting American communist sympathizer, were actually comical.
Then the story shifts from Moscow to New York. If the Soviets suppressed the rights of their citizens in the name of greater good, there were certain elements in the American establishment who used their power to ruin men who did not toe their line also.
The plot revolves around a political conspiracy which had disastrous results for Leo. To be precise, the unintentional consequence ruins him. I do not want to elaborate more as spoilers might seep in.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is also part of the plot. The Soviets commit atrocities on the Afghans and the latter retaliate. The portions depicting these were exciting but the author could have done much better.
The book had all the necessary ingredients for making a decent political thriller - you have spies, rogue FBI agents, murderous Russian special forces, the ISI of Pakistan, the CIA, the Afghan mujahideen, ordinary Afghans who believed in Communism. Despite all these, something was not right.
I liked how the humane side of Leo had been depicted but how he dealt with a certain FBI agent did not make sense to me. One of the recurring themes in the triology - manipulation of the idealists and naive people has been superbly used in this book also.
My biggest complain with the book is Leo's fate. The author had a habit of throwing terrible physical hardships and even worse mental anguish on Leo but here I think he has crossed all limits. I don't understand why the author had to make Leo such a tragic character.
If you are like me i.e. you just have to know what happened to Leo in the final book then go ahead, otherwise I would suggest that if you don't want to spoil the memory of Leo from the previous books then you can skip this one.
Maybe, I am being too severe in my review - if the novel was from any other author I would have given it a 4 star rating but coming from Tom Rob Smith, it did not meet the expectations set by the previous books.
This book starts on the flashback mode and shows how Leo had met Raisa, his wife. You would get to see Leo as a bumbling lovestruck man.Certain portions of the book- where the Soviet officials were trying to convey how great life in the USSR was to a visiting American communist sympathizer, were actually comical.
Then the story shifts from Moscow to New York. If the Soviets suppressed the rights of their citizens in the name of greater good, there were certain elements in the American establishment who used their power to ruin men who did not toe their line also.
The plot revolves around a political conspiracy which had disastrous results for Leo. To be precise, the unintentional consequence ruins him. I do not want to elaborate more as spoilers might seep in.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is also part of the plot. The Soviets commit atrocities on the Afghans and the latter retaliate. The portions depicting these were exciting but the author could have done much better.
The book had all the necessary ingredients for making a decent political thriller - you have spies, rogue FBI agents, murderous Russian special forces, the ISI of Pakistan, the CIA, the Afghan mujahideen, ordinary Afghans who believed in Communism. Despite all these, something was not right.
I liked how the humane side of Leo had been depicted but how he dealt with a certain FBI agent did not make sense to me. One of the recurring themes in the triology - manipulation of the idealists and naive people has been superbly used in this book also.
My biggest complain with the book is Leo's fate. The author had a habit of throwing terrible physical hardships and even worse mental anguish on Leo but here I think he has crossed all limits. I don't understand why the author had to make Leo such a tragic character.
If you are like me i.e. you just have to know what happened to Leo in the final book then go ahead, otherwise I would suggest that if you don't want to spoil the memory of Leo from the previous books then you can skip this one.
Maybe, I am being too severe in my review - if the novel was from any other author I would have given it a 4 star rating but coming from Tom Rob Smith, it did not meet the expectations set by the previous books.
November 6, 2012
Rating: 2* of five
The Book Description: THREE DECADES.
TWO MURDERS.
ONE CONSPIRACY.
WHO IS AGENT 6?
Tom Rob Smith's debut, Child 44, was an immediate publishing sensation and marked the arrival of a major new talent in contemporary fiction. Named one of top 100 thrillers of all time by NPR, it hit bestseller lists around the world, won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and the ITW Thriller Award for Best First Novel, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.听
In this spellbinding new novel, Tom Rob Smith probes the tenuous border between love and obsession as Leo Demidov struggles to untangle the threads of a devastating conspiracy that shatters everything he holds dear. Deftly capturing the claustrophobic intensity of the Cold War-era Soviet Union, it's at once a heart-pounding thriller and a richly atmospheric novel of extraordinary depth....
AGENT 6
Leo Demidov is no longer a member of Moscow's secret police. But when his wife, Raisa, and daughters Zoya and Elena are invited on a "Peace Tour" to New York City, he is immediately suspicious.
Forbidden to travel with his family and trapped on the other side of the world, Leo watches helplessly as events in New York unfold and those closest to his heart are pulled into a web of political conspiracy and betrayal-one that will end in tragedy.
In the horrible aftermath, Leo demands only one thing: to investigate the killer who destroyed his family. His request is summarily denied. Crippled by grief and haunted by the need to find out exactly what happened on that night in New York, Leo takes matters into his own hands. It is a quest that will span decades, and take Leo around the world--from Moscow, to the mountains of Soviet-controlled Afghanistan, to the backstreets of New York--in pursuit of the one man who knows the truth: Agent 6.
My Review: Unsuccessful. That's about the size of it. This is an unsuccessful book.
There's not a lot of suspense. There are some tense moments, yes, but they're all in the moment. Suspense is built from wanting to know what is coming, how this knot will part, what secrets will we learn.
Those expectations weren't well met, and weren't well set up. It's an okay novel, a sort of late-Soviet Doctor Zhivago, but it's not thrilling and I stopped caring about what would happen next after the central murder takes place.
The ending is just flat-out terrible and the author and editor should be held up for prolonged public ridicule for having the bad sense and poor sensibilities to foist it on readers who loved Child 44 and liked The Secret Speech.
A poor performance on all parts. To be avoided except by completists.
The Book Description: THREE DECADES.
TWO MURDERS.
ONE CONSPIRACY.
WHO IS AGENT 6?
Tom Rob Smith's debut, Child 44, was an immediate publishing sensation and marked the arrival of a major new talent in contemporary fiction. Named one of top 100 thrillers of all time by NPR, it hit bestseller lists around the world, won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and the ITW Thriller Award for Best First Novel, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.听
In this spellbinding new novel, Tom Rob Smith probes the tenuous border between love and obsession as Leo Demidov struggles to untangle the threads of a devastating conspiracy that shatters everything he holds dear. Deftly capturing the claustrophobic intensity of the Cold War-era Soviet Union, it's at once a heart-pounding thriller and a richly atmospheric novel of extraordinary depth....
AGENT 6
Leo Demidov is no longer a member of Moscow's secret police. But when his wife, Raisa, and daughters Zoya and Elena are invited on a "Peace Tour" to New York City, he is immediately suspicious.
Forbidden to travel with his family and trapped on the other side of the world, Leo watches helplessly as events in New York unfold and those closest to his heart are pulled into a web of political conspiracy and betrayal-one that will end in tragedy.
In the horrible aftermath, Leo demands only one thing: to investigate the killer who destroyed his family. His request is summarily denied. Crippled by grief and haunted by the need to find out exactly what happened on that night in New York, Leo takes matters into his own hands. It is a quest that will span decades, and take Leo around the world--from Moscow, to the mountains of Soviet-controlled Afghanistan, to the backstreets of New York--in pursuit of the one man who knows the truth: Agent 6.
My Review: Unsuccessful. That's about the size of it. This is an unsuccessful book.
There's not a lot of suspense. There are some tense moments, yes, but they're all in the moment. Suspense is built from wanting to know what is coming, how this knot will part, what secrets will we learn.
Those expectations weren't well met, and weren't well set up. It's an okay novel, a sort of late-Soviet Doctor Zhivago, but it's not thrilling and I stopped caring about what would happen next after the central murder takes place.
The ending is just flat-out terrible and the author and editor should be held up for prolonged public ridicule for having the bad sense and poor sensibilities to foist it on readers who loved Child 44 and liked The Secret Speech.
A poor performance on all parts. To be avoided except by completists.
October 29, 2019
鬲賵蹖 丕蹖賳 爻賴鈥屭з嗁� 亘賴 賳馗乇 賲賳 亘賴鬲乇蹖賳卮 賴賲賵賳 芦讴賵丿讴 44禄 亘賵丿貙 賵賱蹖 亘賴 賴乇丨丕賱 丕诏賴 丕賵賳 乇賵 禺賵賳丿蹖丿 賳賲蹖鈥屫促� 亘毓丿蹖賴丕卮 乇賵 賳禺賵賳蹖丿. 丕賱亘鬲賴 毓噩蹖亘賴 讴賴 讴蹖賮蹖鬲 鬲乇噩賲賴 賵 賵蹖乇丕蹖卮 讴鬲丕亘 丿乇 噩賱丿賴丕蹖 丿賵賲 賵 爻賵賲 蹖讴 賲賯丿丕乇 丕賮鬲 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁囏� 賵賱蹖 亘賴 賴乇丨丕賱 丕賵賳賯丿乇 賳蹖爻鬲 讴賴 賲丕賳毓 賱匕鬲 亘乇丿賳 禺賵丕賳賳丿賴 亘卮賴
January 6, 2019
丌賳趩賴 禺賵亘丕賳 鬲乇蹖賱乇 丿丕乇賳丿貙鬲賵 蹖讴噩丕 丿丕乇蹖
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賴賲趩賳蹖賳 亘賴 爻蹖爻鬲賲 丿爻鬲诏丕賴 賴丕蹖 倬賱蹖爻 賲禺賮蹖 讴賴 亘賴 賴蹖趩 賲禺丕賱賮 賵 賲賳鬲賯丿蹖 乇丨賲 賳賲蹖讴乇丿賳 賵 蹖鬲蹖賲 禺賵賳賴 賴丕 賲蹖倬乇丿丕夭賴
賮蹖賱賲卮 賴賲 乇蹖丿賱蹖 丕爻讴丕鬲 爻丕禺鬲賴 賵 丿蹖丿賳卮 鬲賵氐蹖賴 賲蹖卮賴
讴鬲丕亘 丿賵賲-诏夭丕乇卮 賲丨乇賲丕賳賴- 丕夭 賳胤賯 賳蹖讴蹖鬲丕 禺乇賵卮趩賮 鬲賵蹖 讴賳诏乇賴 蹖 亘蹖爻鬲賲 丨夭亘 讴賲賵賳蹖爻鬲 卮乇賵毓 賲蹖卮賴 賵 乇賵丕蹖鬲 乇賳诏 鬲丕乇蹖禺蹖 禺蹖賱蹖 噩匕丕亘蹖 亘賴 禺賵丿卮 賲蹖诏蹖乇賴 賵 賵 噩賲毓 卮丿賳 爻蹖爻鬲賲 丕爻鬲丕賱蹖賳蹖 乇賵 賳卮賵賳 賲蹖丿賴 賵 賲賯丿丕乇蹖 賴賲 乇賵賲賳爻 丿丕乇賴 讴賴 賮賵賯 丕賱毓丕丿賴 卮 賲蹖讴賳賴
賵 讴鬲丕亘 爻賵賲 賴賲 丿乇亘丕乇賴 蹖 賳賮賵匕 賵 丿禺丕賱鬲 丕鬲丨丕丿 噩賲丕賴蹖乇 卮賵乇賵蹖 丿乇 丌賲乇蹖讴丕 賵 丕賮睾丕賳爻鬲丕賳賴 賵鬲賵爻胤 賴賲賵賳 讴丕乇丕讴鬲乇 (賱卅賵 丿賲蹖丿賵賮) 亘毓賳賵丕賳 蹖賴 賲丕賲賵乇 賲禺賮蹖 鬲賵蹖 丕賮睾丕賳爻鬲丕賳 丿賳亘丕賱 賲蹖卮賴 賵 丕夭 丿賵 讴鬲丕亘 賯亘賱蹖貙賴夭丕乇 賲乇鬲亘賴 噩匕丕亘 鬲乇 亘賳馗乇 賲蹖丕丿
讴鬲丕亘 賳爻亘鬲丕 倬乇鬲蹖乇丕跇 賵賱蹖 亘卮丿鬲 讴賲蹖丕亘蹖賴 賵 亘賴 爻禺鬲蹖 鬲賵賳爻鬲賲 诏蹖乇卮 亘蹖丕乇賲貙賵賱蹖 賴賲蹖賳 亘丕毓孬 賲蹖卮賴 亘丕 賵賱毓 亘蹖卮鬲乇蹖 亘禺賵賳賲卮
丌禺乇蹖賳 丨賱賯賴 蹖 爻賴 诏丕賳賴 蹖 鬲丕賲 乇丕亘 丕爻賲蹖鬲貨蹖賴 丿乇丕賲 噩賳丕蹖蹖 賮賵賯 丕賱毓丕丿賴 丕乇夭卮賲賳丿 賵 賮丕禺乇
貙亘賴 丕蹖賳 丿賱蹖賱 讴賴 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 爻毓蹖 賳讴乇丿賴 賲孬賱 亘賯蹖賴 蹖 爻乇蹖 賴丕蹖 噩賳丕蹖蹖貙亘賵蹖跇賴 丌賲乇蹖讴丕蹖蹖 賴丕貙賮賯胤 亘賴 鬲氐賵蹖乇 爻丕夭蹖 亘倬乇丿丕夭賴 賵 亘賴 丕氐胤賱丕丨 丌亘 亘诏蹖乇賴 鬲賵蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 讴賴 丕夭 蹖賴 爻賵跇賴 蹖 噩夭卅蹖 蹖賴 賲噩賲賵毓賴 蹖 趩賳丿噩賱丿蹖 丿乇亘蹖丕乇賴 賵 賮賯胤 賴丿賮卮 賴蹖噩丕賳 丿丕丿賳 亘丕卮賴
丕蹖賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴 倬乇鬲乇賴 蹖 爻蹖丕爻蹖 賵 丕噩鬲賲丕毓蹖 乇賵爻蹖賴 蹖 丕爻鬲丕賱蹖賳蹖賴 讴賴 讴賱蹖 賲胤丕賱毓賴 丕夭 噩丕賳亘 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 倬卮鬲卮賴
鬲賵蹖 讴鬲丕亘 丕賵賱 亘賴 賯鬲賱 賳夭丿蹖讴 50 讴賵丿讴 鬲賵蹖 卮賵乇賵蹖 鬲賵爻胤 丌賳丿乇蹖 趩蹖讴丕鬲蹖賱賵 賲蹖倬乇丿丕夭賴 讴賴 蹖讴 丕鬲賮丕賯 讴丕賲賱丕 賵丕賯毓蹖 賵 賲爻鬲賳丿賴.鬲賵噩賴 讴賳蹖丿 丕蹖賳 賯鬲賱 賴丕蹖 夭賳噩蹖乇賴 丕蹖 丿乇 乇賵爻蹖賴 蹖 丕爻鬲丕賱蹖賳蹖 丕蹖 丕鬲賮丕賯 賲蹖賵賮鬲丕丿 讴賴 卮毓丕乇卮芦噩賳丕蹖鬲蹖 賵噩賵丿 賳丿丕乇丿禄 亘賵丿
賵 賲賯丿丕乇 夭蹖丕丿蹖 賴賲 亘賴 倬丕乇丕賳賵蹖丕賴丕蹖 賴賲賵賳 夭賲丕賳貙賲孬賱 爻蹖爻鬲賲 丌賲賵夭卮 賵 倬乇賵乇卮 讴賴 丕夭 亘趩賴 賴丕 賲蹖禺賵丕爻鬲賳 丕爻鬲丕賱蹖賳 乇賵 亘毓賳賵丕賳 蹖讴 賮乇丿 亘爻蹖丕乇 乇卅賵賮 賵 丿賵爻鬲 丿丕乇 讴賵丿讴丕賳 亘卮賳丕爻賳貙丿乇氐賵乇鬲蹖讴賴 賵丕讴賳卮 丕蹖卮賵賳 亘賴 丕蹖賳 賯鬲賱賴丕蹖 夭賳噩蹖乇賴 丕蹖 丕蹖賳 亘賵丿 讴賴 芦賯鬲賱 趩賳丿 讴賵丿讴 丿乇 賲賯丕亘賱 丕賲賳蹖鬲 讴卮賵乇貙賴蹖趩 丕賴賲蹖鬲蹖 賳丿丕乇賴禄 賵 亘賴 倬賱蹖爻 丿爻鬲賵乇 丿丕丿賴 亘賵丿 倬乇賵賳丿賴 賴丕 乇賵 賲禺鬲賵賲賴 丕毓賱丕賲 讴賳賳 賵 亘賴 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 蹖 亘趩賴 賴丕 丕噩丕夭賴 蹖 鬲丨賯蹖賯 賳丿賳
賴賲趩賳蹖賳 亘賴 爻蹖爻鬲賲 丿爻鬲诏丕賴 賴丕蹖 倬賱蹖爻 賲禺賮蹖 讴賴 亘賴 賴蹖趩 賲禺丕賱賮 賵 賲賳鬲賯丿蹖 乇丨賲 賳賲蹖讴乇丿賳 賵 蹖鬲蹖賲 禺賵賳賴 賴丕 賲蹖倬乇丿丕夭賴
賮蹖賱賲卮 賴賲 乇蹖丿賱蹖 丕爻讴丕鬲 爻丕禺鬲賴 賵 丿蹖丿賳卮 鬲賵氐蹖賴 賲蹖卮賴
讴鬲丕亘 丿賵賲-诏夭丕乇卮 賲丨乇賲丕賳賴- 丕夭 賳胤賯 賳蹖讴蹖鬲丕 禺乇賵卮趩賮 鬲賵蹖 讴賳诏乇賴 蹖 亘蹖爻鬲賲 丨夭亘 讴賲賵賳蹖爻鬲 卮乇賵毓 賲蹖卮賴 賵 乇賵丕蹖鬲 乇賳诏 鬲丕乇蹖禺蹖 禺蹖賱蹖 噩匕丕亘蹖 亘賴 禺賵丿卮 賲蹖诏蹖乇賴 賵 賵 噩賲毓 卮丿賳 爻蹖爻鬲賲 丕爻鬲丕賱蹖賳蹖 乇賵 賳卮賵賳 賲蹖丿賴 賵 賲賯丿丕乇蹖 賴賲 乇賵賲賳爻 丿丕乇賴 讴賴 賮賵賯 丕賱毓丕丿賴 卮 賲蹖讴賳賴
賵 讴鬲丕亘 爻賵賲 賴賲 丿乇亘丕乇賴 蹖 賳賮賵匕 賵 丿禺丕賱鬲 丕鬲丨丕丿 噩賲丕賴蹖乇 卮賵乇賵蹖 丿乇 丌賲乇蹖讴丕 賵 丕賮睾丕賳爻鬲丕賳賴 賵鬲賵爻胤 賴賲賵賳 讴丕乇丕讴鬲乇 (賱卅賵 丿賲蹖丿賵賮) 亘毓賳賵丕賳 蹖賴 賲丕賲賵乇 賲禺賮蹖 鬲賵蹖 丕賮睾丕賳爻鬲丕賳 丿賳亘丕賱 賲蹖卮賴 賵 丕夭 丿賵 讴鬲丕亘 賯亘賱蹖貙賴夭丕乇 賲乇鬲亘賴 噩匕丕亘 鬲乇 亘賳馗乇 賲蹖丕丿
November 5, 2024
芦賲丕賲賵乇 鄱 禄丌禺乇蹖賳 噩賱丿 丕夭 爻賴 诏丕賳賴 蹖 芦 讴賵丿讴 鄞鄞禄 賵 芦 诏夭丕乇卮 賲丨乇賲丕賳賴 禄 賴爻鬲 . 丿乇 丕蹖賳 噩賱丿 賱卅賵 鬲丨鬲 丕賱卮毓丕毓 蹖讴 乇賵蹖丿丕丿 鬲賱禺 貙 乇賵夭丕蹖 爻禺鬲蹖 丕夭 夭賳丿诏蹖 乇賵 賲蹖诏匕乇賵賳賴 讴賴 禺蹖賱蹖 亘乇丕賲 睾賲 丕賳诏蹖夭 亘賵丿 . 卮禺氐蹖鬲 賱卅賵 乇賵 丿賵爻鬲 丿丕卮鬲賲 . 丿乇 丕蹖賳 噩賱丿 亘禺卮 賴丕蹖蹖 丕夭 夭賳丿诏蹖 賱卅賵 丿乇 丕賮睾丕賳爻鬲丕賳 賵 倬丕讴爻鬲丕賳 賵 丿乇 賳賴丕蹖鬲 丌賲乇蹖讴丕 爻倬乇蹖 賲蹖卮賴.
丕蹖 讴丕卮 丨丿賵丿 爻蹖 爻丕賱 倬蹖卮 丕賵賳 鬲氐賲蹖賲 丕卮鬲亘丕賴 乇賵 賳賲蹖诏乇賮鬲 讴賴 丕蹖賳胤賵乇 亘卮賴 ....
讴鬲丕亘 氐賵鬲蹖卮 賵 亘丕 氐丿丕蹖 芦 鬲丕蹖賲丕夭 乇囟賵丕賳蹖禄 毓夭蹖夭 诏賵卮 丿丕丿賲 讴賴 氐丿丕卮賵 丿賵爻鬲 丿丕乇賲 .
丕蹖 讴丕卮 丨丿賵丿 爻蹖 爻丕賱 倬蹖卮 丕賵賳 鬲氐賲蹖賲 丕卮鬲亘丕賴 乇賵 賳賲蹖诏乇賮鬲 讴賴 丕蹖賳胤賵乇 亘卮賴 ....
讴鬲丕亘 氐賵鬲蹖卮 賵 亘丕 氐丿丕蹖 芦 鬲丕蹖賲丕夭 乇囟賵丕賳蹖禄 毓夭蹖夭 诏賵卮 丿丕丿賲 讴賴 氐丿丕卮賵 丿賵爻鬲 丿丕乇賲 .
February 14, 2018
3.5
This historical mystery thriller installment of Agent 6 concludes the Leo Demidov trilogy with a very different approach and style then its predecessors. Not only will it come to the end of Leo鈥檚 career and possibly life, but we are also reading in timelines before Child 44 and after.
Moscow, 1950:
Leo meets his future wife while staging a sham tour of the Soviet system for American singer and communist activist Jesse Austin. At chance and surprised, Raisa plays her part as she has been thrown in to the mix to not blow the MGB鈥檚 cover. From there she now was involved. And once involved鈥lways involved.
Time jump
Leo and Raisa have been married for over 10 years and their adopted girls are teenagers. Through school, the girls get the opportunity to travel to the United States and participate in the Good Will tour concert in New York. Raisa will accompany the girls, and Leo is letting them go reluctantly. He knows it will be very difficult to get in touch with them, as phone calls require permission and are controlled.
New York, 1965:
Accompanying the class is Mikael Ivanov, a propaganda expert, working for Service A. He uses his influence to manipulate Elena, Leo鈥檚 daughter, to stage Jesse Austin outside the UN concert after the event for speeches. And this is where things go awry. Not all of his family members return from this trip.
Afghanistan, 1980:
After a failed attempt in the 70鈥檚 to cross to the border of Finland to travel to the US and investigate what happened in NY the day of the concert, Leo is sent to Afghanistan. He finds himself in a deep hole and becomes opium addicted.
During his training of Communist Afghans to serve in the secret police, he meets beautiful 23-year-old Nara. Ousted by her family for her views and 鈥榤odern鈥� lifestyle, she attaches herself to Leo. During a local attack from Soviets, the two of them save a little girl and they are taken hostage by Afghan rebels. In the exchange to spare their lives, they bargain asylum in America for the cause of American support.
New York:
The little girl and Nara are adjusting very well in their new home. Leo is investigating secretly what happened to his family in New York in 1965. And...of course, there was a cover up and distortion of facts by the media. Agent Jim Yates, a former agent Leo worked with turns up in his investigation and more or less tells him about a Soviet plot meant to bring about a racially-motivated Communist revolution in America that went all wrong.
This is where Leo gets the call that someone in his family back home is being questioned about his defection and with Nara and the girl safe in America and their new life, he leaves them to return to Russia.
We find Leo arrested as a traitor and imprisoned at the end of the book. But if he can change the situation, that is the question here鈥�.
