THE RABBIT FACTOR
Author: Anti Tuomainen
Finnish to English Translation: David Hackston
Ebook & Hardback Publication Date: October 28, 2021
Publisher: Orenda Books
About the Book
Just one spreadsheet away from chaos…
What makes life perfect? Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen knows the answer because he calculates everything down to the very last decimal.
And then, for the first time, Henri is faced with the incalculable. After suddenly losing his job, Henri inherits an adventure park from his brother – its peculiar employees and troubling financial problems included. The worst of the financial issues appear to originate from big loans taken from criminal quarters … and some dangerous men are very keen to get their money back.
But what Henri really can’t compute is love. In the adventure park, Henri crosses paths with Laura, an artist with a chequered past, and a joie de vivre and erratic lifestyle that bewilders him. As the criminals go to extreme lengths to collect their debts and as Henri’s relationship with Laura deepens, he finds himself faced with situations and emotions that simply cannot be pinned down on his spreadsheets…
Warmly funny, rich with quirky characters and absurd situations, The Rabbit Factor is a triumph of a dark thriller, its tension matched only by its ability to make us rejoice in the beauty and random nature of life.
THE RABBIT FACTOR by Antti Tuomainen is a darkly comedic book that is also charming, absurb and heartwarming. This was such a pleasure to read. Who knew an actuary turned reluctant adventure park owner could become both hero and anti-hero? Henri Koskinen himself didn’t, until circumstances challenge him to think and act outside his orderly, mathematics oriented life.
Not only does Henri inherit a financially crippled adventure park and its motley crew of employees, there’s also the local loan sharks who insist he repay his brother’s significant debts . . . or else.
I thoroughly enjoyed Henri’s journey as he applies his ever-present pragmatism and logic to the challenges he faces. Not only do his methods meet with some success, but Henri finds himself growing and changing in ways he never imagined or calculated as being of value.
I was not surprised to read that this book is being turned into a movie. I hope the production company does it justice.
We can’t have books without authors, and we certainly can’t have translated-to-English novels without a talented translator, so thank you, David Hackston.
A highly recommended read.
Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. The critically acclaimed My Brother’s Keeper was published two years later.
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. The Finnish press labelled The Healer – the story of a writer desperately searching for his missing wife in a post-apocalyptic Helsinki – ‘unputdownable’. Two years later, in 2013, they 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 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’, and Little Siberia (2019) was shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Readers Awards, the Last Laugh Award and the CWA International Dagger, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel.
The Rabbit Factor is the first book in Antti’s first-ever series.
Twitter @antti_tuomainen
Facebook: facebook.com/AnttiTuomainen
David Hackston is a British translator of Finnish and
Swedish literature and drama. Notable publications include The Dedalus
Book of Finnish Fantasy, Maria Peura’s coming-of-age novel At the Edge of
Light, Johanna Sinisalo’s eco-thriller Birdbrain, two crime novels by
Matti Joensuu and Kati Hiekkapelto’s Anna Fekete series (which currently
includes The Hummingbird, The Defenceless and The Exiled,
all published by Orenda Books). He also translates Antti Tuomainen’s stories.
In 2007 he was awarded the Finnish State Prize for Translation. David is also a
professional countertenor and a founding member of the English Vocal Consort of
Helsinki.
Twitter: @Countertenorist
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