2019; 324 pages. New Author? : Yes. Book 1 (out of 3) in the “Rabbit Factor” series. Genre : Nordic Noir; Finland; Suspense; Dark
Humor. Overall Rating : 8*/10.
Henri Koskinen has been having a tough time
lately. He’s just been fired (well, requested to resign, technically) from his actuarial job, despite his stellar
number-crunching performance. The
reason: his boss felt Henri wasn’t a team player. Oh well, so what. There’s lots of other places that will hire
him.
Apparently not. After a week of job hunting, Henri is still
unemployed and the bills need paying. And
then, some good news and some bad news arrive.
The bad news is that Henri’s
brother, Juhani, has passed away. That’s
sad, but in truth Henri and Juhani weren’t all that close. The good news is that Juhani has bequeathed his earthly assets to Henri. Actually, just a single asset. It’s not a bunch of money; it’s an adventure park called YouMeFun.
Henri is now its owner.
That’s not exactly the sort of
job Henri is trained for, but at least it’ll pay the bills. Hmm, maybe not.
The accounting books indicate Juhani has borrowed heavily to keep the
park open, and now Henri is responsible for those debts.
And he’s going to be astounded
at the interest rate on those loans.
What’s To Like...
Some sites call the genre of The Rabbit Factor “Nordic
Noir”, and I kinda like that choice.
There are killings, but this is not a murder-mystery. “Suspense”
is also a good description, then throw in a bit of Romance,
and sprinkle some lighthearted Wit
throughout. Overall, the book’s tone
reminded me of Die Hard 1, if you remember
that old movie.
I loved that the protagonist is an actuary. Henri
tackles all his challenges analytically and mathematically. Sometimes this works to his detriment, much like
Sheldon’s cogitations on The Big Bang Theory. Gradually, Henri starts to broaden his
thought processes, thanks both to an appreciation of Monet’s paintings (that happened to me as well!), and a girl who
addles his brain whenever he’s near her.
The book’s original language
is Finnish, and was translated into English by David Hackston. I think he did a superb job; just keep in
mind we’re talking about “Across-the-Pond English”, and not “American”. So Yanks will run into some weird spellings (storeys, yoghurt, whingeing), and odd phrases
(zebra crossings, nappies, humming and hawing) along the way. I loved that my favorite
British expression, “and Bob’s your uncle”, shows up here, although I wonder
what the original Finnish expression was.
I chuckled when Scrooge
McDuck was mentioned. Are Disney
characters popular in Finland? The
book’s title stems from a giant metal rabbit sign at the park that impacts the
storyline. The park features all sorts
of rides/attractions that will appeal to young and old alike. Each one comes with a
catchy name, such as Komodo Locomotive, Crazy
Coil, Banana Mirror, Trombone Cannons, and Furious Flingshot. Again, I’m in awe of the wordplay here, and
wonder what they were called in the original Finnish.
The ending is good, and
includes a couple of plot twists that explain how the park can be entertaining lots
of customers and still be heavily in debt.
Henri’s life is on the upswing, as is YouMeFun, and there's a promise of more adventures
involving both in the next book in the series, The
Moose Paradox.
Kewlest New Word ...
Jaffa (n.) : a popular carbonated drink made in Finland.
Others: Chicane (n.).
Ratings…
Amazon: 4.4*/5, based on 1,928 ratings and 105 reviews.
Goodreads: 3.79*/5,
based on 4,451
ratings and 635 reviews.
Excerpts...
“I just realized I haven’t asked what you
do for a living.”
Laura’s words brought me back to the
office.
“I am an actuary,” I said. “Well, I gave my notice two weeks ago.”
“Because of YouMeFun?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t know about this park at the
time. I resigned because I couldn’t
stand watching my workplace turn into a playground. Then I inherited one.” (pg. 47)
“Can you embrace the gift of your team’s
unique emotional success story?”
“What?”
“It’s an essential part of working life
these days,” I say and, disconcertingly, I can almost hear Perttila’s
voice. “Your strength might lie in an
area where a weaker person might become swept away. That makes you a safe emotional harbour. When strength and weakness combine, a
collective synergy emerges from within both, creating successful, empathetic
prosperity.”
I can see Kristian doesn’t understand a
word I’m saying. There’s nothing to
understand. Even I don’t know what I’m
talking about. (pg.
133)
Kindle Details…
The
Rabbit Factor currently sells for $6.15 at Amazon. The other two books in the series, The Moose Paradox and The
Beaver Theory, are the same price.
Antti Tuomainen has English translations of at least four other
standalone novels for you, ranging in price from $0.99 to $9.99.
The most successful
people are those who talk the least sense and blame everybody else for it. (pg. 255)
There isn't a lot of foul
language in The Rabbit Factor. I noted just eight instances in the first third of
the book, although the favorite one was the f-bomb. Later on, there are at least three occasions
involving “intimate relations”, so you probably
don’t want little Timmy or Susie reading this book.
The quibbles are
minor. Henri’s actuarial musings piqued
my interest at first, but after a while, I just wanted him to loosen up and
chill. It also takes him an irritatingly
long time to figure out he might be falling in love.
But these are superficial gripes. The Rabbit Factor was my introduction
to Antti Tuomainen’s works, and his storytelling, character development, and clever wit kept me turning the pages. I
look forward to reading more of his books.
8 Stars. One of Henri’s pet peeves is when people call YouMeFun an Adventure Park instead of an Amusement Park. He feels forced to explain to several people why those are not synonymous terms. But you know the difference, right? If not, see the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment