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The Healer
One man’s search for his missing wife in a dystopian futuristic Helsinki that is struggling with ruthless climate change
It’s two days before Christmas and Helsinki is battling a ruthless climate subway tunnels are flooded; abandoned vehicles are left burning in the streets; the authorities have issued warnings about malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola, and the plague. People are fleeing to the far north of Finland and Norway where conditions are still tolerable. Social order is crumbling and private security firms have undermined the police force. Tapani Lehtinen, a struggling poet, is among the few still able and willing to live in the city.
When Tapani’s beloved wife, Johanna, a newspaper journalist, 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 politically motivated serial killer known as “The Healer.” Desperate to find Johanna, Tapani’s search leads him to uncover secrets from her past. Secrets that connect her to the very murders she was investigating...
The Healer is set in desperate times, forcing Tapani to take desperate measures in order to find his true love. Written in an engrossingly dense but minimal language, The Healer is a story of survival, loyalty, and determination. Even when the world is coming to an end, love and hope endure.
It’s two days before Christmas and Helsinki is battling a ruthless climate subway tunnels are flooded; abandoned vehicles are left burning in the streets; the authorities have issued warnings about malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola, and the plague. People are fleeing to the far north of Finland and Norway where conditions are still tolerable. Social order is crumbling and private security firms have undermined the police force. Tapani Lehtinen, a struggling poet, is among the few still able and willing to live in the city.
When Tapani’s beloved wife, Johanna, a newspaper journalist, 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 politically motivated serial killer known as “The Healer.” Desperate to find Johanna, Tapani’s search leads him to uncover secrets from her past. Secrets that connect her to the very murders she was investigating...
The Healer is set in desperate times, forcing Tapani to take desperate measures in order to find his true love. Written in an engrossingly dense but minimal language, The Healer is a story of survival, loyalty, and determination. Even when the world is coming to an end, love and hope endure.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
58 people are currently reading
1371 people want to read
About the author
Antti Tuomainen
26 books591 followersAntti Tuomainen (b. 1971) is one of Finland’s most acclaimed and award-winning crime fiction writers. To date, Tuomainen’s works have been translated into more than 25 languages. Crowned “The King of Helsinki Noir,” Tuomainen’s piercing and evocative style has never stopped evolving.
In The Man Who Died, Tuomainen displays a new side of his authorship and unveils his multifaceted ability in full. The novel, which combines Tuomainen’s trademark suspense with a darkly tinged humor, has won the hearts of readers and critics alike, and secured him the new title of King of Noir Comedy. The Man Who Died also became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards.
Palm Beach Finland was an immense success, with Marcel Berlins (The Times) calling Tuomainen 'the funniest writer in Europe'.
His latest thriller, Little Siberia, was shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, the Amazon Publishing/Capital Crime Awards and the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.
In The Man Who Died, Tuomainen displays a new side of his authorship and unveils his multifaceted ability in full. The novel, which combines Tuomainen’s trademark suspense with a darkly tinged humor, has won the hearts of readers and critics alike, and secured him the new title of King of Noir Comedy. The Man Who Died also became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards.
Palm Beach Finland was an immense success, with Marcel Berlins (The Times) calling Tuomainen 'the funniest writer in Europe'.
His latest thriller, Little Siberia, was shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, the Amazon Publishing/Capital Crime Awards and the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 319 reviews
December 23, 2025
Warning: There are no healers in this book.
Coming off The Nightjar, a disaster of a read riddled with new-author/young-adult style descriptions, I was more than a little disturbed to see some of the familiar first-publication type mistakes scattered through the first few chapters. However, as the read progressed, I noticed less and less as my curiosity was piqued with the end-of-the-world scenario. What followed was a deeply moving story of a man searching for his journalist wife after she disappears. The framework reminded me of Senlin Ascends, but didn’t irritate me nearly as much. The memories of their interaction were active and ranged through time, giving purposeful insight to their relationship. In fact, through asking questions about her disappearance, he discovers more about his wife’s history and professional work, fleshing her out into more than a cardboard plot element.
"How many times would I try to call her? How many times would I listen to the toneless recorded voice of the woman telling me again and again what I knew only too well? I didn’t know. Maybe events had to be repeated until the repetition produced results, or until it was useless to try."
Tuominen imagines a near future with increasing civil breakdown through depletion of resources. Illnesses, climate disasters and economic downturns have all taken their toll on the world and the formerly stable population of Finland is fluxing. Private security forces are stepping in to replace budget-strapped police departments, leading to more inequities.
“There’s still a chance to do more good than harm here. And I am a policeman. I believe in what I do. Until I have evidence to the contrary.”
It is an all-too-plausible scenario. The dystopia, coupled with bad weather, creates a mood that resembles the front cover; obscured, grey-shaded, the silhouettes of mystery. My mood is always depression-adverse in my reading, but this remained too compelling (It may have helped that I was reading this on a sunny Caribbean island).
"Above all the noise a woman’s bright laugh sounded carefree, and stranger than anything I’d heard in a long time."
Any more would be spoilery, I think. As Tapani searches for his wife, he does bump up against some legitimate mysteries, both small and large. It was a delicately layered book with a powerful center.
"History tells us that this kind of thing has happened many times before. Civilization blossoms and then it falls. It’s happened on this planet in our own lifetime, to millions and millions of people, even before now. But you take it harder, somehow, when it’s your own little world that’s dying.”
Warning: this book gives serious Tana French vibes, Moody, depressing, and slightly inconclusive. I don’t know if I would read it again or not, mostly because I think Tuomainen's view of the future aligns too well with my own. Note that I did reread the end of the book, looking for more insight.
TL;DR: it is a cross between between The Last Policeman, Senlin Ascends and Broken Harbor.
Coming off The Nightjar, a disaster of a read riddled with new-author/young-adult style descriptions, I was more than a little disturbed to see some of the familiar first-publication type mistakes scattered through the first few chapters. However, as the read progressed, I noticed less and less as my curiosity was piqued with the end-of-the-world scenario. What followed was a deeply moving story of a man searching for his journalist wife after she disappears. The framework reminded me of Senlin Ascends, but didn’t irritate me nearly as much. The memories of their interaction were active and ranged through time, giving purposeful insight to their relationship. In fact, through asking questions about her disappearance, he discovers more about his wife’s history and professional work, fleshing her out into more than a cardboard plot element.
"How many times would I try to call her? How many times would I listen to the toneless recorded voice of the woman telling me again and again what I knew only too well? I didn’t know. Maybe events had to be repeated until the repetition produced results, or until it was useless to try."
Tuominen imagines a near future with increasing civil breakdown through depletion of resources. Illnesses, climate disasters and economic downturns have all taken their toll on the world and the formerly stable population of Finland is fluxing. Private security forces are stepping in to replace budget-strapped police departments, leading to more inequities.
“There’s still a chance to do more good than harm here. And I am a policeman. I believe in what I do. Until I have evidence to the contrary.”
It is an all-too-plausible scenario. The dystopia, coupled with bad weather, creates a mood that resembles the front cover; obscured, grey-shaded, the silhouettes of mystery. My mood is always depression-adverse in my reading, but this remained too compelling (It may have helped that I was reading this on a sunny Caribbean island).
"Above all the noise a woman’s bright laugh sounded carefree, and stranger than anything I’d heard in a long time."
Any more would be spoilery, I think. As Tapani searches for his wife, he does bump up against some legitimate mysteries, both small and large. It was a delicately layered book with a powerful center.
"History tells us that this kind of thing has happened many times before. Civilization blossoms and then it falls. It’s happened on this planet in our own lifetime, to millions and millions of people, even before now. But you take it harder, somehow, when it’s your own little world that’s dying.”
Warning: this book gives serious Tana French vibes, Moody, depressing, and slightly inconclusive. I don’t know if I would read it again or not, mostly because I think Tuomainen's view of the future aligns too well with my own. Note that I did reread the end of the book, looking for more insight.
TL;DR: it is a cross between between The Last Policeman, Senlin Ascends and Broken Harbor.
January 24, 2021
Hay un aspecto en este libro que permite que no se transforme en uno más del montón: la ambientación. Nos encontramos en una Europa completamente devastada por los efectos del cambio climático; lluvias torrenciales que se extienden por meses, inundaciones, ciudades que progresivamente van siendo abandonadas por los ya habituales cortes de energía, casas y barrios completos “tomados” por nuevos habitantes que a su vez han emigrado de lugares en más difíciles condiciones, ya que la situación es igual o peor en el resto del mundo: plagas y las más exóticas enfermedades son cosa de todos los días.
El autor nos presenta este entorno con gran efectismo, porque lo peor es que aún no nos encontramos en un mundo distópico, sino que el cambio ha sido y sigue siendo tan paulatino, que la sociedad es un híbrido que se aferra al pasado, con la vana esperanza que lleguen tiempos mejores. Realmente un logro narrativo que, al menos a mí, me impactó mucho.
