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Tom Rob Smith

Tom Rob Smith
Photo Credit: Jerry Bauer

Tom Rob Smith

Tom Rob Smith was born in l979 to a Swedish mother and an English father and was brought up in London where he still lives. He graduated from Cambridge in 2001 and spent a year in Italy on a creative writing scholarship. Tom has worked as a screenwriter for the past five years, including a six-month stint in Phnom Penh storylining Cambodia's first ever soap. His first novel, CHILD 44, was longlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the inaugural Desmond Elliott Prize, and won the Crime Writers' Association's Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for best adventure/thriller novel of 2008, and the American edition won Best... Read full bio

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    1. Author Tom Rob Smith: The Secret Speech
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    2. Hear Tom Rob Smith's chilling research for CHILD 44
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    3. Author Tom Rob Smith Discusses Child 44
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    4. Tom Rob Smith: The Secret Speech
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    5. Tom Rob Smith: CHILD 44
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    6. Tom Rob Smith: Tips for new writers
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    7. Tom Rob Smith: The writers who influenced CHILD 44
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    8. Tom Rob Smith: The Research behind CHILD 44
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    9. Tom Rob Smith: Child 44 Audio Clip
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    10. Tom Rob Smith: How CHILD 44 evolved
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    11. Tom Rob Smith: The Influences behind CHILD 44
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    12. Meet Tom Rob Smith
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    13. Tom Rob Smith: Secret Speech
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Untitled will be released on March 01, 2011 in Hardcover
Aug 17, 2010
The Secret Speech will be released on August 01, 2010 in Trade Paperback
Aug 01, 2010
The Secret Speech is now available in Trade Paperback
Aug 01, 2010
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Excerpt:
Chapter 1 from The Secret Speech
Jul 17, 2009
Excerpt:
Chapter 1 from Child 44
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The Secret Speech will be released on April 01, 2009 in
Apr 01, 2009
The Secret Speech is now available in
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The Secret Speech will be released on April 01, 2009 in
Apr 01, 2009
The Secret Speech is now available in
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Mar 17, 2009
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Child 44 will be released on March 01, 2009 in
Mar 01, 2009
Child 44 is now available in
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Brightcove:
Meet Tom Rob Smith
Dec 03, 2008
Child 44 will be released on March 04, 2008 in
Mar 04, 2008
Child 44 is now available in
Mar 04, 2008
Child 44 will be released on February 01, 2008 in
Feb 01, 2008
Child 44 is now available in
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Authors on the Web

Bookseller, July 1, 2010
...Debut novels by Elly Griffiths and Tom Rob Smith have knocked off heavyweights including Martina Cole and Val McDermid from the shortlist for the . Griffiths and Smith will have to battle against seasoned writers such as Peter...
Guardian.co.uk, July 1, 2010
...Whether it's Ian McEwan's dubious villains or Tom Rob Smith's 'dizzying mass of incident', credibility in a book isn't about being true-to-life, it's about characters being true to themselves After reading one of my favorite...
Guardian.co.uk, June 25, 2010
...maybe you come away feeling happier." Although no crime novel has won the Booker in the past, Tom Rob Smith's thriller Child 44 was longlisted in 2008 – and that year's winner, Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger, follows the story of a murderer. To add...
Wetherby News, June 1, 2010
...in Black, the stage adaptation of which has been running on the West End stage since 1989; and Tom Rob Smith, whose debut novel Child 44 caused a stir after being longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2008. A major accolade in the crime writing field,...
The Bookseller, May 7, 2010
...by Chapman as strong performers were by the likes of Philippa Gregory, Adriana Trigiani, Lynda La Plante and Tom Rob Smith. In its children's division, Chapman said Waterstone's Children's Book Prize winner The Great Hamster Massacre, The Thirteen...
The Bookseller, May 6, 2010
...by Chapman as strong performers were by the likes of Philippa Gregory, Adriana Trigiani, Lynda La Plante and Tom Rob Smith. In its children's division, Chapman said Waterstone's Children's Book Prize winner The Great Hamster Massacre, The Thirteen...