***
I enjoyed this novel, although it was so much different from the previous ones. Initially confused at the beginning as it starts off with a very young Leo, I was not even sure who I was reading about! But after a little while I got into the ever-changing landscape of the plot that takes you all over the world.
Unlike the reviews with lower ratings, I was accepting of the changes of it. I had purposefully not read the synopsis and as with many of my reads, I tried to go in open minded.
Although it was different and I may have missed a bit more of the family dynamics happening, I was surprised how politically motivated this book was more so then the others. For that and tying it together at the end, I have to give Tom Rob Smith credit. It could have gone a whole other way for me. I had not imagined any of these things happen in the series. But that is why we read, right?
This historical mystery thriller installment of Agent 6 concludes the Leo Demidov trilogy with a very different approach and style then its predecessors. Not only will it come to the end of Leo鈥檚 career and possibly life, but we are also reading in timelines before Child 44 and after.
Moscow, 1950:
Leo meets his future wife while staging a sham tour of the Soviet system for American singer and communist activist Jesse Austin. At chance and surprised, Raisa plays her part as she has been thrown in to the mix to not blow the MGB鈥檚 cover. From there she now was involved. And once involved鈥lways involved.
Time jump
Leo and Raisa have been married for over 10 years and their adopted girls are teenagers. Through school, the girls get the opportunity to travel to the United States and participate in the Good Will tour concert in New York. Raisa will accompany the girls, and Leo is letting them go reluctantly. He knows it will be very difficult to get in touch with them, as phone calls require permission and are controlled.
New York, 1965:
Accompanying the class is Mikael Ivanov, a propaganda expert, working for Service A. He uses his influence to manipulate Elena, Leo鈥檚 daughter, to stage Jesse Austin outside the UN concert after the event for speeches. And this is where things go awry. Not all of his family members return from this trip.
Afghanistan, 1980:
After a failed attempt in the 70鈥檚 to cross to the border of Finland to travel to the US and investigate what happened in NY the day of the concert, Leo is sent to Afghanistan. He finds himself in a deep hole and becomes opium addicted.
During his training of Communist Afghans to serve in the secret police, he meets beautiful 23-year-old Nara. Ousted by her family for her views and 鈥榤odern鈥� lifestyle, she attaches herself to Leo. During a local attack from Soviets, the two of them save a little girl and they are taken hostage by Afghan rebels. In the exchange to spare their lives, they bargain asylum in America for the cause of American support.
New York:
The little girl and Nara are adjusting very well in their new home. Leo is investigating secretly what happened to his family in New York in 1965. And...of course, there was a cover up and distortion of facts by the media. Agent Jim Yates, a former agent Leo worked with turns up in his investigation and more or less tells him about a Soviet plot meant to bring about a racially-motivated Communist revolution in America that went all wrong.
This is where Leo gets the call that someone in his family back home is being questioned about his defection and with Nara and the girl safe in America and their new life, he leaves them to return to Russia.
We find Leo arrested as a traitor and imprisoned at the end of the book. But if he can change the situation, that is the question here鈥�.
***
I enjoyed this novel, although it was so much different from the previous ones. Initially confused at the beginning as it starts off with a very young Leo, I was not even sure who I was reading about! But after a little while I got into the ever-changing landscape of the plot that takes you all over the world.
Unlike the reviews with lower ratings, I was accepting of the changes of it. I had purposefully not read the synopsis and as with many of my reads, I tried to go in open minded.
Although it was different and I may have missed a bit more of the family dynamics happening, I was surprised how politically motivated this book was more so then the others. For that and tying it together at the end, I have to give Tom Rob Smith credit. It could have gone a whole other way for me. I had not imagined any of these things happen in the series. But that is why we read, right?
May 5, 2015
Description: It is 1965. Leo Demidov, a former secret police agent, is forbidden to travel with his wife and daughters from Moscow to New York. They are part of a "Peace Tour," meant to foster closer relations between the two Cold War enemies. On the tour, Leo's family is caught up in a conspiracy and betrayal that ends in tragedy. In the horrible aftermath, Leo demands one thing: that he be allowed to investigate and find the attacker that struck at the heart of his family on foreign soil. From the highest levels of the Soviet government, he is told No, that is impossible. Leo is haunted by the question: what happened in New York?
In a surprising, epic story that spans decades and continents鈥攆rom 1950s Moscow to 1960s America to the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s鈥擫eo's long pursuit of justice will force him to confront everything he ever thought he knew about his country, his family, and himself.
鈥淭he safest way to write a diary was to imagine Stalin reading every word. Even exercising this degree of caution there was the risk of a slipped phrase, accidental ambiguity 鈥� a misunderstood sentence. Praise might be mistaken for mockery, sincere adulation taken as parody. Since even the most vigilant author couldn鈥檛 guard against every possible interpretation, an alternative was to hide the diary altogether, a method favoured in this instance by the suspect, a young artist called Polina Peshkova.鈥�
This was a bit of a let down. The first book is the best, a front-loaded trilogy.
3.5* Child 44
3* The Secret Speech
2.5* Agent 6
In a surprising, epic story that spans decades and continents鈥攆rom 1950s Moscow to 1960s America to the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s鈥擫eo's long pursuit of justice will force him to confront everything he ever thought he knew about his country, his family, and himself.
鈥淭he safest way to write a diary was to imagine Stalin reading every word. Even exercising this degree of caution there was the risk of a slipped phrase, accidental ambiguity 鈥� a misunderstood sentence. Praise might be mistaken for mockery, sincere adulation taken as parody. Since even the most vigilant author couldn鈥檛 guard against every possible interpretation, an alternative was to hide the diary altogether, a method favoured in this instance by the suspect, a young artist called Polina Peshkova.鈥�
This was a bit of a let down. The first book is the best, a front-loaded trilogy.3.5* Child 44
3* The Secret Speech
2.5* Agent 6
July 26, 2014
Hey Sera! Thanks for the buddy read!
It was inevitable that I would finish this series. I loved Child 44 so much that I had to continue. Of course, the story of Leo is much sadder than I hoped for, and I don鈥檛 think books 2 and 3 were as quite as compelling as the first. I liked this book way better than The Secret Speech though.
One of Tom Rob Smith鈥檚 talents is he doesn鈥檛 write melodramatically. His prose is simple and to the point. Never once does this book drag.
Smith's characters were interestingly drawn, but I sometimes found their actions somewhat baffling. For instance, his female characters always struck me as kind of cold. At first I just thought this was a cultural thing, but then it seemed to pop up in all three books. Not that they weren't compelling, I just didn't understand them, nor did I relate to them except maybe to Raisa in the 1st book. However I did care about Leo, and I will miss him. One thing Smith seems to have a talent for is writing slimy villains, like Wasilij from the first book.
Yet Smith鈥檚 best talent is in setting the scene and creating tension. He always makes a place come alive with danger. I also like how he brings out the injustice and humanity of every place Leo went.
Consequently, Smith鈥檚 world is a very cynical world. Leo seemed to always be encompassed in a bubble of gloom and this book was rather grim.
I did enjoy Agent 6 though, and thought it was an exciting read, so I鈥檓 going to give it 4 陆 stars
It was inevitable that I would finish this series. I loved Child 44 so much that I had to continue. Of course, the story of Leo is much sadder than I hoped for, and I don鈥檛 think books 2 and 3 were as quite as compelling as the first. I liked this book way better than The Secret Speech though.
One of Tom Rob Smith鈥檚 talents is he doesn鈥檛 write melodramatically. His prose is simple and to the point. Never once does this book drag.
Smith's characters were interestingly drawn, but I sometimes found their actions somewhat baffling. For instance, his female characters always struck me as kind of cold. At first I just thought this was a cultural thing, but then it seemed to pop up in all three books. Not that they weren't compelling, I just didn't understand them, nor did I relate to them except maybe to Raisa in the 1st book. However I did care about Leo, and I will miss him. One thing Smith seems to have a talent for is writing slimy villains, like Wasilij from the first book.
Yet Smith鈥檚 best talent is in setting the scene and creating tension. He always makes a place come alive with danger. I also like how he brings out the injustice and humanity of every place Leo went.
Consequently, Smith鈥檚 world is a very cynical world. Leo seemed to always be encompassed in a bubble of gloom and this book was rather grim.
I did enjoy Agent 6 though, and thought it was an exciting read, so I鈥檓 going to give it 4 陆 stars
August 31, 2015
Agent 6 is the third installment of the Leo Demidov series about a Russian spy turned modern day hero. Leo Demidov makes a compelling man- equal parts rough and redeemable. Two stories twisting together make this last book a little too long, and a little too drawn out for me. Some parts still had that cliffhanger making me anxious to keep reading, and other sections I felt the need to skim over.
Great series with deeply drawn characters that I really enjoyed, just wish that the story arc didn't end so abruptly in the story of Raisa, Zoya, and Elena, and shift to a new cast of characters.
Great series with deeply drawn characters that I really enjoyed, just wish that the story arc didn't end so abruptly in the story of Raisa, Zoya, and Elena, and shift to a new cast of characters.
January 21, 2012
Here鈥檚 the good news; Agent 6, Tom Rob Smith鈥檚 final installment in the Leo Demidov trilogy, is just as breathtakingly good as Child 44.
This is a beautifully written book, with a plot almost too complex to summarize. His spare, bleak prose, his masterful descriptions of place, love, grief and betrayal, his sympathy for the powerless of this world, his grasp of the way the past returns to influence the present, easily catapult him to the strata of writers like Graham Greene and John leCarre.
Young Leo Demidov, a rising star of the Russian secret police, is being tutored on the intricacies of reading a confiscated diary. Read in just the right tone of voice, twenty two words are twisted from an innocuous sentence praising Stalin to a sarcastic barb meriting the writer's arrest. Welcome back to the USSR.
Agent 6 begins in the past, with the events that brought Leo and his beloved Raisa together. Seeing her on a subway platform, he falls instantly, irrevocably in love. When he picks up the courage to introduce himself, she snubs him. At the same time, Jesse Austin, a famous black American singer, is visiting Moscow, and Leo is assigned to ensure that he only sees what the Party wants him to see. Simultaneously, he is inadvertently responsible for the arrest and death of his trainee's new girlfriend at the hands of the KGB. The prologue culminates in a concert given by the Communist singer, tying together the threads of the tragedy to come.
The story leaps forth in time to 1965. Raisa is alone in New York with their daughters, Zoya and Elena, leading a joint Soviet/American concert for peace. Secretly using Elena as a go between, the American Communist Party requests that Jesse Austin, who has been ruined by his association with Communism, attend a demonstration outside the UN. Catastrophe strikes, altering the course of Leo鈥檚 life.
Fast forward to 1980. Leo is an adviser in Soviet-controlled Afghanistan, living in an opium-colored trance that shields him from his feelings. His new trainee is a pretty young Afghan girl, as blindly enthusiastic about the brave new world that the Soviet state has to offer as he once was. The progression couldn't be more clear. The people of the Soviet Union were enslaved by corrupt leaders, American blacks were first slaves, then enslaved behind prejudice. Women, all over the world, are still slaves.
I can鈥檛 tell you any more. Agent 6 has compelling, believable characters and a heartbreaking juggernaut of a plot. Tom Rob Smith has enough compassion for everyone, for heros and villains, for perpetrators as well as victims. You will not be able to put this down.
This is a beautifully written book, with a plot almost too complex to summarize. His spare, bleak prose, his masterful descriptions of place, love, grief and betrayal, his sympathy for the powerless of this world, his grasp of the way the past returns to influence the present, easily catapult him to the strata of writers like Graham Greene and John leCarre.
Young Leo Demidov, a rising star of the Russian secret police, is being tutored on the intricacies of reading a confiscated diary. Read in just the right tone of voice, twenty two words are twisted from an innocuous sentence praising Stalin to a sarcastic barb meriting the writer's arrest. Welcome back to the USSR.
Agent 6 begins in the past, with the events that brought Leo and his beloved Raisa together. Seeing her on a subway platform, he falls instantly, irrevocably in love. When he picks up the courage to introduce himself, she snubs him. At the same time, Jesse Austin, a famous black American singer, is visiting Moscow, and Leo is assigned to ensure that he only sees what the Party wants him to see. Simultaneously, he is inadvertently responsible for the arrest and death of his trainee's new girlfriend at the hands of the KGB. The prologue culminates in a concert given by the Communist singer, tying together the threads of the tragedy to come.