Respecto del argumento está bien, mantiene la tensión y el interés en saber qué pasó con la esposa del personaje principal, pero la verdad, hacia el final esperaba algún buen giro que, lamentablemente, nunca llegó. Sí destaco el que nuestro protagonista fuera un hombre común y corriente, que se ve enfrentado a buscar a su mujer desaparecida con poco y nada de ayuda de la policía (absolutamente sobrepasada por el caos en que está sumida la ciudad), pero con una dosis extraordinaria de suerte ya que las pistas aparecen casi debajo de la manga.
Reto #49 PopSugar 2018: Un libro acerca de un problema al que se enfrenta la sociedad en la actualidad
El autor nos presenta este entorno con gran efectismo, porque lo peor es que aún no nos encontramos en un mundo distópico, sino que el cambio ha sido y sigue siendo tan paulatino, que la sociedad es un híbrido que se aferra al pasado, con la vana esperanza que lleguen tiempos mejores. Realmente un logro narrativo que, al menos a mí, me impactó mucho.
Respecto del argumento está bien, mantiene la tensión y el interés en saber qué pasó con la esposa del personaje principal, pero la verdad, hacia el final esperaba algún buen giro que, lamentablemente, nunca llegó. Sí destaco el que nuestro protagonista fuera un hombre común y corriente, que se ve enfrentado a buscar a su mujer desaparecida con poco y nada de ayuda de la policía (absolutamente sobrepasada por el caos en que está sumida la ciudad), pero con una dosis extraordinaria de suerte ya que las pistas aparecen casi debajo de la manga.
Reto #49 PopSugar 2018: Un libro acerca de un problema al que se enfrenta la sociedad en la actualidad
November 30, 2015
This is the third novel by “the King of Helsinki Noir,” Antti Tuomainen, but the first translated into English. Tapani Lehtinen is a struggling poet, living in a Helsinki battling climate catastrophe. Christmas is days away, but there is no comfort in the festive season in this book. Crime is rising, rain falls virtually constantly, public order is breaking down and society is a violent, dangerous and uncertain place.
While Tapani is at home writing, his wife Johanna is a journalist. Tapani and Johanna keep in touch during the day and when she doesn’t call, or text, him for twenty four hours, he knows that something terrible has happened to her. However, with the police coping with a society in breakdown, there is little help to be had from the authorities and so, Tapani embarks on a mission to find out what happened to her.
It soon becomes apparent that Tapani writes to give order and structure to a world in freefall. When he begins to investigate, he finds that Johanna has been researching a story on ‘the Healer’- a killer targeting those he blames for the catastrophic climate change. With the help of a cab driver, Hamid, Tapani decides he must find the killer in order to find his wife. As his hunt continues though, he discovers that he didn’t know his wife as well as he imagined…
This is a good crime novel, with an interesting setting. Tuomainen creates a society where the polite veneer has broken down and makes the city almost a character in itself. I will admit that I enjoyed, “Dark as my Heart,” the author’s fourth novel, more than that. However, that hopefully just shows that he is improving and both of the books that have been translated into English just make me more impatient to have more of his novels published here. A good author and a very original crime mystery.
While Tapani is at home writing, his wife Johanna is a journalist. Tapani and Johanna keep in touch during the day and when she doesn’t call, or text, him for twenty four hours, he knows that something terrible has happened to her. However, with the police coping with a society in breakdown, there is little help to be had from the authorities and so, Tapani embarks on a mission to find out what happened to her.
It soon becomes apparent that Tapani writes to give order and structure to a world in freefall. When he begins to investigate, he finds that Johanna has been researching a story on ‘the Healer’- a killer targeting those he blames for the catastrophic climate change. With the help of a cab driver, Hamid, Tapani decides he must find the killer in order to find his wife. As his hunt continues though, he discovers that he didn’t know his wife as well as he imagined…
This is a good crime novel, with an interesting setting. Tuomainen creates a society where the polite veneer has broken down and makes the city almost a character in itself. I will admit that I enjoyed, “Dark as my Heart,” the author’s fourth novel, more than that. However, that hopefully just shows that he is improving and both of the books that have been translated into English just make me more impatient to have more of his novels published here. A good author and a very original crime mystery.
December 3, 2024
Dystopian, dark and very sad (even with a happy end), an not-so-pleasant protagonist, this is certainly not my favorite sort of novel.
And yet it has some interesting ideas, so three stars are quite a decent mark.
And yet it has some interesting ideas, so three stars are quite a decent mark.
September 6, 2015
What makes the dystopian future described by Finnish author Antti Tuomainen so disturbing is that it so closely resembles parts of the world we live in today. He’s made the canny decision to dispense with futuristic tech and all the other trappings we’ve come to associate with the post-apocalypse: Mad Maxx gangs roaming a barren landscape, the rich farming the poor like domesticated cattle, the rise of the machines, etc. None of those factor into Tuomainen’s vision for the future: a place where we still live in houses and apartments, have jobs (if we’re lucky), call for cabs on crowded streets, shop for clothes and scan the tabloids for dirt on the latest pop sensation.
Instead he shows us how we have created the circumstances which will eventually end us.
I don’t think a more frightening scenario exists. Which is exactly what the author intends.
The Healer is set in an unspecified future where the consequences of climate change have only recently made themselves apparent – at least in the cataclysmic sense. Resources haven’t been completely depleted, but they are running out. Refugees are arriving in the Northern hemisphere en masse. Finland, a country that occupies a total area of 130,596 geographic square miles (that’s 16,446 square miles less than the state of Montana), has become one giant refugee camp. Everything is chaos. Disease is rampant. Food and shelter are running out. There’s 13 wars/conflicts happening in the EU. The reader is witnessing the breakdown of civilization. Tuomainen has his protagonist describe evenings spent at the apartment window, sipping coffee and looking at dozens of orange pinpoints of light in the distance. They are giant fires, built by the displaced, dotting the landscape.
Helsinki is the place where everyone is escaping to. Readers are given hints, but are for the most part left on their own to conjure the places the refugees are escaping from. We get a sense of the dire situation when the book’s hero is befriended by a cab driver, a “young North African man” named Hamid who will prove to be worth his weight in gold.
"Hamid liked Finland. Here, at least, there was some possibility of making good – he might even be able to start a family here.
I listened to his fast-flowing, broken English and watched him in profile. A narrow, light-brown face, alert, nut-brown eyes in the rearview mirror; quick hands on the steering wheel. Then I looked at the city flashing by, the flooded streets glistening, puddles the size of ponds, shattered windows, doors pried from their hinges, cars burned black, and people wandering in the rain. Where I saw doom, Hamid saw hope."
It’s a slow and steady decline towards extinction. And into this environment Tuomainen has plotted a missing person case that is completely riveting. There is no one, catastrophic, event that put us in this place. Just a series of bad decisions.
Tapani Lehtinen, the hero and narrator, isn’t a detective. He’s a poet whose last collection was published four years earlier. His wife, Johanna, is a journalist investigating an eco-terrorist turned serial killer known only as “The Healer”. When the book opens she’s been missing for approximately 24 hours. All Tapani has to begin his search with is a phone call from Johanna he recorded by mistake. She tells him she’ll be away overnight, following a lead. Her last words to him are: “See you tomorrow at the latest. I love you.”
Tapani attempts to go to the police for help, even approaching an Inspector who Johanna had once helped to solve an important case. But, like everything else, the force is in disarray. They can’t keep up with the influx of people and crime. Private security companies are popping up everywhere – often doing more harm than good. Everyone with the resources to do so has fled even farther North. In the end all the Inspector can offer Tapani is police resources: video footage, access to information, and the occasional assist. There’s no man-power to spare.
It turns out to be enough. The trail Tapani follows is made up of his & Johanna’s shared and individual histories. As the plot develops it’s close to impossible to stop reading. Everything feels so plausible. Each revelation becomes another piece in the natural progression of events. As for the translation – it’s fantastic. Whether Lola Roger has been completely faithful to the original I can’t say. But I’ve always looked at the act of translation as being a collaboration between an author and translator – the result of which should be judged on its own merit and not just as a variation of a form (bear with me: I’m getting a little Platonic here). The English translation of The Healer is a fully realized and beautifully written book in and of itself.
The ending, particularly, is brilliant. I’ve seen it described as an “open ending” in some reviews, which to me implies that there might be a sequel. That would be a shame. Without giving anything away (brief tangent: did anyone else read Joyce Carol Oates NYRB reviews of two of Derek Raymond’s “Factory” novels/mysteries? She gives away the killer for BOTH books! WHO does THAT????!) the ending is perfectly in tune with the world Tuomainen describes. In addition, it structurally reflects the novel’s over-arcing message and is a clever piece of writing. Any other direction he might have gone in would have felt contrived and cliché. Instead, it is the best part of the book. No small compliment when describing a book this good. Like Eliot, Tuomainen sees the power in allowing the world to end. Not with a bang but a whimper.
The Healer is Antti Tuomainen’s third novel. It won the Clue Award for the Best Finnish Crime Novel of 2011 and was subsequently translated into 26 different languages.
