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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. Tom Rob Smith: The Secret Speech
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    4. Tom Rob Smith: CHILD 44
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    5. Tom Rob Smith: Tips for new writers
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    6. Tom Rob Smith: The writers who influenced CHILD 44
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    7. Tom Rob Smith: The Research behind CHILD 44
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    8. Tom Rob Smith: Child 44 Audio Clip
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    9. Tom Rob Smith: How CHILD 44 evolved
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    10. Tom Rob Smith: The Influences behind CHILD 44
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    11. Meet Tom Rob Smith
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    12. Tom Rob Smith: Secret Speech
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The Secret Speech will be released on February 18, 2010 in Trade Paperback, Mass Market Paperback
Feb 18, 2010
The Secret Speech is now available in Trade Paperback, Mass Market Paperback
Feb 18, 2010
Jan 29, 2010
Jun 09, 2009
Jun 04, 2009
Audio Excerpt:
Child 44 CD
May 22, 2009
Excerpt:
Chapter 1 from The Secret Speech
Apr 08, 2009
The Secret Speech will be released on April 06, 2009 in Hardcover
Apr 06, 2009
The Secret Speech is now available in Hardcover
Apr 06, 2009
The Secret Speech will be released on April 06, 2009 in
Apr 06, 2009
The Secret Speech is now available in
Apr 06, 2009
Child 44 will be released on April 01, 2009 in
Apr 01, 2009
Child 44 is now available in
Apr 01, 2009
Excerpt:
Chapter 1 from Child 44
Mar 31, 2009
Mar 17, 2009
Mar 17, 2009
Mar 16, 2009
Mar 16, 2009
Mar 16, 2009
Child 44 will be released on February 19, 2009 in
Feb 19, 2009
Child 44 is now available in
Feb 19, 2009
Brightcove:
Meet Tom Rob Smith
Dec 03, 2008

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...
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...
Bookin' with Bingo, June 1, 2010
...THE SECRET SPEECH BY TOM ROB SMITH ABOUT THE BOOK: Tom Rob Smith-the author whose debut, Child 44, has been called "brilliant" (Chicago Tribune), "remarkable" (Newsweek) and "sensational" (Entertainment Weekly)-returns with an intense, suspenseful...
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...
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...
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...
Canadian immigrant song, May 7, 2010
...TEXT: about CHILD 44, a sensational debut novel from Tom Rob Smith MUSIC: The Staxx Brothers – Name Dropper Today’s episode runs 6’44″ Download today’s episode: 2010 05 CIS Child44 TheStaxxBros Listen now : References: Child...
A Sea of Books, May 3, 2010
...Hachette Book Group , I have been authorized to give away three (3) copies of SECRET SPEECH by Tom Rob Smith . Rules for entering this giveaway are at the bottom of this post. THE SECRET SPEECH by Tom Rob Smith Publisher: Grand Central...
Peeking Between the Pages, May 3, 2010
...for you courtesy of Valerie at Hachette Book Group. I have 3 copies of The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith up for grabs. I received a copy the other day and boy does this book sound good! The Secret Speech sounds like one of those books that would...
everything distils into reading, May 2, 2010
...The Cold Room by J T Ellison (CF) 36) Greater Love by Robert Whitlow 35) Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (CF) 34) The Cutting by James Hayman (CF) 33) The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (CF) 32) In the Wake of Boatman by Jonathan Fuqua...
My Book Addiction and More!, May 1, 2010
...most unlikely of circumstances . . . “THE SECRET SPEECH continues the headlong pace of Child 44 .” — Wall Street Journal Tom Rob Smith graduated from Cambridge University in 2001 and lives in London. His first novel, Child 44 , was a New York Times...
Three Different Directions, May 1, 2010
...where hope for a better tomorrow is found in the most unlikely of circumstances . . . The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith. Soviet Union, 1956. Stalin is dead, and a violent regime is beginning to fracture—leaving behind a society where the police are...
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...
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...
MYSTERIES in PARADISE, January 13, 2010
...THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, Stieg Larsson - 4 ARCTIC CHILL, Arnaldur Indridason - 3 CHILD 44, Tom Rob Smith - 3 A CARRION DEATH, Michael Stanley - 2 * A CERTAIN MALICE, Felicity Young - 2 DEVIL'S PEAK, Deon Meyer - 2 DOG ON IT, Spencer...
MYSTERIES in PARADISE, January 8, 2010
...HILL Peter Lovesey 4 ALONE IN BERLIN Hans Fallada 3 AMONG THE MAD Jacqueline Winspear 3 CHILD 44 Tom Rob Smith 3 DOG ON IT Spencer Quinn 3 FIFTY GRAND Adrian McKinty 3 IN THE WOODS Tana French 3 NEMESIS Jo Nesbo 3 SHADOW Karin Alvtegen 3 SLAMMER Allan...
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...
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...