The story leaps forth in time to 1965. Raisa is alone in New York with their daughters, Zoya and Elena, leading a joint Soviet/American concert for peace. Secretly using Elena as a go between, the American Communist Party requests that Jesse Austin, who has been ruined by his association with Communism, attend a demonstration outside the UN. Catastrophe strikes, altering the course of Leo鈥檚 life.
Fast forward to 1980. Leo is an adviser in Soviet-controlled Afghanistan, living in an opium-colored trance that shields him from his feelings. His new trainee is a pretty young Afghan girl, as blindly enthusiastic about the brave new world that the Soviet state has to offer as he once was. The progression couldn't be more clear. The people of the Soviet Union were enslaved by corrupt leaders, American blacks were first slaves, then enslaved behind prejudice. Women, all over the world, are still slaves.
I can鈥檛 tell you any more. Agent 6 has compelling, believable characters and a heartbreaking juggernaut of a plot. Tom Rob Smith has enough compassion for everyone, for heros and villains, for perpetrators as well as victims. You will not be able to put this down.
November 25, 2015
While I wouldn't go so far as to say this third part in the Leo Demidov trilogy is a disappointment, it is definitely the weakest of the three, which is always a shame for a trilogy.
Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed it. The first half of the book, which shifts the spotlight away from Leo himself and onto his wife and two daughters, was really good. It was a real shift in tone, which caught my attention and held it until the first act's tragic ending. Said tragic ending was absolutely gutting, too.
It's a shame then that the second half of the book is such a huge diversion from the plot up to that point. The focus shifts back onto Leo but puts him in such a situation that the events of the first half of the book are largely ignored. In fact, the second half is practically a completely different book and would have worked better as a separate book in my opinion. As it was, I find it difficult not to get bored of the events of the second half because they just seemed largely irrelevant to the story I'd been reading in the first half. It introduced a bunch of new characters, none of whom I could bring myself to care about and none of whom have any bearing whatsoever on the rest of the plot.
When this huge diversion is finally over and we actually get to Leo trying to resolve the threads left dangling from the (by this point, quite distant) first half of the book, it takes about three heartbeats to end. It was almost as though Tom Rob Smith had got so engrossed in the diversion that he couldn't really be bothered to resolve the first half of the plot in any great detail. It felt glossed over and left me feeling largely unsatisfied.
I'll stop there as I'm making it sound worse than it actually was. I did still enjoy the book, for all its flaws, and would definitely read other books by the author. I just hope he's done with Leo Demidov and can move on to other projects.
Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed it. The first half of the book, which shifts the spotlight away from Leo himself and onto his wife and two daughters, was really good. It was a real shift in tone, which caught my attention and held it until the first act's tragic ending. Said tragic ending was absolutely gutting, too.
It's a shame then that the second half of the book is such a huge diversion from the plot up to that point. The focus shifts back onto Leo but puts him in such a situation that the events of the first half of the book are largely ignored. In fact, the second half is practically a completely different book and would have worked better as a separate book in my opinion. As it was, I find it difficult not to get bored of the events of the second half because they just seemed largely irrelevant to the story I'd been reading in the first half. It introduced a bunch of new characters, none of whom I could bring myself to care about and none of whom have any bearing whatsoever on the rest of the plot.
When this huge diversion is finally over and we actually get to Leo trying to resolve the threads left dangling from the (by this point, quite distant) first half of the book, it takes about three heartbeats to end. It was almost as though Tom Rob Smith had got so engrossed in the diversion that he couldn't really be bothered to resolve the first half of the plot in any great detail. It felt glossed over and left me feeling largely unsatisfied.
I'll stop there as I'm making it sound worse than it actually was. I did still enjoy the book, for all its flaws, and would definitely read other books by the author. I just hope he's done with Leo Demidov and can move on to other projects.
September 28, 2019
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2 萎 3 , 喂未慰蠉 畏 伪蟺慰蟻委伪鈥�
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韦慰 未蔚 蠄蠀蠂慰纬蟻维蠁畏渭伪 蟿蠅谓 纬蠀谓伪喂魏蠋谓 (喂未委蠅蟼 蟿畏蟼 螒蠁纬伪谓萎蟼 蟺蟻伪魏蟿蠈蟻喂蟽蟽伪蟼, 渭蟺维味蔚喂 伪蟺蠈 蟺伪谓蟿慰蠉鈥�)
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April 2, 2016
Rating: 2* of five
The Publisher Says: THREE DECADES.
TWO MURDERS.
ONE CONSPIRACY.
WHO IS AGENT 6?
Tom Rob Smith's debut, Child 44, was an immediate publishing sensation and marked the arrival of a major new talent in contemporary fiction. Named one of top 100 thrillers of all time by NPR, it hit bestseller lists around the world, won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and the ITW Thriller Award for Best First Novel, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.听
In this spellbinding new novel, Tom Rob Smith probes the tenuous border between love and obsession as Leo Demidov struggles to untangle the threads of a devastating conspiracy that shatters everything he holds dear. Deftly capturing the claustrophobic intensity of the Cold War-era Soviet Union, it's at once a heart-pounding thriller and a richly atmospheric novel of extraordinary depth....
AGENT 6
Leo Demidov is no longer a member of Moscow's secret police. But when his wife, Raisa, and daughters Zoya and Elena are invited on a "Peace Tour" to New York City, he is immediately suspicious.
Forbidden to travel with his family and trapped on the other side of the world, Leo watches helplessly as events in New York unfold and those closest to his heart are pulled into a web of political conspiracy and betrayal-one that will end in tragedy.
In the horrible aftermath, Leo demands only one thing: to investigate the killer who destroyed his family. His request is summarily denied. Crippled by grief and haunted by the need to find out exactly what happened on that night in New York, Leo takes matters into his own hands. It is a quest that will span decades, and take Leo around the world--from Moscow, to the mountains of Soviet-controlled Afghanistan, to the backstreets of New York--in pursuit of the one man who knows the truth: Agent 6.
My Review: Unsuccessful. That's about the size of it. This is an unsuccessful book.
There's not a lot of suspense. There are some tense moments, yes, but they're all in the moment. Suspense is built from wanting to know what is coming, how this knot will part, what secrets will we learn.
Those expectations weren't well met, and weren't well set up. It's an okay novel, a sort of late-Soviet Doctor Zhivago, but it's not thrilling and I stopped caring about what would happen next after the central murder takes place.
The ending is just flat-out terrible and the author and editor should be held up for prolonged public ridicule for having the bad sense and poor sensibilities to foist it on readers who loved Child 44 and liked The Secret Speech.
A poor performance on all parts. To be avoided except by completists.
The Publisher Says: THREE DECADES.
TWO MURDERS.
ONE CONSPIRACY.
WHO IS AGENT 6?
Tom Rob Smith's debut, Child 44, was an immediate publishing sensation and marked the arrival of a major new talent in contemporary fiction. Named one of top 100 thrillers of all time by NPR, it hit bestseller lists around the world, won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and the ITW Thriller Award for Best First Novel, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.听
In this spellbinding new novel, Tom Rob Smith probes the tenuous border between love and obsession as Leo Demidov struggles to untangle the threads of a devastating conspiracy that shatters everything he holds dear. Deftly capturing the claustrophobic intensity of the Cold War-era Soviet Union, it's at once a heart-pounding thriller and a richly atmospheric novel of extraordinary depth....
AGENT 6
Leo Demidov is no longer a member of Moscow's secret police. But when his wife, Raisa, and daughters Zoya and Elena are invited on a "Peace Tour" to New York City, he is immediately suspicious.
Forbidden to travel with his family and trapped on the other side of the world, Leo watches helplessly as events in New York unfold and those closest to his heart are pulled into a web of political conspiracy and betrayal-one that will end in tragedy.
In the horrible aftermath, Leo demands only one thing: to investigate the killer who destroyed his family. His request is summarily denied. Crippled by grief and haunted by the need to find out exactly what happened on that night in New York, Leo takes matters into his own hands. It is a quest that will span decades, and take Leo around the world--from Moscow, to the mountains of Soviet-controlled Afghanistan, to the backstreets of New York--in pursuit of the one man who knows the truth: Agent 6.
My Review: Unsuccessful. That's about the size of it. This is an unsuccessful book.
There's not a lot of suspense. There are some tense moments, yes, but they're all in the moment. Suspense is built from wanting to know what is coming, how this knot will part, what secrets will we learn.
Those expectations weren't well met, and weren't well set up. It's an okay novel, a sort of late-Soviet Doctor Zhivago, but it's not thrilling and I stopped caring about what would happen next after the central murder takes place.
The ending is just flat-out terrible and the author and editor should be held up for prolonged public ridicule for having the bad sense and poor sensibilities to foist it on readers who loved Child 44 and liked The Secret Speech.
A poor performance on all parts. To be avoided except by completists.
April 14, 2024
賲賳 噩賱丿 丕賵賱 乇賵 丕夭 賴賲賴 蹖 噩賱丿 賴丕 亘蹖卮鬲乇 丿賵爻鬲 丿丕卮鬲賲.
丕賲丕 丿乇 讴賱 丕蹖賳 爻賴 诏丕賳賴 乇賵 丿賵爻鬲 丿丕卮鬲賲 賵 倬蹖卮賳賴丕丿 賲蹖丿賲 亘禺賵賳蹖丿 蹖丕 丕夭 丕賵賳 亘賴鬲乇 亘丕 氐丿丕蹖 夭蹖亘丕蹖 鬲丕蹖賲丕夭 乇囟賵丕賳蹖 亘卮賳賵蹖丿.
賲蹖 禺賵丕爻鬲賲 乇蹖賵蹖賵 亘賳賵蹖爻賲 丕賲丕 賴乇 趩蹖 亘诏賲 丕爻倬賵蹖賱 賲蹖卮賴 .
賮賯胤 丿乇 賴賲蹖賳 丨丿 亘丿賵賳蹖丿 讴賴 賱丕蹖爻丕 賵 丿禺鬲乇丕 亘乇丕蹖 蹖賴 鬲賵乇 賲賵爻蹖賯蹖 亘丿賵賳 賱卅賵 亘賴 賳蹖賵蹖賵乇讴 賲蹖乇賳 . 賱卅賵 賳诏乇丕賳 賵 賲禺丕賱賮 丕蹖賳 爻賮乇賴 丕賲丕 賳賲蹖 鬲賵賳賴 噩賱賵蹖 丕賵賳丕 乇賵 亘诏蹖乇賴 .
鬲賵蹖 賳蹖賵蹖賵乇讴 丕鬲賮丕賯蹖 賲蹖 丕賮鬲賴 讴賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 賱卅賵 乇賵 夭蹖乇 賵 乇賵 賲蹖 讴賳賴 .
丕賵賳 賲蹖 禺賵丕丿 亘賴 賳蹖賵蹖賵乇讴 亘乇賴 賵 毓賱鬲 丕蹖賳 丕鬲賮丕賯 乇賵 讴卮賮 讴賳賴 丕賲丕 丿賵賱鬲 乇賵爻蹖賴 賳賲蹖 匕丕乇賴 .
賱卅賵 亘賴 毓賳賵丕賳 賲爻鬲卮丕乇 亘賴 丕賮睾丕賳爻鬲丕賳 賲蹖乇賴 賵 亘毓丿 丕夭 爻丕賱賴丕 賲蹖 鬲賵賳賴 亘賴 賳蹖賵蹖賵乇讴 亘乇賴 賵 乇丕夭蹖 乇賵 讴卮賮 讴賳賴 讴賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 卮賵 賳丕亘賵丿 讴乇丿 賵 ...
亘賴 噩夭 賱卅賵 鬲賵蹖 丕蹖賳 噩賱丿 卮禺氐蹖鬲 倬乇丿丕夭蹖 禺丕氐蹖 乇賵 賳賲蹖 亘蹖賳蹖賲 賵 賴賲賴 蹖 卮禺氐蹖鬲 賴丕 蹖讴 噩賵乇丕蹖蹖 爻胤丨蹖 亘賵丿賳 . 丕賱亘鬲賴 卮禺氐蹖鬲 倬乇丿丕夭蹖 賱卅賵 賴賲 丿乇 噩賱丿 賴丕蹖 賯亘賱蹖 卮讴賱 诏乇賮鬲賴 亘賵丿.