For more of my reviews please visit BookSexy Review
Instead he shows us how we have created the circumstances which will eventually end us.
I don’t think a more frightening scenario exists. Which is exactly what the author intends.
The Healer is set in an unspecified future where the consequences of climate change have only recently made themselves apparent – at least in the cataclysmic sense. Resources haven’t been completely depleted, but they are running out. Refugees are arriving in the Northern hemisphere en masse. Finland, a country that occupies a total area of 130,596 geographic square miles (that’s 16,446 square miles less than the state of Montana), has become one giant refugee camp. Everything is chaos. Disease is rampant. Food and shelter are running out. There’s 13 wars/conflicts happening in the EU. The reader is witnessing the breakdown of civilization. Tuomainen has his protagonist describe evenings spent at the apartment window, sipping coffee and looking at dozens of orange pinpoints of light in the distance. They are giant fires, built by the displaced, dotting the landscape.
Helsinki is the place where everyone is escaping to. Readers are given hints, but are for the most part left on their own to conjure the places the refugees are escaping from. We get a sense of the dire situation when the book’s hero is befriended by a cab driver, a “young North African man” named Hamid who will prove to be worth his weight in gold.
"Hamid liked Finland. Here, at least, there was some possibility of making good – he might even be able to start a family here.
I listened to his fast-flowing, broken English and watched him in profile. A narrow, light-brown face, alert, nut-brown eyes in the rearview mirror; quick hands on the steering wheel. Then I looked at the city flashing by, the flooded streets glistening, puddles the size of ponds, shattered windows, doors pried from their hinges, cars burned black, and people wandering in the rain. Where I saw doom, Hamid saw hope."
It’s a slow and steady decline towards extinction. And into this environment Tuomainen has plotted a missing person case that is completely riveting. There is no one, catastrophic, event that put us in this place. Just a series of bad decisions.
Tapani Lehtinen, the hero and narrator, isn’t a detective. He’s a poet whose last collection was published four years earlier. His wife, Johanna, is a journalist investigating an eco-terrorist turned serial killer known only as “The Healer”. When the book opens she’s been missing for approximately 24 hours. All Tapani has to begin his search with is a phone call from Johanna he recorded by mistake. She tells him she’ll be away overnight, following a lead. Her last words to him are: “See you tomorrow at the latest. I love you.”
Tapani attempts to go to the police for help, even approaching an Inspector who Johanna had once helped to solve an important case. But, like everything else, the force is in disarray. They can’t keep up with the influx of people and crime. Private security companies are popping up everywhere – often doing more harm than good. Everyone with the resources to do so has fled even farther North. In the end all the Inspector can offer Tapani is police resources: video footage, access to information, and the occasional assist. There’s no man-power to spare.
It turns out to be enough. The trail Tapani follows is made up of his & Johanna’s shared and individual histories. As the plot develops it’s close to impossible to stop reading. Everything feels so plausible. Each revelation becomes another piece in the natural progression of events. As for the translation – it’s fantastic. Whether Lola Roger has been completely faithful to the original I can’t say. But I’ve always looked at the act of translation as being a collaboration between an author and translator – the result of which should be judged on its own merit and not just as a variation of a form (bear with me: I’m getting a little Platonic here). The English translation of The Healer is a fully realized and beautifully written book in and of itself.
The ending, particularly, is brilliant. I’ve seen it described as an “open ending” in some reviews, which to me implies that there might be a sequel. That would be a shame. Without giving anything away (brief tangent: did anyone else read Joyce Carol Oates NYRB reviews of two of Derek Raymond’s “Factory” novels/mysteries? She gives away the killer for BOTH books! WHO does THAT????!) the ending is perfectly in tune with the world Tuomainen describes. In addition, it structurally reflects the novel’s over-arcing message and is a clever piece of writing. Any other direction he might have gone in would have felt contrived and cliché. Instead, it is the best part of the book. No small compliment when describing a book this good. Like Eliot, Tuomainen sees the power in allowing the world to end. Not with a bang but a whimper.
The Healer is Antti Tuomainen’s third novel. It won the Clue Award for the Best Finnish Crime Novel of 2011 and was subsequently translated into 26 different languages.
For more of my reviews please visit BookSexy Review
May 5, 2021
The Healer - Antti Tuomainen
يسير الشاعر في شوارع مدينته الغارقة في الوحل والفوضى والعنف، العالم
قد تغير وبات التغير المناخي واقعًا لا يمكن إصلاحه أو تغييره. يبحث الشاعر عن
زوجته الصحفيّة المفقودة ويغوص في لغز جرائم كانت تبحث عن حل لها. يفتح ملفات قديمة
ويغوص في أسرارٍ ظلت مخفيّة
زمنًا طويلًا ويفقد صداقات ويعود لأبواب علاقات سابقة بحثًا عن إجابات لأسئلةٍ عصيّة.
الشاعر تائه وحيد، لا يساعده سوى سائق سيارة أجرة مهاجر
وشرطي يائس، والرحلة ليست سهلة؛ يتآكله القلق وتؤرقه الأسئلة؛ هل سأجدها؟
وهل سنعيش بعدها بسعادة؟ والعالم.. كيف سننجو في هذا العالم؟ كيف سننجو من هذا العالم؟
رواية ديستوبيا فنلنديّة قصيرة وبديعة.
يسير الشاعر في شوارع مدينته الغارقة في الوحل والفوضى والعنف، العالم
قد تغير وبات التغير المناخي واقعًا لا يمكن إصلاحه أو تغييره. يبحث الشاعر عن
زوجته الصحفيّة المفقودة ويغوص في لغز جرائم كانت تبحث عن حل لها. يفتح ملفات قديمة
ويغوص في أسرارٍ ظلت مخفيّة
زمنًا طويلًا ويفقد صداقات ويعود لأبواب علاقات سابقة بحثًا عن إجابات لأسئلةٍ عصيّة.
الشاعر تائه وحيد، لا يساعده سوى سائق سيارة أجرة مهاجر
وشرطي يائس، والرحلة ليست سهلة؛ يتآكله القلق وتؤرقه الأسئلة؛ هل سأجدها؟
وهل سنعيش بعدها بسعادة؟ والعالم.. كيف سننجو في هذا العالم؟ كيف سننجو من هذا العالم؟
رواية ديستوبيا فنلنديّة قصيرة وبديعة.
July 1, 2020
3.5 звезди
Сюжетът не е от най-оригиналните, при все че досега се бях натъквала на романи, описващи света след апокалипсис, а не по време на зараждането му. Описаното в романа е достатъчно правдоподобно и може би не е просто плод на въображението на автора, а не особено далечното бъдеще на планетата и хората.
Сюжетът не е от най-оригиналните, при все че досега се бях натъквала на романи, описващи света след апокалипсис, а не по време на зараждането му. Описаното в романа е достатъчно правдоподобно и може би не е просто плод на въображението на автора, а не особено далечното бъдеще на планетата и хората.
February 27, 2016
Distopija, noir, triler sve u jednom, ocekivala sam ipak malo vise
Uznemirujuce prikazana buducnost...
Uznemirujuce prikazana buducnost...
January 15, 2018
It was New Year's Eve, the end of year TV shows weren't holding my attention and so naturally I turned to my bookcase. The Healer is a dystopian thriller which isn't perhaps the most obvious choice of book to read during the celebrations (although given the events of the past year, perhaps totally fitting...) but The Man Who Died was one of my top reads of the year so it seemed right to see out 2017 with a previous book by one of my favourite authors.
Set in the near future, climate change has become climate disaster. Countries are on the verge of destruction, wars and conflicts are breaking out worldwide, an estimated 650-800 million people are climate refugees and there are pandemic warnings in place for H3N3, malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola and the plague. In short, things are bleak. Finland may have suffered months of unrelenting rain, its waterfront neighbourhoods continuously flooded with many residents forced to move out but nevertheless scores of refugees from the worst hit countries continue to arrive, hoping to find some sort of shelter. Tapani Lehinen has more pressing concerns however, his wife is missing. Johanna is a journalist and has been researching a story about a serial killer known as 'The Healer.' Tapani knows the police don't have the time or the resources to look into her disappearance so he is forced to hunt for his wife himself. As he learns the truth about his wife's past, Tapani uncovers shocking secrets and must decide who he can trust. The city has become a place of outsiders, of broken communities and violence and his investigation will lead him into ever more danger. This is an intriguing mystery, suspenseful and menacing.
As a thriller alone, The Healer is superb writing, dark and tense with some chilling twists but it's the very human emotions described here that really got under my skin. Tapani's longing for his wife is so evocatively described as to be palpable, I ached with him. Tapani is an everyman, he's accepted his poetry isn't going to make him well known, all he wants is to live out his days with the woman he loves. As his search for her continues, his discoveries lead to him experiencing painful jealousy and paranoia alongside the fear and desperation but still he is driven to find her. The Healer is imbued with a sense of melancholy, the constant rain a symbolic representation of the tears of a planet doomed by its own people and yet there's a bittersweet poignancy to it too, as despite the uncertain future, love still exists and is still what matters most.
