Today it's my turn and time to kick off the BlogTour for Little Siberia by Antti Tuomainen. Translator - David Hackston ( Twitter: @countertenorist ). It's Scandi crime noir, and it's witty in the way only Tuomainen manages to be.
Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. In 2011, Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for ‘Best Finnish Crime Novel of 2011’ and was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. Two years later, in 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir ’ when Dark as My Heart was published.
With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died (2017) became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach Finland (2018) was an immense success, with The Times calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’.
Follow @antti_tuomainen @OrendaBooks on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Facebook, Visit anttituomainen.com, Buy Little Siberia
A man with dark thoughts on his mind is racing along the remote snowy roads of Hurmevaara in Finland, when there is flash in the sky and something crashes into the car. That something turns about to be a highly valuable meteorite. With euro signs lighting up the eyes of the locals, the unexpected treasure is temporarily placed in a neighbourhood museum, under the watchful eye of a priest named Joel.
But Joel has a lot more on his mind than simply protecting the riches that have apparently rained down from heaven. His wife has just revealed that she is pregnant. Unfortunately, Joel has strong reason to think the baby isn’t his.
As Joel tries to fend off repeated and bungled attempts to steal the meteorite, he must also come to terms with his own situation, and discover who the father of the baby really is.
I have to hand it to Tuomainen you just never know what he is going to bring to the table. Stealing a meteorite?
If you are planning a trip to Finland watch out for meteorites falling from the sky. The Finnish tourist board should hire Tuomainen to write their adverts for them. The only downside would be the amount of people wanting to travel there for the atmosphere he creates and quirky characters this author keeps introducing to the world.
In a way the author makes something clear that is often murky because of the religious meaning attached to it, the fact that those in the role of the representative of god are but mere mortals too. Joel disperses advice in his role as a priest, whilst simultaneously becoming a criminal and a sinner if you will.
When someone is teetering on the edge of a precipice it only takes a very small shove to stumble and fall. In Joel's case that shove comes straight from his beloved wife. His pregnant wife. The wife who is either pregnant by immaculate conception or some other man, because it sure isn't his baby.
He becomes obsessed with keeping the meteorite safe, the one that just plops out of the sky, and at the same time trying to figure out who did the dirty with his wife. The whole scenario is weirdly compelling. Set in the middle of nowhere in Finland, but also somewhere Russian goons happen to pop up to steal space rocks, the story is genre-bending and very much in keeping with Tuomainen's individualistic approach to storytelling.
Tuomainen has this very specific style - his snark is delivered with the charm of a roguish gentleman, accompanied by the wink of a dust-covered experienced cowboy and it's as dark as Poe's heart. As a reader you can't help but smirk at the noirish charm, because he always delivers a good story.
It's Scandi crime noir, and it's witty in the way only Tuomainen manages to be.
Buy Little Siberia at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Orenda Books; pub date: 17 October 2019 | Paperback | £8.99 | Buy at Amazon.com.
Read my reviews of The Man Who Died and Palm Beach Finland by Antti Tuomainen.
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