Skewed world

The Secret Speech Author: Tom Rob Smith Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 429 pages

THE author of Booker-longlisted Child 44 is back with a sequel. It is 1956, and Stalin is dead. A violent regime is beginning to fracture and the Soviet Union is in upheaval. His passing leaves behind a society in which the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent. Stalin’s successor, Khrushchev, pledges reform, but there are forces at work that are unable to forgive or forget Stalin’s tyranny. Meanwhile, former state security officer Leo Demidov is fighting his own demons, but more pressing problems beckon: someone with a grudge against Leo is out to hurt his family.