The action takes place a few days before Christmas and so the apocalyptic weather, the ruthlessness and brutality of many of the citizens still trying to live in Helsinki, and Tapani's struggles - both on the streets and in his mind - are in sharp juxtaposition to what is usually considered a season of light and hope. The Healer sees humanity at its most desperate, there is little optimism for the future and yet the simple act of loving someone and being loved back is still enough.
Antti Tuomainen has written a thriller that is dark, unsettling and deeply atmospheric, it's also really quite touching, and there's some lovely flashes of the dry wit here and there that made The Man Who Died such a joy to read. The Healer meant I started 2018 with a hangover but as it was a book hangover I can forgive Antti! This is a clever, compelling and beautifully written novel that I lost myself in, an absolute treat of a book.
Set in the near future, climate change has become climate disaster. Countries are on the verge of destruction, wars and conflicts are breaking out worldwide, an estimated 650-800 million people are climate refugees and there are pandemic warnings in place for H3N3, malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola and the plague. In short, things are bleak. Finland may have suffered months of unrelenting rain, its waterfront neighbourhoods continuously flooded with many residents forced to move out but nevertheless scores of refugees from the worst hit countries continue to arrive, hoping to find some sort of shelter. Tapani Lehinen has more pressing concerns however, his wife is missing. Johanna is a journalist and has been researching a story about a serial killer known as 'The Healer.' Tapani knows the police don't have the time or the resources to look into her disappearance so he is forced to hunt for his wife himself. As he learns the truth about his wife's past, Tapani uncovers shocking secrets and must decide who he can trust. The city has become a place of outsiders, of broken communities and violence and his investigation will lead him into ever more danger. This is an intriguing mystery, suspenseful and menacing.
As a thriller alone, The Healer is superb writing, dark and tense with some chilling twists but it's the very human emotions described here that really got under my skin. Tapani's longing for his wife is so evocatively described as to be palpable, I ached with him. Tapani is an everyman, he's accepted his poetry isn't going to make him well known, all he wants is to live out his days with the woman he loves. As his search for her continues, his discoveries lead to him experiencing painful jealousy and paranoia alongside the fear and desperation but still he is driven to find her. The Healer is imbued with a sense of melancholy, the constant rain a symbolic representation of the tears of a planet doomed by its own people and yet there's a bittersweet poignancy to it too, as despite the uncertain future, love still exists and is still what matters most.
The action takes place a few days before Christmas and so the apocalyptic weather, the ruthlessness and brutality of many of the citizens still trying to live in Helsinki, and Tapani's struggles - both on the streets and in his mind - are in sharp juxtaposition to what is usually considered a season of light and hope. The Healer sees humanity at its most desperate, there is little optimism for the future and yet the simple act of loving someone and being loved back is still enough.
Antti Tuomainen has written a thriller that is dark, unsettling and deeply atmospheric, it's also really quite touching, and there's some lovely flashes of the dry wit here and there that made The Man Who Died such a joy to read. The Healer meant I started 2018 with a hangover but as it was a book hangover I can forgive Antti! This is a clever, compelling and beautifully written novel that I lost myself in, an absolute treat of a book.
July 10, 2012
Tak špatná knížka - tak úděsně špatná - že se to konstatování pokusím zdůvodnit i za cenu námahy hodné lepší věci. Léčitel je knižní obdoba skupiny Lunetic (původně jsem chtěl napsat Spice Girls, ale to bych sáhl příliš vysoko): nula talentu, víceméně nula řemesla, čistý humbuk.
Příběh se odehrává v Helsinkách blízké budoucnosti, postižených stejně jako celý svět klimatickou apokalypsou. Moře stoupá, město zaplavuje z jedné strany voda a z druhé uprchlíci; spolu s nimi zločinnost, špína a veskrze asijské poměry včetně „fronty na potravinové dávky, [která] se z Mannerheimovy třídy vinula v délce několika stovek metrů až do Toivovy ulice a dál dozadu za Sportovní halu“. Kávy je však dostatek stejně jako benzínu, mobily a internet fungují bezchybně. A peníze očividně neztrácejí hodnotu.
Vypravěčem je básník, jehož žena Johanna — novinářka — se ztratí, když pracuje na reportáži o masovém vrahovi, jenž si říká Léčitel. Ten likviduje osoby, jež podle jeho názoru nesou vinu za globální oteplování, tedy manažery velkých firem, finančníky a podobně, a to s celými rodinami. Při pátrání po Johanně odhalí vypravěč kus její minulosti, o němž nevěděl. Dostane se tak dál než nefunkční policie. Na konci je Johanna nalezena a padouši mrtvi - kromě hlavního, u nějž to není tak docela jisté. Díky tomu mohl autor na konec přidat ještě několik stránek obsahujících nejednoznačný závěr.
Takhle shrnuté to možná ještě nevypadá tak zle. Potíž je v tom, že kniha nemá žádnou logiku. Především nefunguje sám fantaskní svět příběhu, jeho jednotlivé aspekty se navzájem tlučou. Nefunguje děj: vypravěč se ke všem svým zjištěním, jimiž předběhne policii, dopracuje jednoduchým hledáním na internetu; případně se prostě zeptá lidí a oni mu to řeknou. Důležitou částí knihy jsou tři dlouhé rozhovory, z nichž jeden vede vypravěč s umírajícím Gromowem, druhý krátce poté s mužem, který ho chce zastřelit, třetí na samém konci s Tarkiainenem na nádraží. Hovory vraha s obětí apod. patří v horších detektivkách k oblíbeným klišé, čtenáři se pomocí nich objasňuje, jak to vlastně bylo („stejně tě zastřelím, tak proč bych ti napřed nepopsal detaily svých odporných zločinů“). Ale i to klišé se musí umět napsat, aby to vypadalo jen nepřesvědčivě a ne úplně na palici.
A ještě tu je „otevřený“ konec — totální podvod, který má vyvolat pocit hloubky a nesrozumitelnosti, kde žádná není.
Jak jsem řekl, vítězství marketingu, hlavně domácího: Kniha Zlín dokázala kolem téhle knížky, která ještě ani nevyšla anglicky (nedopátral jsem se, že by vyšla v jiných jazycích než finsky a česky, ale zas tak usilovně jsem nehledal) vyvolat zdání světového bestselleru. Propagační talent zlínské bohyně sociálních sítí Olgy Biernátové je opravdu velký, ale měla by ho užívat selektivněji, jinak jí časem nebude věřit nikdo nic.
Jediné, co je na Léčiteli bezděčně upřímné, je líčení špinavého města plného rváčů, bezdomovců a hořících ohňů, propad Helsinek do moře a do třetího světa; strach a fascinace, panenský sen o znásilnění. Ach, do našeho čisťounkého spořádaného města vtrhnou všichni ti hrozní lidé a budou tu dělat všechny ty hrozné věci... Tohle psal Tuomainen celým srdcem plným soucitu, ekologického cítění a ryzí xenofobie. Nic osobního, většina Evropanů je na tom v nejlepším případě stejně.
Léčitel není literatura, a to ani špatná literatura. Je to nekvalitní výrobek, levný šmejd s pěkným obalem a reklamou na billboardech. Na nové vlně severské detektivky se zkouší povozit kdeco. Její zakladatel Stieg Larsson je však vedle Tuomainena učiněný Lev Tolstoj.
Příběh se odehrává v Helsinkách blízké budoucnosti, postižených stejně jako celý svět klimatickou apokalypsou. Moře stoupá, město zaplavuje z jedné strany voda a z druhé uprchlíci; spolu s nimi zločinnost, špína a veskrze asijské poměry včetně „fronty na potravinové dávky, [která] se z Mannerheimovy třídy vinula v délce několika stovek metrů až do Toivovy ulice a dál dozadu za Sportovní halu“. Kávy je však dostatek stejně jako benzínu, mobily a internet fungují bezchybně. A peníze očividně neztrácejí hodnotu.
Vypravěčem je básník, jehož žena Johanna — novinářka — se ztratí, když pracuje na reportáži o masovém vrahovi, jenž si říká Léčitel. Ten likviduje osoby, jež podle jeho názoru nesou vinu za globální oteplování, tedy manažery velkých firem, finančníky a podobně, a to s celými rodinami. Při pátrání po Johanně odhalí vypravěč kus její minulosti, o němž nevěděl. Dostane se tak dál než nefunkční policie. Na konci je Johanna nalezena a padouši mrtvi - kromě hlavního, u nějž to není tak docela jisté. Díky tomu mohl autor na konec přidat ještě několik stránek obsahujících nejednoznačný závěr.