丿乇 賲噩賲賵毓 丕夭 诏賵卮 丿丕丿賳 丕蹖賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴 賱匕鬲 亘乇丿賲 .
卮賳蹖丿賳 氐丿丕蹖 鬲丕蹖賲丕夭 賵丕賯毓丕 賱匕鬲 亘禺卮賴 倬爻 亘丕夭賲 鬲賵氐蹖賴 賲蹖 讴賳賲 丕蹖賳 賱匕鬲 乇賵 丕夭 丿爻鬲 賳丿蹖賳 .
鬲乇噩賲賴: 禺賵亘 亘賵丿 .
丕賲鬲蹖丕夭賲 : 鄢/鄹
倬.賳: 賲蹖 禺賵丕爻鬲賲 鄞 爻鬲丕乇賴 賳丿賲 賵 鄢 鬲丕 亘丿賲 丕賲丕 賮氐賱 賴丕蹖 丌禺乇 賳馗乇賲賵 毓賵囟 讴乇丿.
倬.賳鄄: 賴蹖趩 賵賯鬲 賮讴乇 賳賲蹖 讴乇丿賲 亘鬲賵賳賲 亘丕 賱卅賵 诏乇蹖賴 讴賳賲!
郾鄢
丕賲丕 丿乇 讴賱 丕蹖賳 爻賴 诏丕賳賴 乇賵 丿賵爻鬲 丿丕卮鬲賲 賵 倬蹖卮賳賴丕丿 賲蹖丿賲 亘禺賵賳蹖丿 蹖丕 丕夭 丕賵賳 亘賴鬲乇 亘丕 氐丿丕蹖 夭蹖亘丕蹖 鬲丕蹖賲丕夭 乇囟賵丕賳蹖 亘卮賳賵蹖丿.
賲蹖 禺賵丕爻鬲賲 乇蹖賵蹖賵 亘賳賵蹖爻賲 丕賲丕 賴乇 趩蹖 亘诏賲 丕爻倬賵蹖賱 賲蹖卮賴 .
賮賯胤 丿乇 賴賲蹖賳 丨丿 亘丿賵賳蹖丿 讴賴 賱丕蹖爻丕 賵 丿禺鬲乇丕 亘乇丕蹖 蹖賴 鬲賵乇 賲賵爻蹖賯蹖 亘丿賵賳 賱卅賵 亘賴 賳蹖賵蹖賵乇讴 賲蹖乇賳 . 賱卅賵 賳诏乇丕賳 賵 賲禺丕賱賮 丕蹖賳 爻賮乇賴 丕賲丕 賳賲蹖 鬲賵賳賴 噩賱賵蹖 丕賵賳丕 乇賵 亘诏蹖乇賴 .
鬲賵蹖 賳蹖賵蹖賵乇讴 丕鬲賮丕賯蹖 賲蹖 丕賮鬲賴 讴賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 賱卅賵 乇賵 夭蹖乇 賵 乇賵 賲蹖 讴賳賴 .
丕賵賳 賲蹖 禺賵丕丿 亘賴 賳蹖賵蹖賵乇讴 亘乇賴 賵 毓賱鬲 丕蹖賳 丕鬲賮丕賯 乇賵 讴卮賮 讴賳賴 丕賲丕 丿賵賱鬲 乇賵爻蹖賴 賳賲蹖 匕丕乇賴 .
賱卅賵 亘賴 毓賳賵丕賳 賲爻鬲卮丕乇 亘賴 丕賮睾丕賳爻鬲丕賳 賲蹖乇賴 賵 亘毓丿 丕夭 爻丕賱賴丕 賲蹖 鬲賵賳賴 亘賴 賳蹖賵蹖賵乇讴 亘乇賴 賵 乇丕夭蹖 乇賵 讴卮賮 讴賳賴 讴賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 卮賵 賳丕亘賵丿 讴乇丿 賵 ...
亘賴 噩夭 賱卅賵 鬲賵蹖 丕蹖賳 噩賱丿 卮禺氐蹖鬲 倬乇丿丕夭蹖 禺丕氐蹖 乇賵 賳賲蹖 亘蹖賳蹖賲 賵 賴賲賴 蹖 卮禺氐蹖鬲 賴丕 蹖讴 噩賵乇丕蹖蹖 爻胤丨蹖 亘賵丿賳 . 丕賱亘鬲賴 卮禺氐蹖鬲 倬乇丿丕夭蹖 賱卅賵 賴賲 丿乇 噩賱丿 賴丕蹖 賯亘賱蹖 卮讴賱 诏乇賮鬲賴 亘賵丿.
丿乇 賲噩賲賵毓 丕夭 诏賵卮 丿丕丿賳 丕蹖賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴 賱匕鬲 亘乇丿賲 .
卮賳蹖丿賳 氐丿丕蹖 鬲丕蹖賲丕夭 賵丕賯毓丕 賱匕鬲 亘禺卮賴 倬爻 亘丕夭賲 鬲賵氐蹖賴 賲蹖 讴賳賲 丕蹖賳 賱匕鬲 乇賵 丕夭 丿爻鬲 賳丿蹖賳 .
鬲乇噩賲賴: 禺賵亘 亘賵丿 .
丕賲鬲蹖丕夭賲 : 鄢/鄹
倬.賳: 賲蹖 禺賵丕爻鬲賲 鄞 爻鬲丕乇賴 賳丿賲 賵 鄢 鬲丕 亘丿賲 丕賲丕 賮氐賱 賴丕蹖 丌禺乇 賳馗乇賲賵 毓賵囟 讴乇丿.
倬.賳鄄: 賴蹖趩 賵賯鬲 賮讴乇 賳賲蹖 讴乇丿賲 亘鬲賵賳賲 亘丕 賱卅賵 诏乇蹖賴 讴賳賲!
郾鄢
December 14, 2016
SPOILERS!!!! HUGE SPOILERS DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW!!!!
14/12 - This was a disappointing end to a series I had been loving. The title was totally misleading - no mention of Agent 6 was made until page 483 and in a 544 page book that's a long time to wait to understand the title. Even though he wasn't mentioned (Leo didn't even know of his existence until the reader did), it was absolutely obvious who Agent 6 would be (I was hoping I was wrong and that I would be surprised when the 'big reveal' happened, but alas no such luck). I didn't understand why Smith had to make Leo's last story so depressing. To have Raisa murdered in America and her reputation ruined by the Soviet propaganda machine, to lose all contact with his daughters for nearly a decade, to end up an opium addict forced to accept an assignment in Afghanistan to avoid jail after getting caught trying to defect, to finally escape to America and learn the truth behind Raisa's death only to be forced back to Russia to face execution for his betrayal of the mother country. Couldn't Smith have written a book that put Leo through many trials, but allowed him to come out the other end with a happy ending?
I was also disappointed with the quality of editing in this traditionally published book. There were missing words, incorrect tenses, missing letters and one instance of the wrong name being used in a conversation. I just don't expect those kind of mistakes from a big publishing house like Simon and Schuster, it's not like this was an ARC I got from Netgalley. If this had been my first Tom Rob Smith book it's likely I wouldn't have read another, but as it is this was the odd one out and I would recommend the first two books in the series to readers new to the author.
14/12 - This was a disappointing end to a series I had been loving. The title was totally misleading - no mention of Agent 6 was made until page 483 and in a 544 page book that's a long time to wait to understand the title. Even though he wasn't mentioned (Leo didn't even know of his existence until the reader did), it was absolutely obvious who Agent 6 would be (I was hoping I was wrong and that I would be surprised when the 'big reveal' happened, but alas no such luck). I didn't understand why Smith had to make Leo's last story so depressing. To have Raisa murdered in America and her reputation ruined by the Soviet propaganda machine, to lose all contact with his daughters for nearly a decade, to end up an opium addict forced to accept an assignment in Afghanistan to avoid jail after getting caught trying to defect, to finally escape to America and learn the truth behind Raisa's death only to be forced back to Russia to face execution for his betrayal of the mother country. Couldn't Smith have written a book that put Leo through many trials, but allowed him to come out the other end with a happy ending?
I was also disappointed with the quality of editing in this traditionally published book. There were missing words, incorrect tenses, missing letters and one instance of the wrong name being used in a conversation. I just don't expect those kind of mistakes from a big publishing house like Simon and Schuster, it's not like this was an ARC I got from Netgalley. If this had been my first Tom Rob Smith book it's likely I wouldn't have read another, but as it is this was the odd one out and I would recommend the first two books in the series to readers new to the author.
May 20, 2023
亘丕蹖丿 丕毓鬲乇丕賮 讴賳賲 賯爻賲鬲 倬丕蹖丕賳蹖 爻賴鈥屭з嗁� 賱卅賵 丿賲蹖丿賵賮 賳丕丕賲蹖丿讴賳賳丿賴 亘賵鈥屫€�
亘丕 賵噩賵丿 毓賱丕賯賴鈥屫й� 讴賴 亘賴 卮禺氐蹖鬲 賱卅賵貙 賯賱賲 鬲賵丕賳丕 賵 匕賴賳 丌诏丕賴 鬲丕賲 乇丕亘 丕爻賲蹖鬲 丿丕乇賲 丕賲丕 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 亘乇丕賲 趩賳丿丕賳 噩匕丕亘 賳亘賵丿.
丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賮賱卮鈥屫ㄚ┾€屬囏й屰� 亘賴 诏匕卮鬲賴 賲蹖夭賳賴 賵 賳丨賵賴 丌卮賳丕蹖蹖 賱卅賵 賵 乇丕蹖爻丕乇賵 賳卮賵賳 賲蹖丿賴 亘毓丿卮 亘賴 夭賲丕賳 丨丕賱 亘乇賲蹖诏乇丿賴 賵 丕鬲賮丕賯丕鬲 乇禺 丿丕丿賴 丿乇 卮賵乇賵蹖 賵 丌賲乇蹖讴丕乇賵 鬲賵氐蹖賮 賲蹖讴賳賴. 丿乇 賲賯丕蹖爻賴 亘丕 丿賵 讴鬲丕亘 賯亘賱蹖 賴蹖噩丕賳 禺蹖賱蹖 讴賲蹖 丿丕乇賴 賵 丕鬲賮丕賯丕鬲 鬲賯乇蹖亘丕賸 鬲禺蹖賱蹖 亘賵丿賳. 丕爻賲蹖鬲 丿乇 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 匕讴丕賵鬲 毓噩蹖亘蹖 亘乇丕蹖 賲丕賲賵乇丕賳 丕胤賱丕毓丕鬲蹖 賵 噩丕爻賵爻丕賳 丿乇 賳馗乇 诏乇賮鬲賴貨 賲孬賱丕 賱卅賵貙 賲丕賲賵乇賽 鬲噩爻爻賽 丕鬲丕賯賽 蹖賴 賲丕賲賵乇 賮乇丕乇蹖 賲蹖卮賴 賵 丕夭 賵噩賵丿 丌蹖賳賴 丿乇 丕鬲丕賯 亘賴 丕蹖賳 賳鬲蹖噩賴 賲蹖乇爻賴 讴賴 倬丕蹖 蹖讴 夭賳 丿乇 賲蹖賵賳賴!! 丕鬲賮丕賯丕鬲蹖 讴賴 丿乇 氐賮丨丕鬲 倬丕蹖丕賳蹖 鬲賵 禺賵賳賴 蹖蹖鬲爻 乇禺 賲蹖丿賳 賴賲 賳賲賵賳賴鈥屫й� 丕夭 賮蹖賱賲 賴賳丿蹖 亘賵丿賳! 丕夭 胤乇賮 丿蹖诏賴 鬲賵氐蹖賮丕鬲 賮乇賴賳诏蹖 賵 丕噩鬲賲丕毓蹖 讴鬲丕亘 趩賴 丿乇 賲賵乇丿 卮賵乇賵蹖 賵 趩賴 丿乇 賲賵乇丿 丕賮睾丕賳爻鬲丕賳 毓丕賱蹖 亘賵丿賳 讴賴 賳卮賵賳 賲蹖丿賴 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 賴賲蹖賳噩賵乇蹖 蹖賴 趩蹖夭蹖 賳賳賵卮鬲賴 賵 賯亘賱卮 鬲丨賯蹖賯丕鬲 禺賵亘蹖 丿乇 丕蹖賳 夭賲蹖賳賴 丿丕卮鬲賴. 亘賴 胤賵乇 讴賱蹖 丕诏賴 讴鬲丕亘 禺賵亘蹖 賳亘丕卮賴貙 讴鬲丕亘 亘丿蹖 賴賲 賳蹖爻鬲 丕賲丕 趩賵賳 丿賵 噩賱丿 賯亘賱蹖 禺蹖賱蹖 禺賵亘 亘賵丿賳 爻胤丨 鬲賵賯毓賲 亘丕賱丕 乇賮鬲賴 賵 賴賲卮 丿乇 賲賯丕蹖爻賴 亘丕 丕賵賳丕 賳馗乇 賲蹖丿賲. 賳賲蹖鬲賵賳賲 亘诏賲 丕氐賱丕 爻賲鬲卮 賳乇蹖賳 趩賵賳 亘賴 賴乇 丨丕賱 鬲賵 丕蹖賳 噩賱丿 爻乇賳賵卮鬲 賳賴丕蹖蹖 賱卅賵 賲卮禺氐 賲蹖卮賴 賵 亘乇丕蹖 胤乇賮丿丕乇丕賳卮 賲賴賲賴 讴賴 亘丿賵賳賳 丿乇 丌禺乇 趩賴 丕鬲賮丕賯蹖 賲蹖賮鬲賴 丕賲丕 丕诏賴 丕賵賳賯丿乇丕 賴賲 賱卅賵 亘乇丕鬲賵賳 噩匕丕亘 賳亘賵丿 賵 賮賯胤 賲丨囟 爻乇诏乇賲蹖 賵 丕乇囟丕蹖 丨爻 讴賳噩讴丕賵蹖 賲蹖禺賵丕蹖賳 賲丕賲賵乇 鄱 乇賵 亘禺賵賳蹖賳 鬲賵氐蹖賴 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 鬲噩丿蹖丿 賳馗乇 亘讴賳蹖賳 賵 丕噩丕夭賴 亘丿蹖賳 賱卅賵 賴賲賵賳胤賵乇 噩匕丕亘 賵 亘賴 蹖丕丿賲賵賳丿賳蹖 丿乇 禺丕胤乇鬲賵賳 亘賲賵賳賴.
