Under Stalin's terrifying regime families live in fear. When the all-powerful State claims there is no such thing as crime, who dares disagree? An ambitious secret police officer, Leo Demidov has spent his career arresting anyone who steps out of line. Then he uncovers evidence of a killer at large.

Soviet Union, 1956. The two young girls that Leo Demidov and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his involvement in the murder of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa and their family are in grave danger from someone with a grudge against Leo.

Three decades. Two murders. One conspiracy. Who is Agent 6? The blistering new novel from the multimilliom-copy bestselling author of Child 44.

From the author of Child 44, soon to be a major film starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and Gary Oldman, comes an intricately-knitted thriller in the vein of John Le Carre's A Perfect Spy. Daniel believed that his parents were enjoying a peaceful retirement on a remote farm in Sweden, the country of his mother's birth. But with a single phone call, everything changes. Your mother...she's not well, his father tells him. She's been imagining things - terrible, terrible things. In fact, she has been committed to a mental hospital. Before Daniel can board a plane to Sweden, his mother calls:...

In Soviet Russia, Leo Demidov is after a killer that the State denies exists. But he's in danger himself - from the country he's trying to protect