Takhle shrnuté to možná ještě nevypadá tak zle. Potíž je v tom, že kniha nemá žádnou logiku. Především nefunguje sám fantaskní svět příběhu, jeho jednotlivé aspekty se navzájem tlučou. Nefunguje děj: vypravěč se ke všem svým zjištěním, jimiž předběhne policii, dopracuje jednoduchým hledáním na internetu; případně se prostě zeptá lidí a oni mu to řeknou. Důležitou částí knihy jsou tři dlouhé rozhovory, z nichž jeden vede vypravěč s umírajícím Gromowem, druhý krátce poté s mužem, který ho chce zastřelit, třetí na samém konci s Tarkiainenem na nádraží. Hovory vraha s obětí apod. patří v horších detektivkách k oblíbeným klišé, čtenáři se pomocí nich objasňuje, jak to vlastně bylo („stejně tě zastřelím, tak proč bych ti napřed nepopsal detaily svých odporných zločinů“). Ale i to klišé se musí umět napsat, aby to vypadalo jen nepřesvědčivě a ne úplně na palici.
A ještě tu je „otevřený“ konec — totální podvod, který má vyvolat pocit hloubky a nesrozumitelnosti, kde žádná není.
Jak jsem řekl, vítězství marketingu, hlavně domácího: Kniha Zlín dokázala kolem téhle knížky, která ještě ani nevyšla anglicky (nedopátral jsem se, že by vyšla v jiných jazycích než finsky a česky, ale zas tak usilovně jsem nehledal) vyvolat zdání světového bestselleru. Propagační talent zlínské bohyně sociálních sítí Olgy Biernátové je opravdu velký, ale měla by ho užívat selektivněji, jinak jí časem nebude věřit nikdo nic.
Jediné, co je na Léčiteli bezděčně upřímné, je líčení špinavého města plného rváčů, bezdomovců a hořících ohňů, propad Helsinek do moře a do třetího světa; strach a fascinace, panenský sen o znásilnění. Ach, do našeho čisťounkého spořádaného města vtrhnou všichni ti hrozní lidé a budou tu dělat všechny ty hrozné věci... Tohle psal Tuomainen celým srdcem plným soucitu, ekologického cítění a ryzí xenofobie. Nic osobního, většina Evropanů je na tom v nejlepším případě stejně.
Léčitel není literatura, a to ani špatná literatura. Je to nekvalitní výrobek, levný šmejd s pěkným obalem a reklamou na billboardech. Na nové vlně severské detektivky se zkouší povozit kdeco. Její zakladatel Stieg Larsson je však vedle Tuomainena učiněný Lev Tolstoj.
March 10, 2014
That this won the best Finnish crime novel in 2011 must reflect a pretty sad state of affairs in Finland as respects the quality (or lack thereof) of what people have to read there. The writing was generally rather poor. Consider a) in the case of a truck that ran into a pillar of a pedestrian bridge, “the truck looked broken in the middle, embracing the pillar like a pleading lover”. Ugh. Or b) “Here and there a long string of Christmas lights twinkled desperately, looking in their feeble glimmer like they missed not just their finer days but also their lost comrades”. There were just too many instances of these kinds of sentences. While it is interesting to have a crime novel set in a climate change catastrophe scenario, in this book it just felt like that scenario was just an excuse to further the notion that the police were too busy to investigate multiple mass murders of prominent citizens and their families, and so it was up to our poem writing protagonist to do all the detective work. There also wasn’t much character development, none of the characters sticks with me now that I have finished with the book. Mercifully, the book was only 211 pages. Perhaps if the author had invested another 100 pages or so in a real discussion of climate change that informed the reader, character development, a somewhat more plausible story line and, well, better writing, this would have had the makings of a pretty good book.
March 23, 2013
Tuomainen's 'The Healer' is an original and gripping crime thriller. The dystopian near-future setting is well-drawn and central to the bad guy's motive and therefore the plot, so it's not merely a bandwagon-jumping decision to set the novel in a dystopia. It rattles along at a good pace, mixing familiar crime plotting and character archetypes with this speculative-fiction element so that the reader is at once on familiar ground, and exploring new terrain. The novel grabs you and doesn't let go until the intriguing open ending.
The first-person point of view is interesting and original, but not as groundbreaking as the blurb promises. Our hero and narrator is a struggling poet, but this intriguing voice doesn't much affect the narration or the character's mode of detection. The character is original, certainly, quick talking and obviously intelligent, but he doesn't give us many striking images or unique insights into the crime. I felt that this USP wasn't delivered as well as it could have been.
Overall, if you like crime novels you won't be disappointed. If you like speculative fiction and dystopias, you won't be disappointed. If you're looking for a truly original voice, you might be a little bit disappointed.
The first-person point of view is interesting and original, but not as groundbreaking as the blurb promises. Our hero and narrator is a struggling poet, but this intriguing voice doesn't much affect the narration or the character's mode of detection. The character is original, certainly, quick talking and obviously intelligent, but he doesn't give us many striking images or unique insights into the crime. I felt that this USP wasn't delivered as well as it could have been.
Overall, if you like crime novels you won't be disappointed. If you like speculative fiction and dystopias, you won't be disappointed. If you're looking for a truly original voice, you might be a little bit disappointed.
November 7, 2019
Antti Tuomainen has a special place in my heart, not because I was the Turkish translator of the novel, but because we talked a lot during the translation process and got to know the author and get inside the book much better than expected.
He is one of the leading crime-suspense novelists in Europe, the author of great many novels that have won awards all around the world.
The Healer tells us the story of a man, whose wife has disappeared into thin air without any prior warning. He tries to solve the mystery by picking up the pieces one at a time traveling around the last whereabouts of his wife. While circling around the city in search of the lost soul, the husband will start to question whether he knew his wife at all.
Tuomainen creates a great atmosphere that we are not accustomed to, you feel the vibrations, you smell the air of the cold cities in Finland. It's a definite must-read to get to know the author and The Healer is a great example of the genre. Definitely recommended.
He is one of the leading crime-suspense novelists in Europe, the author of great many novels that have won awards all around the world.
The Healer tells us the story of a man, whose wife has disappeared into thin air without any prior warning. He tries to solve the mystery by picking up the pieces one at a time traveling around the last whereabouts of his wife. While circling around the city in search of the lost soul, the husband will start to question whether he knew his wife at all.
Tuomainen creates a great atmosphere that we are not accustomed to, you feel the vibrations, you smell the air of the cold cities in Finland. It's a definite must-read to get to know the author and The Healer is a great example of the genre. Definitely recommended.
February 25, 2018
-Leído para El tren polar de la cafetería de Audrey, temática: autor/a de Finlandia.
-Leído para el PopSugar Reading Challenge, línea: 49- Un libro acerca de un problema al que se enfrenta la sociedad en la actualidad.
-Leído para el reto Libros, Libros y más Libros del grupo Lecturas conjuntas, línea: 5.a- Leer un libro con agua en la portada.
El libro no es de lo mejor que haya leído. Tiene una muy buena ambientación pero los personajes son bastante flojos, últimamente ninguna obra tipo Thriller logra atraparme porque me parecen todas un poco mas de lo mismo. El libro es corto y se lee fácil, y el final es... para analizar.
Cosas que llamaron mi atención:
En el libro, los protagonistas tienen una pareja "amiga" pero su relación es muy rara. Entre reservada y seria. No sé si las relaciones personales en Finlandia suelen ser de esa manera (como en China) o es que el autor quiso plasmar una amistad que en realidad no era lo que el protagonista creía.
Algo que no me gustó es que llegado a un punto de la novela, todos los sospechosos estaban o habían estado enamorados de Johanna, lo que era bastante cliché ya que ¿de repente aparecían todos sus amores pasados para secuestrarla?
El final. Da a entender lo que sucede pero lo deja a nuestra interpretación.
Reseña completa y link de descarga: https://perdidaentrepaginasymas.blogs...
-Leído para el PopSugar Reading Challenge, línea: 49- Un libro acerca de un problema al que se enfrenta la sociedad en la actualidad.
-Leído para el reto Libros, Libros y más Libros del grupo Lecturas conjuntas, línea: 5.a- Leer un libro con agua en la portada.
El libro no es de lo mejor que haya leído. Tiene una muy buena ambientación pero los personajes son bastante flojos, últimamente ninguna obra tipo Thriller logra atraparme porque me parecen todas un poco mas de lo mismo. El libro es corto y se lee fácil, y el final es... para analizar.
Cosas que llamaron mi atención:
En el libro, los protagonistas tienen una pareja "amiga" pero su relación es muy rara. Entre reservada y seria. No sé si las relaciones personales en Finlandia suelen ser de esa manera (como en China) o es que el autor quiso plasmar una amistad que en realidad no era lo que el protagonista creía.
Algo que no me gustó es que llegado a un punto de la novela, todos los sospechosos estaban o habían estado enamorados de Johanna, lo que era bastante cliché ya que ¿de repente aparecían todos sus amores pasados para secuestrarla?
El final. Da a entender lo que sucede pero lo deja a nuestra interpretación.
Reseña completa y link de descarga: https://perdidaentrepaginasymas.blogs...