亘丕 賵噩賵丿 毓賱丕賯賴鈥屫й� 讴賴 亘賴 卮禺氐蹖鬲 賱卅賵貙 賯賱賲 鬲賵丕賳丕 賵 匕賴賳 丌诏丕賴 鬲丕賲 乇丕亘 丕爻賲蹖鬲 丿丕乇賲 丕賲丕 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 亘乇丕賲 趩賳丿丕賳 噩匕丕亘 賳亘賵丿.
丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賮賱卮鈥屫ㄚ┾€屬囏й屰� 亘賴 诏匕卮鬲賴 賲蹖夭賳賴 賵 賳丨賵賴 丌卮賳丕蹖蹖 賱卅賵 賵 乇丕蹖爻丕乇賵 賳卮賵賳 賲蹖丿賴 亘毓丿卮 亘賴 夭賲丕賳 丨丕賱 亘乇賲蹖诏乇丿賴 賵 丕鬲賮丕賯丕鬲 乇禺 丿丕丿賴 丿乇 卮賵乇賵蹖 賵 丌賲乇蹖讴丕乇賵 鬲賵氐蹖賮 賲蹖讴賳賴. 丿乇 賲賯丕蹖爻賴 亘丕 丿賵 讴鬲丕亘 賯亘賱蹖 賴蹖噩丕賳 禺蹖賱蹖 讴賲蹖 丿丕乇賴 賵 丕鬲賮丕賯丕鬲 鬲賯乇蹖亘丕賸 鬲禺蹖賱蹖 亘賵丿賳. 丕爻賲蹖鬲 丿乇 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 匕讴丕賵鬲 毓噩蹖亘蹖 亘乇丕蹖 賲丕賲賵乇丕賳 丕胤賱丕毓丕鬲蹖 賵 噩丕爻賵爻丕賳 丿乇 賳馗乇 诏乇賮鬲賴貨 賲孬賱丕 賱卅賵貙 賲丕賲賵乇賽 鬲噩爻爻賽 丕鬲丕賯賽 蹖賴 賲丕賲賵乇 賮乇丕乇蹖 賲蹖卮賴 賵 丕夭 賵噩賵丿 丌蹖賳賴 丿乇 丕鬲丕賯 亘賴 丕蹖賳 賳鬲蹖噩賴 賲蹖乇爻賴 讴賴 倬丕蹖 蹖讴 夭賳 丿乇 賲蹖賵賳賴!! 丕鬲賮丕賯丕鬲蹖 讴賴 丿乇 氐賮丨丕鬲 倬丕蹖丕賳蹖 鬲賵 禺賵賳賴 蹖蹖鬲爻 乇禺 賲蹖丿賳 賴賲 賳賲賵賳賴鈥屫й� 丕夭 賮蹖賱賲 賴賳丿蹖 亘賵丿賳! 丕夭 胤乇賮 丿蹖诏賴 鬲賵氐蹖賮丕鬲 賮乇賴賳诏蹖 賵 丕噩鬲賲丕毓蹖 讴鬲丕亘 趩賴 丿乇 賲賵乇丿 卮賵乇賵蹖 賵 趩賴 丿乇 賲賵乇丿 丕賮睾丕賳爻鬲丕賳 毓丕賱蹖 亘賵丿賳 讴賴 賳卮賵賳 賲蹖丿賴 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 賴賲蹖賳噩賵乇蹖 蹖賴 趩蹖夭蹖 賳賳賵卮鬲賴 賵 賯亘賱卮 鬲丨賯蹖賯丕鬲 禺賵亘蹖 丿乇 丕蹖賳 夭賲蹖賳賴 丿丕卮鬲賴. 亘賴 胤賵乇 讴賱蹖 丕诏賴 讴鬲丕亘 禺賵亘蹖 賳亘丕卮賴貙 讴鬲丕亘 亘丿蹖 賴賲 賳蹖爻鬲 丕賲丕 趩賵賳 丿賵 噩賱丿 賯亘賱蹖 禺蹖賱蹖 禺賵亘 亘賵丿賳 爻胤丨 鬲賵賯毓賲 亘丕賱丕 乇賮鬲賴 賵 賴賲卮 丿乇 賲賯丕蹖爻賴 亘丕 丕賵賳丕 賳馗乇 賲蹖丿賲. 賳賲蹖鬲賵賳賲 亘诏賲 丕氐賱丕 爻賲鬲卮 賳乇蹖賳 趩賵賳 亘賴 賴乇 丨丕賱 鬲賵 丕蹖賳 噩賱丿 爻乇賳賵卮鬲 賳賴丕蹖蹖 賱卅賵 賲卮禺氐 賲蹖卮賴 賵 亘乇丕蹖 胤乇賮丿丕乇丕賳卮 賲賴賲賴 讴賴 亘丿賵賳賳 丿乇 丌禺乇 趩賴 丕鬲賮丕賯蹖 賲蹖賮鬲賴 丕賲丕 丕诏賴 丕賵賳賯丿乇丕 賴賲 賱卅賵 亘乇丕鬲賵賳 噩匕丕亘 賳亘賵丿 賵 賮賯胤 賲丨囟 爻乇诏乇賲蹖 賵 丕乇囟丕蹖 丨爻 讴賳噩讴丕賵蹖 賲蹖禺賵丕蹖賳 賲丕賲賵乇 鄱 乇賵 亘禺賵賳蹖賳 鬲賵氐蹖賴 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 鬲噩丿蹖丿 賳馗乇 亘讴賳蹖賳 賵 丕噩丕夭賴 亘丿蹖賳 賱卅賵 賴賲賵賳胤賵乇 噩匕丕亘 賵 亘賴 蹖丕丿賲賵賳丿賳蹖 丿乇 禺丕胤乇鬲賵賳 亘賲賵賳賴.
May 24, 2012
Tom Rob Smith鈥檚 newest book strays away from the darkness 鈥� the Stalinist paranoia 鈥� that made his first, Child 44, so good. Instead, this is a more meandering international thriller that brings Russia and Smith鈥檚 Russian hero Leo Demidov into modern times. Because the sickness of the serial killer is absent, this is a little less thrilling. The threats of the KGB are also weaker. Think slightly watered down John Le Carre.
Leo and his wife Raisa are raising their two daughters when a unique opportunity is offered the family. Raisa and the girls are invited to go to New York City to sing a peace-offering concert. In the US, tragedy strikes the family, and Demidov spends the next 3 decades trying to find answers and exact revenge.
This means the book wanders through most of the Cold War, focusing a large portion on Russia鈥檚 war with Afghanistan. It鈥檚 politically interesting, but this long section loses the drive of Leo鈥檚 quest. It takes a long time to fit all these pieces together, and even then, the novel feels a little disjointed and lacking in drive.
Still, Smith writes fascinating stuff 鈥� if a little undirected. His grasp of Stalinist Russia and world history is fascinating. It鈥檚 just a little undirected. Also, I like when Smith claims the darkness; this one was more in line with other writers who, I just feel, have done more distinct and driven work.
Leo and his wife Raisa are raising their two daughters when a unique opportunity is offered the family. Raisa and the girls are invited to go to New York City to sing a peace-offering concert. In the US, tragedy strikes the family, and Demidov spends the next 3 decades trying to find answers and exact revenge.
This means the book wanders through most of the Cold War, focusing a large portion on Russia鈥檚 war with Afghanistan. It鈥檚 politically interesting, but this long section loses the drive of Leo鈥檚 quest. It takes a long time to fit all these pieces together, and even then, the novel feels a little disjointed and lacking in drive.
Still, Smith writes fascinating stuff 鈥� if a little undirected. His grasp of Stalinist Russia and world history is fascinating. It鈥檚 just a little undirected. Also, I like when Smith claims the darkness; this one was more in line with other writers who, I just feel, have done more distinct and driven work.
February 3, 2016
This book is not even in the same stratosphere as the first two books. Leo came across as a completely different character. He was not the Leo I knew and loved from the other books. I found this book extremely boring and had a very difficult time getting through it. If you are interested in reading this trilogy I recommend that you stop after the second book. Don't waste your time with this one.
January 21, 2025
A FAST-MOVING NOVEL OF SUSPENSE ABOUT A SOVIET SECRET AGENT
The third superb novel of suspense in a trilogy, Agent 6 concludes the story of Leo Demidov, a hero in the Great Patriotic War (as the USSR termed World War II) and later an agent in Stalin鈥檚 secret police. By way of introduction, the book opens in 1950 with Leo in thrall to the Soviet State. Joseph Stalin still rules the Kremlin and will do so for four more years as his paranoia flares into full force. But Leo operates in the lower ranks of the apparat, far from the halls of the Kremlin. He is then a senior officer in the MGB, the predecessor to the KGB and to today鈥檚 FSB. He is still a Soviet secret agent but sidelined, charged with training newly recruited agents.
A PAUL ROBESON LOOK-ALIKE ARRIVES IN MOSCOW
Jesse Austin, a world-famous African-American singer closely resembling Paul Robeson, is visiting Moscow. The internationally celebrated African-American singer will perform there and publicly extol the accomplishments of the Soviet regime as he sees them. Leo鈥檚 assignment is to help ensure that Austin is shielded from the realities of life in Moscow. In the course of this challenging assignment, Leo comes into close contact with Raisa. She鈥檚 the beautiful and brilliant young teacher with whom he has long been infatuated from afar.
SHIFTING SCENES AND DRAMATIC DEVELOPMENTS
The scene shifts abruptly to 1965, with Leo and Raisa married and living in poverty with their two adopted daughters. (They were minor characters earlier in the trilogy). Raisa has persuaded Leo to leave the secret police. Meanwhile, she has risen far in the Ministry of Education. She will head a peace delegation to the USA鈥攁 student group in which she insists including her daughters. With great misgiving, Leo agrees not to stand in the way of their leaving for New York.