USA Today, May 5, 2010
...a dysfunctional family finds emotional courage through a group of old high school pals. ?The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central, $13.99, fiction, reprint). The daughter of a Soviet homicide detective is kidnapped in this sequel to Child 44....
Liverpool Daily Post, March 10, 2010
...Dissolution by C J Samson 9. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre 10. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith Heather Forrester, human resources manager, What?s Cooking 1. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien One of my biggest reasons for choosing this book...
News of the World, March 5, 2010
...of the Krillitanes (BBC BOOKS) Ricky Tomlinson - Reading My Arse (Sphere) Patricia Cornwell - Scarpetta (Little, Brown) Tom Rob Smith - The Secret Speech (Pocket) Eric Von Lustblader - Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Deception (Orion) James Patterson - The...
Braintree Forum, February 15, 2010
...King, narrated by John Slatter; 'Elmer Gantry” by Sinclair Lewis, narrated by Anthony Heald; and 'Child 44” by Tom Rob Smith, narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris. To see a list of more winners and nominated titles for 2009, visit our reference department....
Livemint.com, January 29, 2010
...a clever plot and plenty of blood and gore. I couldn’t wait to devour Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith, described by a The Times of London blurb as a “stylish, intelligent and gripping Cold War thriller” shortlisted for the Man Booker prize. Seventeen...
Times Online, January 15, 2010
...are women and 7 attended UEA The 17 include Tash Aw, Diana Evans, Tahmima Anam, Nikita Lalwani and Tom Rob Smith all contenders in the Costa First Novel Award since 2005. Tash Aw went on to win the category with The Harmony Silk Factory Adam Foulds,...
Times Online, January 15, 2010
...are women and 7 attended UEA The 17 include Tash Aw, Diana Evans, Tahmima Anam, Nikita Lalwani and Tom Rob Smith all contenders in the Costa First Novel Award since 2005. Tash Aw went on to win the category with The Harmony Silk Factory Adam Foulds,...
Suite101.com, December 26, 2009
...Child 44, a debut novel by Tom Rob Smith, has become an international bestseller, gathering acclaims from both Europe and the US. Readers immerse themselves into the world of the Soviet Union, from the Ukrainian peasant famine...
Guardian.co.uk, November 2, 2009
...Jaspreet Singh   Chef Curtis Sittenfeld   American Wife Paul Leslie Smith   Rainforest Tears ; a Borneo Story Tom Rob Smith   Child 44 Sasa Stanisic   How the Soldier Repairs the Gramaphone translated by Anthea Bell Garth Stein   The Art of...
Telegraph, November 2, 2009
...own past and realises that it is his soul that most needs awakening. Book – Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith Set in the Soviet Union in 1953, Leo Demidov is an officer of the Ministry of State Security who tries not to look too closely at the brutal...
Times Online, September 26, 2009
...War mission, Operation Chastise, was to destroy Ruhr dams. The Murder Exchange by Simon Kernick Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith: Stalin?s Government won?t admit that crime exists in communist Russia. Exiled war hero Leo Demidov becomes an enemy of the...
Shreveport Times, September 24, 2009
...The Stalin Epigram' by Robert Littell.'Cemetery Dance' by Douglas Prestion & Lincoln Child.'The Secret Speech' by Tom Rob Smith.'West of the Law' by Joseph A. West.'Boneman's Daughters' by Ted Dekker. CD, nonfiction'Always Looking Up' by Michael J....
Femail, September 19, 2009
... Last year Tom Rob Smith burst onto the literary scene with Child 44, the claustrophobic thriller set in Stalinist Russia, where a child killer is on the loose and one of the most...
MYSTERIES in PARADISE, August 6, 2010
...a number of award winners. Some were suggested more than once. DEAD POINT, Peter Temple (2) CHILD 44, Tom Rob Smith (2) BLEED FOR ME, Michael Robotham (2) THE BROKEN SHORE, Peter Temple TRUTH, Peter Temple (3) GUNSHOT ROAD, Adrian Hyland (2) A TRACE OF...