April 21, 2018
Meh. Tiraría más para 2,5 estrellas. Al principio no estaba mal y la ambientación está lograda y te la crees, pero se acaba desinflando según llega el final.
La historia tiene lugar en Finlandia, concretamente por Helsinki, pero no son ni el país ni la ciudad que conocemos porque el mundo entero está sufriendo los estragos del cambio climático en su máxima expresiónbueno, no creo que llegue a tanto porque puede ser peor aún, y encima lo dicen varias veces con epidemias, inundaciones, etc. de forma que sobrevivir un día más en ese mundo es una victoria. ¿Conocéis la canción At the end of the day del musical de Los miserables, Otro día se va en español? Pues pienso que, obviando las partes en las que se menciona algo relacionado con Fantine y cuando aparecen el jefe y las compañeras a meter mierda cizaña, define de forma bastante acertada lo que es el mundo en el que se desarrolla la acción.
PRÓXIMAMENTE AMPLIACIÓN
La historia tiene lugar en Finlandia, concretamente por Helsinki, pero no son ni el país ni la ciudad que conocemos porque el mundo entero está sufriendo los estragos del cambio climático en su máxima expresión
PRÓXIMAMENTE AMPLIACIÓN
November 27, 2016
Jako dobar distopijski triler, ali zbog nedorecenog kraja, sto mu je po meni jedina mana, ocjena vrlo dobar! :)
February 11, 2020
This book is a big let-down. One of the most boring thrillers I have ever read.
The main character has one goal: to find his missing wife. All activities described in the novel happen in the course of a few days. Even so, the pacing was weirdly slow for such a short book. There were not any moments of suspense or dread, no interesting plot twists, and it isn’t a page-turner.
The ending is disappointing and it feels like minimal effort was put into the closure of the story.
The only interesting thing about the book was the idea behind the character of “The Healer” but everything else was average and forgettable.
You don’t even form a bond with the main character because his characterization is lacking, the only character trait you see is that he is a loyal and loving husband.
At least it was a short read so I didn’t spend a lot of my time on it.
The main character has one goal: to find his missing wife. All activities described in the novel happen in the course of a few days. Even so, the pacing was weirdly slow for such a short book. There were not any moments of suspense or dread, no interesting plot twists, and it isn’t a page-turner.
The ending is disappointing and it feels like minimal effort was put into the closure of the story.
The only interesting thing about the book was the idea behind the character of “The Healer” but everything else was average and forgettable.
You don’t even form a bond with the main character because his characterization is lacking, the only character trait you see is that he is a loyal and loving husband.
At least it was a short read so I didn’t spend a lot of my time on it.
May 5, 2022
Two of my favorite genres rolled into one: Nordic Crime and Dystopia.
July 28, 2018
Climate change is happening. That is a fact, and I think we are now beyond the point of preventing it from happening, but we can, and should, do the things that could minimize the impact of it. In the world Antti Toumainen is writing about they seem to be even past the point where anything can be done.
There is an atmosphere of doomed excistence that is prevailing through out the book. I think this is where Toumainen excels. He has managed to infuse this book with a very strong mood. One can almost smell what is going on. It is unfortunately a believable world he has created in this novel.
But this book is not just a cli fi, but also a mystery, and I have to admit the mystery part isn’t quite as strong. There are a bit too many coincidents ruling the plot, there are too many coincidental connections between the characters, for this whole thing to work completely. Things are slow to progress, but it does end in a brisk manner.
Even so, this book grabbed me very tightly, and kept the grip until the end. Some have said it is open ended, but I’m not really sure it is. I think the ending does not really open up for a sequel, but I think it is a strong one, and in keeping with the rest of the novel. In fact I think it is a good book, well worth a read.
There is an atmosphere of doomed excistence that is prevailing through out the book. I think this is where Toumainen excels. He has managed to infuse this book with a very strong mood. One can almost smell what is going on. It is unfortunately a believable world he has created in this novel.
But this book is not just a cli fi, but also a mystery, and I have to admit the mystery part isn’t quite as strong. There are a bit too many coincidents ruling the plot, there are too many coincidental connections between the characters, for this whole thing to work completely. Things are slow to progress, but it does end in a brisk manner.
Even so, this book grabbed me very tightly, and kept the grip until the end. Some have said it is open ended, but I’m not really sure it is. I think the ending does not really open up for a sequel, but I think it is a strong one, and in keeping with the rest of the novel. In fact I think it is a good book, well worth a read.
July 31, 2018
Sudbina klimatoloških izbjeglica sprema nam se svima koji živimo u Sredozemlju. A i kriminalistički dio nije loš.
December 21, 2015
Picked by my book club as our Christmas read.
Set in Helinski, Finland this mystery novel follows a mans desperate search for his missing journalist wife who was investigating a politically motivated serial killer "The Healer".
The writing is amazingly atmospheric. The crumbling ravaged city, constant heavy rain beating down, hot temperatures and barren landscape are the effects of the climate change and therefore illness and diseases are spreading quickly. The author sets the scene so well to give such a strong dystopian feel in quite a short book.
The story has a good level of suspense that kept me hooked as our main character unearths things about his wife he never knew and all the characters come across well.
Although quite predictable the end was satisfactory.
I enjoyed this and would read more by this author.
Set in Helinski, Finland this mystery novel follows a mans desperate search for his missing journalist wife who was investigating a politically motivated serial killer "The Healer".
The writing is amazingly atmospheric. The crumbling ravaged city, constant heavy rain beating down, hot temperatures and barren landscape are the effects of the climate change and therefore illness and diseases are spreading quickly. The author sets the scene so well to give such a strong dystopian feel in quite a short book.
The story has a good level of suspense that kept me hooked as our main character unearths things about his wife he never knew and all the characters come across well.
Although quite predictable the end was satisfactory.
I enjoyed this and would read more by this author.
June 25, 2013
We have managed to ruin the planet, temperature extremes drive many from their homes, illnesses and diseases are rampant, the world is in chaos and a man, a minor poet, is looking for his wife. This was a very different type of Nordic noir novel, and while there were times I was fascinated, at times I was also impatient. Much happens in a few short days and there is also a serial killer, called the healer, whose story plays a part, but I think the real star of the story was the chaos and the desperation of people trying to live their lives in abnormal times. This is the first time this author's novel has been translated to English and released here. Look forward to reading more.
July 13, 2013
In near future, in a post-apocalyptic Elsinki which reminded me J.G. Ballard's worlds (e.g. Crystal World, Drowned World), a poet is trying to find his missing wife, a newspaper journalist who was searching for informations about a politically motivated serial killer with the pseudonim The Healer. The Healer killed his wife? Who knows. Police can do nothing, the world is fucked up, so Tapani must search in every wet corner of Elsinki to find his beloved wife. I liked the world, i quite liked Tapani's character and the writing style, but the story wasn't that deep and i have read many better crime stories in the past.
February 27, 2017
I did not connect to the main character at all (and the side characters were so blank and are there for one or two scenes so they aren't important), as I already said I would DNF this book if it wasn't this short, and since I could read it in a day, I did. It had okay elements in it, and I hoped that the ending will be good, but even the ending felt rushed. All in all, it's not the worst book I've read, it was just okay, and nothing more. If you want a good thriller, there are so much better books out there, you can skip this one for sure.
November 24, 2018
It is the first novel by this author I read. It is a combination of science fiction/dystopia and thriller. The world has become a dark place in this story. In this world a journalist, the wife of a writer disappears. The novel describes the search for this wife and the world in which they live. It is a pessimistic view, a future we don’t want, but are probably creating for ourselves.
November 6, 2024
Όταν πήρα τον "Θεραπευτή" στα χέρια μου, είχα την εντύπωση πως πρόκειται για ένα ακόμα αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα σκανδιναβικής προέλευσης. Ξεκινώντας να το διαβάζω και από τις πρώτες κι όλας σελίδες κατάλαβα πως αυτή ήταν μόνο η μία πλευρά του νομίσματος και πως στην πραγματικότητα, ήταν περισσότερο ένα δυστοπικό θρίλερ μυστηρίου, πράγμα το οποίο και με εξέπληξε αφού η δυστοπία, είναι άρρηκτα συνδεδεμένη με τη λογοτεχνία του φανταστικού, τουλάχιστον την τελευταία πενταετία, και το να βλέπεις τον όρο αυτό να ενσωματώνεται ως ιδέα και ως σκέψη σε κάτι τόσο διαφορετικό αν μη τι άλλο, σε ξαφνιάζει. Βέβαια, το τελικό αποτέλεσμα δεν θα λέγαμε ότι είναι το αναμενόμενο και σε αυτό συμβάλλουν πολλοί και διαφορετικοί λόγοι.