There, in New York, still in 1965, a tragic series of events swiftly unfolds. Raisa; her younger daughter, Elena; Jesse Austin; and a senior FBI agent named Jim Yates and all involved. Leo is frantic that he is thousands of miles away and unable to do anything. Soviet authorities deny him an exit visa. But he resolved to devote his life to unraveling the mystery behind the tragedy.
Again the scene shifts. It鈥檚 1973, and Leo has failed again in his desperate attempts to leave the Soviet Union. He is still determined to make his way to New York to investigate the mystery.
Seven years later, in 1980, we find him in Kabul. He鈥檚 there on a dangerous assignment as punishment for attempting to flee the Soviet Union. Leo is now the longest-surviving Soviet 鈥渁dvisor鈥� to Afghanistan鈥檚 Communist Party, where he is training the new Communist regime鈥檚 secret police. Here, in the shadow of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the ferocious resistance by the mujahedeen, Leo becomes embroiled in a series of violent and troubling experiences. But eventually they make it possible for him to travel to New York at last.
AT LONG LAST, UNLOCKING THE MYSTERY
In the concluding scenes of this extraordinarily compelling novel of suspense, we find Leo in New York, scrambling to unlock the mystery that has bedeviled him for a decade and a half.
Agent 6 is the conclusion of Tom Rob Smith鈥檚 Leo Demidov trilogy, which began three years earlier with Child 44, his debut novel. Child 44 was an instant success, both critically and commercially, and won numerous awards both as a thriller and as a work of literature. The Secret Speech followed in 2009. All three books are brilliant, and all can be read without reference to the others.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Rob Smith is a Cambridge-educated British author, screenwriter, and producer who has won multiple awards for his work. The books of the Leo Demidov trilogy have sold millions of copies. Smith was born and raised in South London in 1979, the son of a Swedish mother and an English father who were both antiques dealers. It鈥檚 difficult to understand how he could have acquired such a fine sensibility about life in Stalinist Russia, let alone in Afghanistan under Soviet occupation. Smith was born in the year the USSR invaded Afghanistan, a quarter-century after Stalin鈥檚 death. Yet Agent 6 rings true throughout. He has written two subsequent novels, the second of which appeared in 2023.
The third superb novel of suspense in a trilogy, Agent 6 concludes the story of Leo Demidov, a hero in the Great Patriotic War (as the USSR termed World War II) and later an agent in Stalin鈥檚 secret police. By way of introduction, the book opens in 1950 with Leo in thrall to the Soviet State. Joseph Stalin still rules the Kremlin and will do so for four more years as his paranoia flares into full force. But Leo operates in the lower ranks of the apparat, far from the halls of the Kremlin. He is then a senior officer in the MGB, the predecessor to the KGB and to today鈥檚 FSB. He is still a Soviet secret agent but sidelined, charged with training newly recruited agents.
A PAUL ROBESON LOOK-ALIKE ARRIVES IN MOSCOW
Jesse Austin, a world-famous African-American singer closely resembling Paul Robeson, is visiting Moscow. The internationally celebrated African-American singer will perform there and publicly extol the accomplishments of the Soviet regime as he sees them. Leo鈥檚 assignment is to help ensure that Austin is shielded from the realities of life in Moscow. In the course of this challenging assignment, Leo comes into close contact with Raisa. She鈥檚 the beautiful and brilliant young teacher with whom he has long been infatuated from afar.
SHIFTING SCENES AND DRAMATIC DEVELOPMENTS
The scene shifts abruptly to 1965, with Leo and Raisa married and living in poverty with their two adopted daughters. (They were minor characters earlier in the trilogy). Raisa has persuaded Leo to leave the secret police. Meanwhile, she has risen far in the Ministry of Education. She will head a peace delegation to the USA鈥攁 student group in which she insists including her daughters. With great misgiving, Leo agrees not to stand in the way of their leaving for New York.
There, in New York, still in 1965, a tragic series of events swiftly unfolds. Raisa; her younger daughter, Elena; Jesse Austin; and a senior FBI agent named Jim Yates and all involved. Leo is frantic that he is thousands of miles away and unable to do anything. Soviet authorities deny him an exit visa. But he resolved to devote his life to unraveling the mystery behind the tragedy.
Again the scene shifts. It鈥檚 1973, and Leo has failed again in his desperate attempts to leave the Soviet Union. He is still determined to make his way to New York to investigate the mystery.
Seven years later, in 1980, we find him in Kabul. He鈥檚 there on a dangerous assignment as punishment for attempting to flee the Soviet Union. Leo is now the longest-surviving Soviet 鈥渁dvisor鈥� to Afghanistan鈥檚 Communist Party, where he is training the new Communist regime鈥檚 secret police. Here, in the shadow of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the ferocious resistance by the mujahedeen, Leo becomes embroiled in a series of violent and troubling experiences. But eventually they make it possible for him to travel to New York at last.
AT LONG LAST, UNLOCKING THE MYSTERY
In the concluding scenes of this extraordinarily compelling novel of suspense, we find Leo in New York, scrambling to unlock the mystery that has bedeviled him for a decade and a half.
Agent 6 is the conclusion of Tom Rob Smith鈥檚 Leo Demidov trilogy, which began three years earlier with Child 44, his debut novel. Child 44 was an instant success, both critically and commercially, and won numerous awards both as a thriller and as a work of literature. The Secret Speech followed in 2009. All three books are brilliant, and all can be read without reference to the others.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Rob Smith is a Cambridge-educated British author, screenwriter, and producer who has won multiple awards for his work. The books of the Leo Demidov trilogy have sold millions of copies. Smith was born and raised in South London in 1979, the son of a Swedish mother and an English father who were both antiques dealers. It鈥檚 difficult to understand how he could have acquired such a fine sensibility about life in Stalinist Russia, let alone in Afghanistan under Soviet occupation. Smith was born in the year the USSR invaded Afghanistan, a quarter-century after Stalin鈥檚 death. Yet Agent 6 rings true throughout. He has written two subsequent novels, the second of which appeared in 2023.
December 29, 2023
鈥淲e live under one sky. We breathe the same air. We get warmth from the same sun. Government policy does not create human rights. Those rights came first!鈥� p207
Agent 6 is the final book in the Agent Leo Demidov trilogy by Tom Rob Smith. Starting with Child 44 and then The Secret Speech, the trilogy is historical fiction set across a number of decades across Cold War Europe in particular the USSR. Smith does an amazing job of bringing this period of time to life and I can honestly say that all three books have been a history lesson as well as great fiction. Smith pulls no punches in any of these books, calling a spade a spade with reference to both the brutality of Stalinism, the despair of a communist expression that is perhaps counter to the intention of its forebears and the futility is a capitalism that pretends to be altogether better, more superior and more equalising.
The first half of Agent 6 sees Smith delving into almost a surface level compare and contrast of the fundamentals of communism and capitalism, highlighting that while they are touted as polar opposite, they鈥檙e perhaps actually more alike at a base level than what we would ever be led to believe. Intrigued, I am keen to actually read the communist manifesto in an attempt to understand what lay at the heart of what might be an unachievable philosophy. These first chapters are spread between Moscow and New York鈥� two diametrically different cultures and realms and Smith makes very pointed commentary about these two places and what they truly represent and what underpins each.
By the second half of the book we are deep into the 1980 conflict in Afghanistan and the infamous Russian invasion of that country back then. I remember it well as a young fella and the coverage it achieved on TV. The American boycott of the Moscow Olympics was a direct result and Smith makes mention even of this detail.
This trilogy has been thoroughly enjoyable, entertaining, completely sobering and in some ways quite eye opening. Leo Demidov has been a likeable and realistic man. I鈥檝e enjoyed travelling through these books with him.
Agent 6 is the final book in the Agent Leo Demidov trilogy by Tom Rob Smith. Starting with Child 44 and then The Secret Speech, the trilogy is historical fiction set across a number of decades across Cold War Europe in particular the USSR. Smith does an amazing job of bringing this period of time to life and I can honestly say that all three books have been a history lesson as well as great fiction. Smith pulls no punches in any of these books, calling a spade a spade with reference to both the brutality of Stalinism, the despair of a communist expression that is perhaps counter to the intention of its forebears and the futility is a capitalism that pretends to be altogether better, more superior and more equalising.
The first half of Agent 6 sees Smith delving into almost a surface level compare and contrast of the fundamentals of communism and capitalism, highlighting that while they are touted as polar opposite, they鈥檙e perhaps actually more alike at a base level than what we would ever be led to believe. Intrigued, I am keen to actually read the communist manifesto in an attempt to understand what lay at the heart of what might be an unachievable philosophy. These first chapters are spread between Moscow and New York鈥� two diametrically different cultures and realms and Smith makes very pointed commentary about these two places and what they truly represent and what underpins each.
By the second half of the book we are deep into the 1980 conflict in Afghanistan and the infamous Russian invasion of that country back then. I remember it well as a young fella and the coverage it achieved on TV. The American boycott of the Moscow Olympics was a direct result and Smith makes mention even of this detail.
This trilogy has been thoroughly enjoyable, entertaining, completely sobering and in some ways quite eye opening. Leo Demidov has been a likeable and realistic man. I鈥檝e enjoyed travelling through these books with him.
October 19, 2015
While the book was a decent read in itself I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous two. It can be read as a standalone even though it's technically a continuation but nothing was really alluded to from previous books apart from the odd place or building description. It's also listed as the final book but it's ending is left open or abrupt depending on your interpretation even though it's fairly obvious what will happen to Leo...
First book was a great serial killer thriller, second was a great action / prison movie thriller this was a slow burn political thriller.
First book was a great serial killer thriller, second was a great action / prison movie thriller this was a slow burn political thriller.
May 6, 2015
This is the third book in the Leo Demidov trilogy and I'm quite sad to see it end. I've grown quite attached to Leo.
In this book, Leo's family leaves him behind in Russia while they take the trip of a lifetime to America. Raisa has been chosen to head up a concert involving students from America and Russia, sort of a unifying, peace act. Leo's gut feeling is that Raisa and the girls shouldn't go, but he has no good reason for them not to, so he says goodbye. This time, it's Elena that gets embroiled in the plot and her actions eventually lead to the death of Raisa. Consumed by grief, Leo is determined to solve the mystery of her death, especially after it is confirmed that the official story told by the press is a cover-up.
This book takes you through the 16 years following Raisa's death. Leo ends up in Afghanistan and then America, trying to sort out what really happened that fateful day. Unfortunately, the answers he seeks really are not the ones that will bring him redemption or comfort.
I have really loved this series. It truly has made me grateful for the freedoms that I enjoy in my life and for the true, honest lack of fear that I am able to live with on a daily basis. I'm so thankful for what I have.
In this book, Leo's family leaves him behind in Russia while they take the trip of a lifetime to America. Raisa has been chosen to head up a concert involving students from America and Russia, sort of a unifying, peace act. Leo's gut feeling is that Raisa and the girls shouldn't go, but he has no good reason for them not to, so he says goodbye. This time, it's Elena that gets embroiled in the plot and her actions eventually lead to the death of Raisa. Consumed by grief, Leo is determined to solve the mystery of her death, especially after it is confirmed that the official story told by the press is a cover-up.
This book takes you through the 16 years following Raisa's death. Leo ends up in Afghanistan and then America, trying to sort out what really happened that fateful day. Unfortunately, the answers he seeks really are not the ones that will bring him redemption or comfort.
I have really loved this series. It truly has made me grateful for the freedoms that I enjoy in my life and for the true, honest lack of fear that I am able to live with on a daily basis. I'm so thankful for what I have.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2019
Ive been on some sort of nonfiction espionage kick as of late, so when this popped up as available from the Child 44 author, I jumped at it.
Sorry to report that other than some enlightening historical scenes in Afghanistan, the rest of this seemed to have been written like a screenplay. In a nutshell, a retired KGB guy loses somebody he loves while she is on an overseas, civilian trip. He must wait 15 years and battle addiction before the chance arises for him to access the cold case info and try to locate the killer.
