The Waves Will Bury Us: The Healer

The Healer by Antti Tuomainen

It’s two days before Christmas and Helsinki is battling ruthless climate catastrophe: subway tunnels are flooded; the streets are full of abandoned vehicles; the social order is crumbling and private security firms have undermined the police force. Tapani Lehtinen, a struggling poet, is among the few still willing to live in the city. When Tapani’s journalist wife Johanna goes missing, he embarks on a frantic hunt for her. Johanna’s disappearance seems to be connected to a story she was researching about a serial killer known as ‘The Healer’.

First Impressions: I really liked the world of climate change Helskinki that you were thrown into as it was all enveloping and completely believable. There is chaos but the city is still functioning and recognisable. You are treated to this consistent world all the way through the novel and again, like in Tuomainen’s Dark as My Heart, I wish I knew Helsinki better to fully appreciate his descriptions.

Highlights: There was lots associated with the climate change world I enjoyed and found thoughtful like the refugee problems; although the context was different the social problems and attitudes were the same as we have now. I loved the author’s cool and poetic writing style and the way Tapani seems detached from his surroundings. The security companies and police operations were interesting (and probably recognisable today in some corrupt countries) as were the differences between the wealthy and ordinary citizens.

If I was an editor: What an original novel! Could it be longer to draw out the intrigue?

Overall: A fantastic noir/serial killer/climate change mash up. I’m all in on Cli-Fi if this is the benchmark!

 

Finnish Noir: Dark as My Heart

Dark as My Heart by Antti Tuomainen

Aleksi lost his mother on a rainy October day when he was thirteen years old. Twenty years later, he is certain that he knows who’s responsible. Everything points to millionaire Henrik Saarinen. The police don’t agree. He has only one option: to get close to Saarinen and find out the truth about his mother’s fate on his own. But as Aleksi soon discovers, delving into Saarinen and his alluring daughter’s family secrets is a confusing and dangerous enterprise.

First Impressions:  I liked Alexi’s measured narrative tone in this novel. The references to his mother definitely made me want to keep reading. It all felt a little…creepy.

Highlights: This is a well paced crime novel and I did not guess the outcome. I liked Scandi crime fiction and this novel really stood out as crime fiction set in Finland is hard to come by. I almost wish I was reading it in paperback rather than on my kindle so I could easily flick back to look up all the location references. Being part Finnish I have visited to Helsinki a few times and couldn’t help but get a thrill when I saw mentions of, for instance, Suomenlinna Fort. I wish I was more familiar with some of the locations! The Helsinki setting is rather poetic and invigorating. I also liked the wizened detective Ketomaa and wish he appeared more.

If I was an editor: Yes, as the reviews state it is part Greek tragedy for Alexsi and part Gothic horror in the Saarinen mansion. It was magnificent as a whole but fell ever so slightly short of making me desperate to keep reading while looking after my toddler.

Overall: Highly recommended. Will be reading Tuomainen’s previous novel The Healer.

Dark as My Heart: 4 Stars