Βρισκόμαστε στο Ελσίνκι, δύο μόλις μέρες πριν τα Χριστούγεννα και η πόλη, μοιάζει να παλεύει απελπισμένα να επιβιώσει από τις συνέπειες των κλιματικών αλλαγών που έχουν καταστρέψει σχεδόν τα πάντα, καθιστώντας την διαβίωση σχεδόν αδύνατη. Ο ποιητής Τάπανι Λέχτινεν, αναζητά τα ίχνη της γυναίκας του η οποία και εξαφανίστηκε κάτω από μυστηριώδεις και αδιευκρίνιστες συνθήκες ενώ ερευνούσε την υπόθεση ενώ κατά συρροή δολοφόνου που χρησιμοποιεί το όνομα "Θεραπευτής" και μοιάζει αποφασισμένος να σκοτώσει κάθε οικογένεια η οποία με τον έναν ή τον άλλον τρόπο εμπλέκεται στην κλιματική καταστροφή, χωρίς να διστάζει μπροστά σε τίποτα, θεωρώντας προφανώς ότι εκτελεί ένα σπουδαίο έργο για την ανθρωπότητα. Συλλέγοντας σταδιακά στοιχεία που μπορεί να τον οδηγήσουν στη Γιόχανα, ο Τάπανι έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με αλήθειες που ούτε καν μπορούσε να φανταστεί.
Υποθέτω πως από την εισαγωγή μου και μόνο, καταλάβατε πως δεν ξετρελάθηκα με το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο. Αυτό βέβαια δεν σημαίνει πως δεν πρέπει να παραδεχτώ πως το κείμενο είναι εξαιρετικά καλογραμμένο ή να τονίσω πως χαρακτηρίζεται από ένα λυρισμό και μια ποιητικότητα που αναγνωστικά συγ��ινεί και κάνει την ανάγνωση ευχάριστη, εύκολη, γρήγορη και τελικά, αρκετά ιδιαίτερη. Ο συνδυασμός άλλωστε των ειδών που συνθέτουν το αποτέλεσμα, δεν προδιαθέτει για κάτι τέτοιο και αυτό, μας εκπλήσσει ευχάριστα. Από 'κει και πέρα όμως θεωρώ πως το μικρό μέγεθος της ιστορίας, δεν την βοηθάει και τόσο πολύ. Η ιστορία είναι πολύ σύντομη για να μπορέσει να εξελιχθεί όπως θα μπορούσε και κατά συνέπεια, να καταφέρει να μας καθηλώσει, πολύ περισσότερο δε, να μας κόψει την ανάσα. Αν η διαχείριση της ιδέας είχε γίνει με διαφορετικό τρόπο, θα ήταν ίσως εφικτό όχι όμως και τώρα.
Ένα ακόμα στοιχείο όπου η μικρή έκταση επηρεάζει αρνητικά την ιστορία, έχει να κάνει με την σκιαγράφηση των χαρακτήρων. Ο Τάπανι, είναι ο χαρακτήρας εκείνος για τον οποίο μπορούμε να έχουμε μια πιο ολοκληρωμένη εικόνα, σε σύγκριση τουλάχιστον με τους υπόλοιπους, αλλά και πάλι δεν μπορώ να πω πως χαρακτηρίζεται από πληρότητα. Τη Γιόχανα την γνωρίζουμε μέσα από την σταδιακή αποκάλυψη του παρελθόντος της αλλά ακόμα κι έτσι, με την ολοκλήρωση της ιστορίας, δεν αισθανόμαστε πως τελικά καταφέραμε να την γνωρίσουμε πραγματικά. Όσο για τον ίδιο τον "Θεραπευτή", τα κίνητρά του είναι ξεκάθαρα ωστόσο, το ψυχολογικό και ψυχικό προφίλ του, είναι πολύ αραιά δομημένο και επί της ουσίας, δεν καταλαβαίνουμε απόλυτα αν ο συγγραφέας τον είχε στο μυαλό του ως μανιακό θύμα μιας παγκόσμιας οικολογικής και κλιματικής καταστροφής, ή ως ονειροπόλο ιδεαλιστή που σε καιρό κρίσης, αναγκάστηκε να προβεί σε ακραία μέτρα.
Όχι, "Ο Θεραπευτής", δεν ανήκει σε εκείνη την κατηγορία βιβλίων όπου θα έλεγα πως κατάφερε να με κερδίσει. Θα μπορούσε να το είχε κάνει αν η κεντρική ιδέα, που είναι πραγματικά έξυπνη, ενδιαφέρουσα και δομημένη με ισορροπία, είχε αναπτυχθεί λίγο περισσότερο, ακόμα και μέσα στο στενό χρονικό περιθώριο των δύο ημερών, και δεν είχε παρουσιαστεί βιαστικά, ίσως και τεμπέλικα. Καμιά φορά, το να είναι καλογραμμένο ένα κείμενο ή ακόμα και το να στηρίζεται σε μια ενδιαφέρουσα ιδέα, δεν είναι αρκετό και το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο, είναι μια τρανή απόδειξη αυτού που λέω αυτή τη στιγμή. Παρ' όλα ταύτα, είναι μια ενδιαφέρουσα, νέα λογοτεχνική εμπειρία από την οποία θα μπορούσε κάποιος να εμπνευστεί και να δημιουργήσει κάτι πραγματικά σπουδαίο.
Βρισκόμαστε στο Ελσίνκι, δύο μόλις μέρες πριν τα Χριστούγεννα και η πόλη, μοιάζει να παλεύει απελπισμένα να επιβιώσει από τις συνέπειες των κλιματικών αλλαγών που έχουν καταστρέψει σχεδόν τα πάντα, καθιστώντας την διαβίωση σχεδόν αδύνατη. Ο ποιητής Τάπανι Λέχτινεν, αναζητά τα ίχνη της γυναίκας του η οποία και εξαφανίστηκε κάτω από μυστηριώδεις και αδιευκρίνιστες συνθήκες ενώ ερευνούσε την υπόθεση ενώ κατά συρροή δολοφόνου που χρησιμοποιεί το όνομα "Θεραπευτής" και μοιάζει αποφασισμένος να σκοτώσει κάθε οικογένεια η οποία με τον έναν ή τον άλλον τρόπο εμπλέκεται στην κλιματική καταστροφή, χωρίς να διστάζει μπροστά σε τίποτα, θεωρώντας προφανώς ότι εκτελεί ένα σπουδαίο έργο για την ανθρωπότητα. Συλλέγοντας σταδιακά στοιχεία που μπορεί να τον οδηγήσουν στη Γιόχανα, ο Τάπανι έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με αλήθειες που ούτε καν μπορούσε να φανταστεί.
Υποθέτω πως από την εισαγωγή μου και μόνο, καταλάβατε πως δεν ξετρελάθηκα με το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο. Αυτό βέβαια δεν σημαίνει πως δεν πρέπει να παραδεχτώ πως το κείμενο είναι εξαιρετικά καλογραμμένο ή να τονίσω πως χαρακτηρίζεται από ένα λυρισμό και μια ποιητικότητα που αναγνωστικά συγ��ινεί και κάνει την ανάγνωση ευχάριστη, εύκολη, γρήγορη και τελικά, αρκετά ιδιαίτερη. Ο συνδυασμός άλλωστε των ειδών που συνθέτουν το αποτέλεσμα, δεν προδιαθέτει για κάτι τέτοιο και αυτό, μας εκπλήσσει ευχάριστα. Από 'κει και πέρα όμως θεωρώ πως το μικρό μέγεθος της ιστορίας, δεν την βοηθάει και τόσο πολύ. Η ιστορία είναι πολύ σύντομη για να μπορέσει να εξελιχθεί όπως θα μπορούσε και κατά συνέπεια, να καταφέρει να μας καθηλώσει, πολύ περισσότερο δε, να μας κόψει την ανάσα. Αν η διαχείριση της ιδέας είχε γίνει με διαφορετικό τρόπο, θα ήταν ίσως εφικτό όχι όμως και τώρα.
Ένα ακόμα στοιχείο όπου η μικρή έκταση επηρεάζει αρνητικά την ιστορία, έχει να κάνει με την σκιαγράφηση των χαρακτήρων. Ο Τάπανι, είναι ο χαρακτήρας εκείνος για τον οποίο μπορούμε να έχουμε μια πιο ολοκληρωμένη εικόνα, σε σύγκριση τουλάχιστον με τους υπόλοιπους, αλλά και πάλι δεν μπορώ να πω πως χαρακτηρίζεται από πληρότητα. Τη Γιόχανα την γνωρίζουμε μέσα από την σταδιακή αποκάλυψη του παρελθόντος της αλλά ακόμα κι έτσι, με την ολοκλήρωση της ιστορίας, δεν αισθανόμαστε πως τελικά καταφέραμε να την γνωρίσουμε πραγματικά. Όσο για τον ίδιο τον "Θεραπευτή", τα κίνητρά του είναι ξεκάθαρα ωστόσο, το ψυχολογικό και ψυχικό προφίλ του, είναι πολύ αραιά δομημένο και επί της ουσίας, δεν καταλαβαίνουμε απόλυτα αν ο συγγραφέας τον είχε στο μυαλό του ως μανιακό θύμα μιας παγκόσμιας οικολογικής και κλιματικής καταστροφής, ή ως ονειροπόλο ιδεαλιστή που σε καιρό κρίσης, αναγκάστηκε να προβεί σε ακραία μέτρα.