Well plotted for the most part, this just didn鈥檛 click. Unbeknownst to me, this is third in a series with this KGB dude with a heart of gold. I liked him much better as a young guy in Child 44.
Sorry to report that other than some enlightening historical scenes in Afghanistan, the rest of this seemed to have been written like a screenplay. In a nutshell, a retired KGB guy loses somebody he loves while she is on an overseas, civilian trip. He must wait 15 years and battle addiction before the chance arises for him to access the cold case info and try to locate the killer.
Well plotted for the most part, this just didn鈥檛 click. Unbeknownst to me, this is third in a series with this KGB dude with a heart of gold. I liked him much better as a young guy in Child 44.
July 29, 2022
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毓卮賯 丕蹖賳 诏賵賳賴 丌睾丕夭 賲蹖 卮賵丿.
丕賵 賴乇诏夭 毓丕卮賯 讴爻蹖 賳亘賵丿賴貙 賳賴 亘賴 丌賳 卮讴賱蹖 讴賴 丿乇 蹖丕丿丿丕卮鬲鈥屬囏� 鬲賵氐蹖賮 卮丿賴 亘賵丿貨 賴蹖噩丕賳貙 亘賴 賵丕爻胤賴 蹖 丿蹖丿賳 丿賵亘丕乇賴鈥屰� 讴爻蹖 賵 睾賲貙 亘賴 賲丨囟 丿賵乇 卮丿賳 丕夭 丕賵. 诏乇蹖诏賵乇蹖 亘賴 禺丕胤乇 夭賳蹖 讴賴 亘賴 爻禺鬲蹖 賲蹖鈥屫促嗀ж� 夭賳丿诏蹖 禺賵丿 乇丕 亘賴 禺胤乇 丕賳丿丕禺鬲賴 亘賵丿. 丨鬲賲丕 丕蹖賳 讴賳卮蹖 丕夭 毓卮賯 丕爻鬲. 亘賴 賳馗乇 賲蹖鈥屫必驰屫� 毓卮賯 亘丕 鬲賴賵乇 丕丨賲賯丕賳賴 丕卮 鬲賵氐蹖賮 賲蹖鈥屫促堌�. 賱卅賵 亘丕乇賴丕 夭賳丿诏蹖 禺賵丿 乇丕 亘賴 禺丕胤乇 讴卮賵乇卮 亘賴 禺胤乇 丕賳丿丕禺鬲賴 亘賵丿. 卮噩丕毓鬲 賵 賮丿丕讴丕乇蹖 賲賳丨氐乇 亘賴 賮乇丿蹖 丕夭 禺賵丿 賳卮丕賳 丿丕丿賴 亘賵丿. 丕诏乇 毓卮賯 丕蹖孬丕乇 亘賵丿貙 倬爻 鬲賳賴丕 毓卮賯 丨賯蹖賯蹖 丕賵 亘乇丕蹖 丨讴賵賲鬲 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲. 賵 丨讴賵賲鬲 賴賲貙 诏賵蹖蹖 丕賵 賮乇夭賳丿 賲丨亘賵亘卮 丕爻鬲貙 亘丕 倬丕丿丕卮 賵 賯丿乇鬲 丿丕丿賳 亘賴 丕賵貙 毓丕卮賯 丕賵 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲. 丕诏乇 丕蹖賳 賮讴乇貙 讴賴 丕蹖賳 毓卮賯 讴丕賮蹖 賳亘賵丿賴貙 亘賴 匕賴賳卮 禺胤賵乇 賲蹖鈥屭┴必� 賳丕爻倬丕爻蹖 賵 禺賮鬲 亘賵丿.
September 2, 2012
PROTAGONIST: Leo Demidov, secret police agent
SETTING: Moscow, US, Afghanistan
SERIES: #3 of 3
RATING: 4.75
AGENT 6 is the final installment in the Child 44 trilogy, which features Soviet secret police agent Leo Demidov. It is a wonderful conclusion to a series that is epic in scope. AGENT opens in 1951 in Moscow, where the young agent Leo is assigned the prestigious duty of escorting a black American singer, Jesse Austin, around Moscow. Austin has espoused the Communist cause; the Russian government hopes to use his visit to popularize their cause in the US. When Jesse asks to deviate from the planned itinerary, Leo takes him to the school of a woman he met on the subway. Thanks to their visit, Leo reconnects to Raisa, who later becomes his wife.
It鈥檚 several years later, and Leo has left the secret service. He and Raisa have two daughters, Elena and Zoya. Raisa has been assigned to direct a children鈥檚 choir who are scheduled to visit the United States to perform jointly with an American group. The performance in New York goes exceptionally well, until a political assassination ruins the spirit of accord that has been achieved. Elena had been asked to meet with Jesse Austin, who has been a recluse for some time due to the shabby treatment he has received in his home country. She convinces him to speak outside the event. He is still revered in the Soviet Union; however he and Elena have unknowingly become pawns in a deadly political game. The result is that Leo loses one of his loved ones, and he vows to avenge that death, despite the fact that he no longer has any power.
Leo鈥檚 attempts to go to New York end up with him being placed in exile in Afghanistan, where he teaches young men and women to become secret agents. In an effort to escape his grief, he becomes an opium addict and floats through life. Seven years go by. It isn鈥檛 until one of his female students, Nara Mir, faces extreme danger that he is able to shake his torpor and come back to life. Ultimately, they end up in the United States; and Leo is able to complete his quest, 16 years after the murder.
AGENT 6 is an amazing achievement, its major flaw being that it is overlong. The section that takes place in Afghanistan could have been reduced significantly without any real loss to the plot. Overall, Smith has done a masterful job of creating a narrative that spans more than 30 years. Although the plot is extremely complicated, its various threads are woven throughout like a beautiful tapestry. The revelation of the killer was surprising yet made perfect sense, leading to a satisfying conclusion.
AGENT 7 is a thriller, a historical treatise and a love story all in one. Along with the other 2 books in the trilogy, CHILD 44 and THE SECRET SPEECH, Smith has created a real tour de force. I am in awe of his accomplishment.
SETTING: Moscow, US, Afghanistan
SERIES: #3 of 3
RATING: 4.75
AGENT 6 is the final installment in the Child 44 trilogy, which features Soviet secret police agent Leo Demidov. It is a wonderful conclusion to a series that is epic in scope. AGENT opens in 1951 in Moscow, where the young agent Leo is assigned the prestigious duty of escorting a black American singer, Jesse Austin, around Moscow. Austin has espoused the Communist cause; the Russian government hopes to use his visit to popularize their cause in the US. When Jesse asks to deviate from the planned itinerary, Leo takes him to the school of a woman he met on the subway. Thanks to their visit, Leo reconnects to Raisa, who later becomes his wife.
It鈥檚 several years later, and Leo has left the secret service. He and Raisa have two daughters, Elena and Zoya. Raisa has been assigned to direct a children鈥檚 choir who are scheduled to visit the United States to perform jointly with an American group. The performance in New York goes exceptionally well, until a political assassination ruins the spirit of accord that has been achieved. Elena had been asked to meet with Jesse Austin, who has been a recluse for some time due to the shabby treatment he has received in his home country. She convinces him to speak outside the event. He is still revered in the Soviet Union; however he and Elena have unknowingly become pawns in a deadly political game. The result is that Leo loses one of his loved ones, and he vows to avenge that death, despite the fact that he no longer has any power.
Leo鈥檚 attempts to go to New York end up with him being placed in exile in Afghanistan, where he teaches young men and women to become secret agents. In an effort to escape his grief, he becomes an opium addict and floats through life. Seven years go by. It isn鈥檛 until one of his female students, Nara Mir, faces extreme danger that he is able to shake his torpor and come back to life. Ultimately, they end up in the United States; and Leo is able to complete his quest, 16 years after the murder.
AGENT 6 is an amazing achievement, its major flaw being that it is overlong. The section that takes place in Afghanistan could have been reduced significantly without any real loss to the plot. Overall, Smith has done a masterful job of creating a narrative that spans more than 30 years. Although the plot is extremely complicated, its various threads are woven throughout like a beautiful tapestry. The revelation of the killer was surprising yet made perfect sense, leading to a satisfying conclusion.
AGENT 7 is a thriller, a historical treatise and a love story all in one. Along with the other 2 books in the trilogy, CHILD 44 and THE SECRET SPEECH, Smith has created a real tour de force. I am in awe of his accomplishment.
May 22, 2015
This completes the trilogy/series and all are enjoyable reads. I have to say though that in my opinion the first book outshines them all by far.
Here is ex-KGB agent Leo, left alone in 1965 Russia while his family members have the opportunity to fly to NYC on a peace tour of sorts. Things go horribly wrong for them, and after years of trying to get permission to go to the States to investigate for himself, Leo finally makes it. First up, however, is a detour to Afghanistan as an advisor, where he meets some interesting people and enjoys the local drug of choice, opium, very much. The culture clash between the invading Russians and the angry Afghans is well depicted.
What he finds out about the 1965 events was not terribly shocking or exciting, but the tale moved along at a pretty good pace and kept me motivated to see the outcome. The ending is somewhat vague so I wonder if a fourth book is planned.
Here is ex-KGB agent Leo, left alone in 1965 Russia while his family members have the opportunity to fly to NYC on a peace tour of sorts. Things go horribly wrong for them, and after years of trying to get permission to go to the States to investigate for himself, Leo finally makes it. First up, however, is a detour to Afghanistan as an advisor, where he meets some interesting people and enjoys the local drug of choice, opium, very much. The culture clash between the invading Russians and the angry Afghans is well depicted.
What he finds out about the 1965 events was not terribly shocking or exciting, but the tale moved along at a pretty good pace and kept me motivated to see the outcome. The ending is somewhat vague so I wonder if a fourth book is planned.
December 11, 2017
3.5 Stars.
I did enjoy this mostly; but was disappointed in how things went. This was not what I had hoped going into this reading. I had hoped that we would follow Leo on his quest to exact revenge on those who would come after him or his family. No such luck. It was a round-about, beat around the bush, mystery, that had nothing to do with Leo exacting revenge. Political commentary, upheaval of regimes, and Leo getting older, very quickly.
We go from Leo in his prime to 15 (??) years later?? Like WTF??? This isn't a spoiler; it just is what it is. The end to this trilogy was again, so disappointing. I am not asking for puppies and fireworks, but for there to be some closure and vindication. When reading the end, if you think that is closure, then we shall agree to disagree. I think the author ran out of ideas/steam.
Bye Leo.
I did enjoy this mostly; but was disappointed in how things went. This was not what I had hoped going into this reading. I had hoped that we would follow Leo on his quest to exact revenge on those who would come after him or his family. No such luck. It was a round-about, beat around the bush, mystery, that had nothing to do with Leo exacting revenge. Political commentary, upheaval of regimes, and Leo getting older, very quickly.
We go from Leo in his prime to 15 (??) years later?? Like WTF??? This isn't a spoiler; it just is what it is. The end to this trilogy was again, so disappointing. I am not asking for puppies and fireworks, but for there to be some closure and vindication. When reading the end, if you think that is closure, then we shall agree to disagree. I think the author ran out of ideas/steam.
Bye Leo.
January 26, 2016
More of a three and a half than a three, this was every bit as decently written as the previous two in the trilogy - well researched, a realistic cast of characters you cared about (partially due to getting to know them earlier in the series), action and pace. I just felt it suffered a little by virtue of being the final in the trilogy.. an obligation to tie things up, the need to do the same things that worked in the previous books, the author seemingly faced with 'right, what did the USSR do in the 1960s-1980s which I can base my book on?' to a small but significant extent. I liked it, but it was a bit of a slog at times, pacy but a lot of story packed in.
September 14, 2018
In this continuing saga of former KGB agent Leo, there are actually 3 parts. It begins with Leo and Raisa in 60's Russia, raising daughters, with mom and the girls preparing to go to America on a school goodwill trip. Conspiracy and tragedy ensues. The second part is Leo being stationed in Afghanistan training local forces, and winds up with Leo in America trying to unravel a mystery.
Well done story spanning decades.
Well done story spanning decades.
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