HUNGRY GHOST BLOG, August 5, 2010
...left Gramercy Park and moved to Harlem. Screenplays he was contracted to write, such as an adaptation of Tom Rob Smith's novel CHILD 44, haven't panned out, at least publicly. And at 61, a certain cost-benefit analysis might kick in about whether it's...
The Boston Bibliophile, July 28, 2010
...Child 44 , by Tom Rob Smith. Published 2008 by Grand Central Publishing. Hardcover, paperback. Click here to buy Child 44 via IndieBound.org. I'm an IndieBound affiliate and receive a small commission on...
Pete Terranova, July 21, 2010
...Tom Rob Smith's Child 44 has gotten great reviews but I only made it through the first chapter. Jumps from one point-of-view to the next in an attempt to be...
Visit with Roz, July 20, 2010
...two. One of the most thrilling beginnings I have read came in the mystery novel Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. There is no way you can put this book down once you have read the first page. This skill works in other types of literary works. Even in...
The Boston Bibliophile, July 11, 2010
...e-reading. All I can say is, what a book! Today I'll work on making some progress in Tom Rob Smith's Child 44 , another nailbiter I'm enjoying a lot. It's keeping me going but it doesn't quite have the wild, I-have-to-know-right-now-what's-going-on...
MYSTERIES in PARADISE, July 10, 2010
...THE WICKED    Leighton Gage BLUE LIGHTENING    Ann Cleeves CAPTURED    Neil Cross CASE HISTORIES     Kate Atkinson CHILD 44    Tom Rob Smith CITY OF SHADOWS    Ariana Franklin COMPANY OF LIARS    Karen Maitland DEAD POINT    Peter...
everything distils into reading, July 9, 2010
...a Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith The Rule Book by Rob Kitchin Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten The Likeness by Tana French I nside Out by Barry Eisler...
Peter Scott's Library Blog, July 6, 2010
...Dead Tomorrow – Peter James Gallows Lane – Brian McGilloway Doors Open – Ian Rankin Child 44 – Tom Rob Smith...
Mystery Books News, July 2, 2010
...Peter James • Gallows Lane by Brian McGilloway • Doors Open by Ian Rankin • Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith...
Mystery Fanfare, July 2, 2010
...Gallows Lane, by Brian McGilloway (Pan Macmillan) • Doors Open , by Ian Rankin (Orion) • Child 44 , by Tom Rob Smith (Simon & Schuster) Winner will be announced on Thursday, July 22, the opening night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime...
Books: Books blog | guardian.co.uk, July 1, 2010
...a task requiring faith far beyond the limits of my personal credibility quotient. Recently, a reviewer referred to Tom Rob Smith's The Secret Speech as a "narrative packed with a dizzying mass of incident" – a polite way of saying the book was totally...
IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...), July 1, 2010
...Dead Tomorrow – Peter James Gallows Lane – Brian McGilloway Doors Open – Ian Rankin Child 44 – Tom Rob Smith Congratulations to all & may the best one win!  You can vote via this link direct to the relevant page...
Vixen's Daily Reads, June 28, 2010
...Katz series #1 - Kyra Davis, TPB, mystery From Becky's contest @ NoMoreGrumpyBookseller : THE SECRET SPEECH - Tom Rob Smith, TPB, suspense From Mary Ann: SPLIT IMAGE: Jesse Stone #9 - Robert B Parker, HC, suspense From Summer Solstice Exchange: MOON...
Deadline.com, June 2, 2010
...commissioned to write a new Dashiell Hammett novel. Couldn’t they have found a British author such as Tom Rob Smith ( Child 44 ) or Peter James, creator of the Inspector Grace detective series? British thriller writing must be in pretty rackety state...
Lorri Jeanne's Ramblings, May 29, 2010
...Book Reviews , Fiction , giveaways The Secret Speech With Giveaway The Secret Speech With Giveaway The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith Paperback, 440 Pages Grand Central Pub, May 2010 Genre: Fiction ISBN:  978-0-446-40241-5 View the Reading Guide...