Όχι, "Ο Θεραπευτής", δεν ανήκει σε εκείνη την κατηγορία βιβλίων όπου θα έλεγα πως κατάφερε να με κερδίσει. Θα μπορούσε να το είχε κάνει αν η κεντρική ιδέα, που είναι πραγματικά έξυπνη, ενδιαφέρουσα και δομημένη με ισορροπία, είχε αναπτυχθεί λίγο περισσότερο, ακόμα και μέσα στο στενό χρονικό περιθώριο των δύο ημερών, και δεν είχε παρουσιαστεί βιαστικά, ίσως και τεμπέλικα. Καμιά φορά, το να είναι καλογραμμένο ένα κείμενο ή ακόμα και το να στηρίζεται σε μια ενδιαφέρουσα ιδέα, δεν είναι αρκετό και το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο, είναι μια τρανή απόδειξη αυτού που λέω αυτή τη στιγμή. Παρ' όλα ταύτα, είναι μια ενδιαφέρουσα, νέα λογοτεχνική εμπειρία από την οποία θα μπορούσε κάποιος να εμπνευστεί και να δημιουργήσει κάτι πραγματικά σπουδαίο.
March 11, 2017
Špatný, špatný, špatný. Už dlouho jsem nečetl tak špatnou knihu a mizernou detektivku.
Možná je to tím, že česky už moc nečtu - a tak, když už se do něčeho pustím, tak chci, aby moje oko po stránkách jen běželo. A stává se to. Většinou za to může (kromě skvělého autora) dobrý překladatel. Jako příklad můžu uvést české překlady Murakamiho, nebo Marsého. To Léčitel takovým příkladem rozhodně není. Není to zoufalý, ale drhne to.
Původně jsem se těšil na, v anotaci slibované, post-apokalyptické Finsko. A k tomu návdavkem trochu noir. Obojí mě zklamalo. Post-apo nemělo žádnou atmosféru a noir to bylo asi proto, že tam pořád pršelo. Žánr post-apo mám hodně rád. Jenže ten svět musí být konzistentní. Tady ani logicky nedržel pohromadě.
Přidejme k tomu postavy, které nemají charakter a nevzbudí jedinou emoci. Přidejme zoufalý popis prostředí - jako čtenář si chci "exotické" Helsinky užít. Místo toho jezdí hlavní postava - z mého pohledu - nazdařbůh křížem krážem městem a v jednom kuse je na křižovatce "téhle" a "tamté" ulice. Asi nějaká "pouliční" uchylka.
Musím přiznat, že i přes výše zmíněné hrubé nedostatky, to bylo svým způsobem napínavé. A to je důvod, proč dám aspoň dvě hvězdy. Ale stejně to nakonec autor pokazil. Místo nějaké mistrné pointy se hlavní postava vykecává tu s umírajícím pozdeřelým, tu s vrahem, tu s hlavním padouchem a všechno ve stylu špatné inscenace padouch-hrdina. Prostě to tomu čtenáři musíme ňák po lopatě nandat, tak proč by nám to třeba nevykecal odporný záporák s namířenou pistolí, kterého pak sejme deus-ex-machina.
Takhle že má vypadat "Nejlepší finský krimi román roku 2011"? No poteš koště! Musím už si dát závazek: nebudu ty severský detektivky číst! Ani, když to někdo doporučí. Já to prostě nechápu - Millenium bylo fajn, ale zatím jsem nečetl nic, co by se tomu kvalitou byť jen přibližovalo. Co ty Češi blbnou?
Možná je to tím, že česky už moc nečtu - a tak, když už se do něčeho pustím, tak chci, aby moje oko po stránkách jen běželo. A stává se to. Většinou za to může (kromě skvělého autora) dobrý překladatel. Jako příklad můžu uvést české překlady Murakamiho, nebo Marsého. To Léčitel takovým příkladem rozhodně není. Není to zoufalý, ale drhne to.
Původně jsem se těšil na, v anotaci slibované, post-apokalyptické Finsko. A k tomu návdavkem trochu noir. Obojí mě zklamalo. Post-apo nemělo žádnou atmosféru a noir to bylo asi proto, že tam pořád pršelo. Žánr post-apo mám hodně rád. Jenže ten svět musí být konzistentní. Tady ani logicky nedržel pohromadě.
Přidejme k tomu postavy, které nemají charakter a nevzbudí jedinou emoci. Přidejme zoufalý popis prostředí - jako čtenář si chci "exotické" Helsinky užít. Místo toho jezdí hlavní postava - z mého pohledu - nazdařbůh křížem krážem městem a v jednom kuse je na křižovatce "téhle" a "tamté" ulice. Asi nějaká "pouliční" uchylka.
Musím přiznat, že i přes výše zmíněné hrubé nedostatky, to bylo svým způsobem napínavé. A to je důvod, proč dám aspoň dvě hvězdy. Ale stejně to nakonec autor pokazil. Místo nějaké mistrné pointy se hlavní postava vykecává tu s umírajícím pozdeřelým, tu s vrahem, tu s hlavním padouchem a všechno ve stylu špatné inscenace padouch-hrdina. Prostě to tomu čtenáři musíme ňák po lopatě nandat, tak proč by nám to třeba nevykecal odporný záporák s namířenou pistolí, kterého pak sejme deus-ex-machina.
Takhle že má vypadat "Nejlepší finský krimi román roku 2011"? No poteš koště! Musím už si dát závazek: nebudu ty severský detektivky číst! Ani, když to někdo doporučí. Já to prostě nechápu - Millenium bylo fajn, ale zatím jsem nečetl nic, co by se tomu kvalitou byť jen přibližovalo. Co ty Češi blbnou?
January 21, 2014
En un futuro cercano en el que el cambio climático ha provocado catástrofes atroces por todo el planeta, un poeta de Helsinki trata de encontrar a su novia periodista, desaparecida mientras investigaba los crímenes de un asesino en serie llamado "El Sanador".
Así comienza la cosa. Con el telón de fondo de una ciudad invadida por los refugiados y en un estado de permanente caos, el protagonista, que narra en primera persona la historia, va atando cabos. La historia principal es en todo momento la investigación de los crímenes, descritos de forma aséptica y sin embergo muy doloros; el aocalipsis sirve de telón de fondo que explica por qué un poeta (un poeta malo, de hecho) se ve completamente solo a la hora de buscar a su novia.
Usando todos los trucos de la novela negra clásica (incluido el personaje inesperado que ejerce de Deus ex Machina en los momentos más oportunos) las piezas del puzzle encajan una a una hasta llegar a otro clásico, el enfrentamiento final.
Un librito muy entretenido, de los que te hacen pensar en saltarte páginas para ver qué demonios está pasando en realidad, bien traducida (supongo, mi finés se queda un poco corto) y sin demasiados detalles innecesarios.
Así comienza la cosa. Con el telón de fondo de una ciudad invadida por los refugiados y en un estado de permanente caos, el protagonista, que narra en primera persona la historia, va atando cabos. La historia principal es en todo momento la investigación de los crímenes, descritos de forma aséptica y sin embergo muy doloros; el aocalipsis sirve de telón de fondo que explica por qué un poeta (un poeta malo, de hecho) se ve completamente solo a la hora de buscar a su novia.
Usando todos los trucos de la novela negra clásica (incluido el personaje inesperado que ejerce de Deus ex Machina en los momentos más oportunos) las piezas del puzzle encajan una a una hasta llegar a otro clásico, el enfrentamiento final.
Un librito muy entretenido, de los que te hacen pensar en saltarte páginas para ver qué demonios está pasando en realidad, bien traducida (supongo, mi finés se queda un poco corto) y sin demasiados detalles innecesarios.
November 1, 2014
This is a taut spare novel by a Finnish author who is a capable addition to the Scandinavian genre of crime fiction. With a minimum of verbiage, he sets the scene of Helsinki in a world coping with environmental and social disaster. His wife disappears and he desperately tries to find her amid a society in which very little functions. The novel is short with cryptic dialog and I admired how he could convey the dystopian setting with skillful short brushstrokes. The pace was appropriately steady and deliberate and more elegantly wrought than some of the more complex and arcane Swedish novels. A good and quick read.
January 29, 2017
Deși am făcut o pasiune pentru romanele noir din nordul îndepărtat, acesta chiar m-a dezamăgit. În afara unor pasaje destul de vagi, toată acțiunea mi s-a părut trasă de păr. Personajul principal, un poet oarecum patetic își dă seama că i-a dispărut soția, jurnalistă de investigație. Începe să o caute cu disperare, căutând piste și potențiali suspecți.
E o carte de bulevard, bună de citit în pauzele mentale pe care ni le oferim.
E o carte de bulevard, bună de citit în pauzele mentale pe care ni le oferim.
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