The Farm

by Tom Rob Smith
352 pgs

I was a little hesitant to pick up The Farm by Tom Rob Smith. Having enjoyed his "Child 44" trilogy as much as I did, I was worried I would inevitably be disappointed by this stand-alone story and would have to take him down from the pedestal I'd placed him on in my mind. Fortunately, my worries were unnecessary.

Daniel is a 29-year-old man who lives in London. He is the only child of his Swedish mother Tilde and his English father Chris, who, years ago sold their business in London and moved to a small farm in Sweden.

The story begins with Daniel receiving a call from his father informing him that his mother had recently experienced a psychotic episode, was committed to an institution for treatment, and had subsequently disappeared. Very shortly afterwards, his mother shows up at his London apartment carrying what she tells him is evidence that his father had gotten involved with a group of men in Sweden who sexually exploited young women and is among those responsible for the disappearance of a teenage girl named Mia.

Daniel listens as his mother tells him about the circumstances around Mia's disappearance, and as he does, he can't help but find her story more and more believable the more he hears. What he hears does not sound like the delusions of a broken mind. His mother is meticulous and comprehensive as she lays out the evidence against his father and the other men, and she claims they tried to institutionalize her in order to discredit her and protect themselves.

The Farm was written a few years ago, back when there were a lot of authors trying to capitalize from the success of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and her use of an unreliable narrator to tell the story. Even though The Farm was written during that time, I don't think Smith was jumping on the bandwagon when he wrote it. This has an entirely different feel to it.. But the result is very similar. For most of the book, you're left questioning the veracity of Tilde's claims and wondering whether they should be believed or not. It' snot until Daniel decides to travel to Sweden himself to learn the truth that things are ultimately made clear.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★