Publisher: Henry Holt
and Co.
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Review: Ever since the massive success of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy,
translated to English from its original Swedish, there has been an increase in
translated novels to the American marketplace. And while some of these foreign
authors have really resonated with the American public, think Larsson and Jo
Nesbo, others seem to have been lost in translation.
In the Healer, a novel by Finnish author Antti
Tuomaninen, poet Tapani Lehtinen navigates a post-apocalyptic Helinski, in
search of his missing wife, Johanna. Johanna is a journalist who works for a
newspaper that is struggling to maintain its relevance in this strange new
world. Immediately before here disappearance, she was investigating a serial
killer known as "The Healer". The Healer is known for murdering
prominent businessmen, politicians, and their families, all because of their
involvement in pursuits that harm the environment. As Tapani studies Johanna's
research into the murders, he realizes that she was close to discovering the
identity of The Healer. Now he worries that she is pursuing this known serial
killer, or worse, The Healer is pursuing her.
This post-apocalyptic world, as imagined by
Tuomaninen, falls in line with the bleak views that most of these European
authors write about. Society has failed, medicine and doctors are hard to come
by, and the police have been made obsolete by a lack of government, money,
technology, and manpower. Therefore, the recover of Johanna falls on the
shoulders of her husband, Tapani. As he investigates further into her
disappearance, he uncovers secrets from her past that threaten to unravel
everything he thought he knew about the woman he loves.
Despite the promising premise, I felt that the
author was simply going through the motions on this one. I enjoyed the fast
pace and entertainment value of the story, but any deeper meaning is either
nonexistent or lost in the translation from the original text. There is never
enough backstory or emotional depth to make any of the characters worth rooting
for. In the end, the motivation behind The Healer's killings is almost
laughable. It seemed that the author was trying to make some kind of political
statement that comes across as misplaced within the context of the novel. Are
we really supposed to believe that with all the chaos and corruption taking
place and threatening lives, a person has decided to protect the environment?
In this world where infrastructure has failed and disease threatens to spread
at plague like speed, it is far more plausible that The Healer would be more
concerned with saving his own life, rather than taking others for some
political statement. Despite these shortcomings, I have to admit that the novel
kept my attention, and I read it easily over the course of an afternoon. While
it is not the pinnacle of foreign writing, it is an entertaining read that
displays the promise of reading some of these translated novels.
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