The healer - Antti Tuomainen

It's two days before Christmas and Helsinki is battling ruthless climate catastrophe: subway tunnels are flooded; abandoned vehicles are burning in the streets. People are fleeing to the far north 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 willing to live in the city. When Tapani's wife Johanna, a 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'. Determined 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 beloved. Atmospheric and moving, The Healer is a story of survival, loyalty and determination. Even when the world is coming to an end, love and hope endure.

Antti Tuomainen was born in 1971 and lives in Helsinki. He was an award-winning copywriter in the advertising industry before 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 2011'. The Finnish press labelled The Healer 'unputdownable'. Critics praised his piercing and evocative style, and acknowledged that he is one of the first writers to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula. The Healer was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel in 2012 (previous winners include Henning Mankell, Stieg Larsson, Jo Nesbo, Arnaldur Indridason, Karin Fossum and Hakan Nesser).

"The ability to use all the tricks of crime fiction and all the tools of poetry makes Tuomainen's work unique, and that combination makes the reader fall in love with his style. You cannot but value things around you more after reading The Healer. "
Sofi Oksanen, author of Purge

"Thrillingly atmospheric"
Liz Jensen

"Breathtakingly tense, with the taste of blood on every page. It is impossible to stop reading until you reach the end..."
Turun Sanomat (Finland)

"Tuomainen truly succeeds in conveying the glistening streets and the neon-lit, rain-saturated, decaying urban environment."
Helsingin Sanomat (Finland)

"Tuomainen's sparse and precise style and rapid dialogue place him in the best noir tradition. The intensity of both the plot and narration enhances the harsh realism of his language."
The Clue Award for 'Best Finnish Crime Novel 2011'