- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Arcadia Books (5 Feb 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1900850931
- ISBN-13: 978-1900850933
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.8 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 677,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Priest of Evil (Eurocrime)
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Product Description
Synopsis
An ambitious new novel from Finland's most distinguished crime writer, himself still a working policeman after more than thirty years. Something of an event in Finland, it marks the return of Joensuu to writing after a ten-year gap, along with his key creation, Detective Sergeant Timo Harjunpaa of the Helsinki police Violent Crimes unit. It is rarely less than a thought-provoking piece of work. In his native land, Joensuu is considered something of an innovator, so readers should expect something out of the ordinary. The opening chapters concern first, two terrified children who are compelled to intervene in a potentially life-threatening struggle between their feuding parents. Then we meet Sinikka, whose function in the plot is yet to become clear. Abruptly the book switches to a key location: a bare hillside in the middle of Helsinki (we are even given its A-Z reference), riddled with tunnels, one part of which is home to the Priest of Evil himself.Finally the the key story line emerges: Harjunpaa is called in to investigate the suicide of a young man who has apparently thrown himself under a Helsinki underground train - or did he just stumble?Right from the start, however, Joensuu is concerned to disconcert the reader. Is that disturbing opening chapter 'real' or the work of the writer that we meet later in the book, struggling with writer's block? Who is Sinikka? What are we to make of the Priest of Evil himself , muttering cod-Latin as he embarks on his campaign to appease his belief in some superhuman earth mother figure? One thing is certain.All these strategies, whether 'explained' or not as the novel proceeds, (and the background of a key character is left disturbingly - and deliberately - ambiguous), are cleverly interwoven into the fabric of the book and are mostly at the service of its underlying theme, the lack of real focus on our children, and the consequences, not always bad but most often disastrous, of such neglect. This is not a comfortable read (and the ending is one of the most disturbing I've read in the genre) but, in spite of some later unconvincing plot elements, it is a worthwhile one, and one that will not leave you untouched. One other thing is never in doubt.From the early chapter where Harjunpaa deals with the aftermath of the death of an old woman, her simple-minded forty year-old transvestite son in attendance, you know that a considerable writer is at work, writing from a lifetime personal experience of disintegrating humanity.Joensuu is also well served by David Hackston's polished and sympathetic translation. This book is a best-seller in Finland, and has been nominated for the prestigious Glass Key award, the crime fiction prize competed for each year across the Scandinavian countries. Adventurous readers start here.
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First Sentence
Someone called out his name; rapidly, over and over, as if they were thrashing him over the head with a twig. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Someone called out his name; rapidly, over and over, as if they were thrashing him over the head with a twig. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Policeman novelist Matti Yrjänä Joensuu is a Finn with a vision. In this book, he develops a peculiar mish-mash of new age religion, serial killings, deeply troubled adults and their disturbed relationships with appallingly cold and twisted parents, bullied children and their close friendships, mind control, and beneath it all, such aching sadness that it is not surprising Finland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. A couple of fundamentalist preachers are accosting passersby at various Metro stops in Helsinki, and there appears to be a correlation between them and people falling onto the tracks. Were they pushed? Are they suicidal? The CCTVs show nothing suspicious. The investigating policeman is that rare bird in detective fiction - a man truly content in his marriage and with his little girls. Separate strands of the tale deal with a shaman who invokes an earth goddess and bleeds birds to death for his sacrifices, and a boy who strikes up a friendship with a girl who saves him from bullies. The boy's mother is a virulently manipulative shrew, and his father is - like Joensuu - a man isolated from his colleagues because of his side career as a successful novelist. It's obvious from the get-go who the killer is, but the goodness in the book is in the chase and in the details of a hidden Helsinki, and Joensuu's fervent belief that the police, with a ringside view on society, is the front line in sensing evil in all its forms.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Unusually the detective doesn't get his man - well not how you might think, anyway. The characterisation is gripping, but you need to concentrate and keep your wits about you. Can't wait for the next one.
3 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book attracted by the comments about its originality, but I was very disappointed. The story never really becomes gripping; the characters have no real depth; the writing is nondescript. And I can't see what's original about it. If you like psychological thrillers (as I do), or action and suspense filled thrillers (as my husband, who didn't even want to finish the book, does), this is not the book for you.
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