Based on a true story, former screenwriter Tom Rob Smith's first novel Child 44 has picked up some glowing reviews. A thriller set in 1950s Russia, it's about Leo Demidov, a man who has spent his life working for the harsh Stalinist Russian regime, arresting men and women he knows to be innocent. But when a series of brutal murders takes place, his conscience is pricked, and he decides to redeem his past wrongs by solving the murders; murders that the government won't admit actually happened. Expect to feel very sleep-deprived as you finish this fabulous thriller, desperate to discover if Demidov will succeed.

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith, £6.93 from Amazon.co.uk