Peter Scott's Library Blog, May 24, 2010
...Doors Open by Ian Rankin * All The Colours of Darkness by Peter Robinson * Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith...
everything distils into reading, May 23, 2010
...For a Salon post, I always write a review. Today is no exception. Title: Child 44 Author: Tom Rob Smith ISBN: 978-0446402385 Publisher: Grand Central Publishing/2008 Pages: 448 I read Child 44 during the 24-Hour-Readathon and hadn't come around reviewing...
The Rap Sheet, May 21, 2010
...Doors Open , by Ian Rankin • All The Colors of Darkness , by Peter Robinson • Child 44 , by Tom Rob Smith Between now and Friday, June 11, readers may vote online for their favorite book. Click here to do so. The top eight vote-getters from...
Vixen's Daily Reads, May 17, 2010
...really nice cache o' books this past week!! From Becky at NoMoreGrumpyBookseller , I won: THE SECRET SPEECH - Tom Rob Smith, TPB, suspense High Crimes Mystery Bookshop (my go-to indie mystery bookshop) order: FARM FRESH MURDER:A Farmer's Market Mystery -...
everything distils into reading, May 16, 2010
...Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons 8) The Cold Room by J T Ellison (CF) 9) Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (CF) I ask for your help in reviewing the above books. Ask me questions about the book which interests you. I will review those by replying to your...
Books and Needlepoint, May 11, 2010
...The Secret Speechby Tom Rob SmithTom Rob Smith's debut, Child 44, was an international bestseller and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Now he returns with The Secret Speech.Stalin is dead, and the brutal Soviet regime once held together by fear...
A Bookworm's World, May 10, 2010
...Looking for an interesting choice for your book club? Consider The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith . (And the reading guide is already done for you!) And thanks to the generosity of The Hachette Book Group I have three copies to giveaway. From the...
Starting Fresh, May 1, 2010
...Valerie and Hatchette Book Group are sponsoring a giveaway of Tom Rob Smith's The Secret Speech , a fast paced thriller set in Russia. About the Book: Tom Rob Smith -the author whose debut, Child 44 , has been called "brilliant" ( Chicago...
BookHounds, April 28, 2010
...the center of the Hungarian uprising in Budapest, THE SECRET SPEECH is a breathtaking, epic novel that confirms Tom Rob Smith as one of the most exciting new authors writing today. About the Author Tom Rob Smith graduated from Cambridge University in...
Both Eyes Book Blog, April 20, 2010
...– Roald Dahl The Cheese Monkeys – Chip Kidd Chicken With Plums – Marjane Satrapi Child 44 – Tom Rob Smith A Child’s Life – Phoebe Gloeckner Childhood’s End – Arthur C. Clarke A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens The City, Not Long...
No More Grumpy Bookseller, April 12, 2010
...Hachette is letting me host a giveaway for the trade release of Tom Rob Smith's second book, The Secret Speech . Contest Details: It's another two copy giveaway and since the book is not due out until May 3, I'll give...
Latest Activity on Book Blogs, April 8, 2010
...Valerie Russo added a discussion to the group Book Club Member & Book Bloggers - HBG Books May: The Secret Speech by Tom Rob SmithIf you would like to review and/or do a giveaway for the paperback edition ofThe Secret Speech By Tom Rob Smithplease reply...
Glass Hombre, March 29, 2010
...Snowman : review forthcoming on Bookmunch. Joyce Lebra - The Scent of Sake : see review in The Japan Times . Tom Rob Smith - The Secret Speech : I read Tom Rob Smith's first Leo Demidov novel Child 44 in Thailand last year & enjoyed it - sometimes...
Novel Insights, March 14, 2010
...a pinch of salt anyway. While for me, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo didn’t quite top Tom Rob Smith’s thriller-history hybrid, Child 44 or Sophie Hannah’s Little Face , I thought that it was very good indeed. It reminded me a little of Thomas...
R & R...Readers and Reference, March 4, 2010
...Try: Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips Or for you suspense junkies, try:  Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith We guarantee you’ll leave with a great Spring read! ~Posted by Jackie, Readers’ Services Librarian Tagged: books , recommendations...
PETRONA, February 9, 2010
...Bruen) Another: The Sins of the Children  (James Brownley) The Children of Men (P D James) Child 44 (Tom Rob Smith) Brother & Sister (Joanna Trollope) The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (Alexander McCall Smith) The Water Widow (Ella Griffiths) And:...
IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...), February 7, 2010
...Following the success of Tom Rob Smith’s Child 44 , it’s not surprising that 2010 brings a batch of novels that appear a tad copycat.  With the cover of Eye of the Red...
The Fifty Book Challenge, February 7, 2010
...No Name – Anonymous The White Queen – Philipa Gregory The Cairo Diary – Maxim Chattam Child44 – Tom Rob Smith The Seventh Daughter – Ronnie Seagren Secret Speech – Tom Rob Smith The Da Vinci code – Dan Brown...
A Little Ludwig Goes A Long Way, January 28, 2010
...Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. Excellent tale of a Stalin-era security officer in Moscow trying to unravel a series of murders while his own loyalty to the state is under question. He comes...
PETRONA, January 22, 2010
...In February, we can look forward to Fever of the Bone by Val McDermid , The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith (guiltily, I still have Child 44 unread on my shelf), Skin and Bones by Tom Bale (a very good, exciting thriller), and The Missing by Jane Casey...
Coffeespoons, January 4, 2010
...Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson I usually base my favorites of the year not on the rating I gave them but on the memory...
Skullcrusher Mountain, January 2, 2010
...by Sandra Cisneros Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel The River Of Doubt by Candice Millard Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri Nuremberg Diary by G.M. Gilbert Amateur Barbarians by Robert Cohen An Honorable German by Charles...
Too many books, January 1, 2010
...24. The Most Wanted- Jacqueline Mitchard 25. The No Spin Zone- Bill O'Reilly July 26. Child 44- Tom Rob Smith 27. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince- J. K. Rowling (reread) August 28. The Civil War in Fairfax County- Charles Mauro 29. Free-Range...
literatehousewife.com, December 22, 2009
...last minute Christmas stuff, I spent some time catching up on my reviews. * The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith I don’t know about you, but every so often I’m in the mood for a thriller.  I don’t read  them often, but there comes a...
Ask MetaFilter, December 6, 2009
...MeFites, help! Need more books to read. /book-recommendation-filterI'm currently about halfway through my to-read list, and want some book recommendations. Help me out here, MeFites!Books that I've enjoyed thoroughly:- The Historian, by Elizabeth...
PETRONA, November 19, 2009
...enjoyed but am about three behind. Moving to the "major sellers" category, we have The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith (Pocket, £7.99), his follow-up to the amazingly successful Child 44; and The Given Day by Dennis Lehane (Black Swan, £7.99), not...
Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, October 17, 2009
...Opening Ceremonies. THE BARRY AWARD Best Novel: DRAINING LAKE by Arnaldur Indridason Best First Novel: CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith Best Thriller: THE DECEIVED by Brent Battles Best British Novel: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson ...
Mystery Fanfare, October 16, 2009
...the Barry Awards Best Novel: The Draining Lake , by Arnaldur Indridason (Minotaur) Best First Novel: Child 44 , by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central) Best British Novel: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , by Stieg Larsson (MacLehose/Quercus) Best Paperback...
The Scrapping Librarian, October 5, 2009
...biggest package to arrive at my house recently was a box from Hatchett books: The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith Kill for Me by Karen Rose The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer Any Minute by Joyce Meyer Julie and Julia by Julie Powell A Summer Affair by...
Kesher Talk, September 13, 2009
...Song List for an Imaginary iPod | Home September 13, 2009 Pick to Click: "The Secret Speech" by Tom Rob Smith On Friday I finished reading "The Secret Speech" by Tom Rob Smith, his smashing sequel to the justly praised "Child 44," about a serial killer...