Any book that opens with someone being beaten to death by a giant rabbit ear and you finding yourself instantly on the side of the person wielding the weapon has to be a winner. Henri Koskinen has been let go from the insurance firm where he has diligently calculated the risks of disaster happening to other people, little knowing what life has in store for him. The section describing his severance is sublime and anyone who has endured management corporate speak will be howling with laughter (& sympathy) by the time Henri signs his resignation letter. So when a lawyer turns up to inform him that he’s inherited his brother’s adventure park (NOT an amusement park as Henri would be quick to point out), it makes sense for him to look at the viability of the business. The only trouble is that his brother was heavily in debt to some very unsavoury characters who want repaying …and fast.
To say that Henri isn’t a natural people person is an understatement, so watching him try to get a handle on the day to day running of the park and its staff is something else. The YouMeFun staff are an eclectic bunch, including an absent ticket seller, a maintenance man who thinks he’s going to be general manager, a security chief who may or may not have been in the Marines, a marketing director who reeks of booze and Laura, an artist with a past who is the park manager. It is Laura who confounds Henri the most, throwing his analytical brain into confusion. How does a man who thinks in probability navigate an unpredictable relationship? Can logic be applied to love?
Just reading about the goings on in the park would have been entertaining enough, but the gangsters trying to recover his brother’s debt add a thrilling element to this tale. How will Henri handle their intimidation tactics? Can maths really be the answer to his problems? You will have to read it to see how it all adds up…sorry, couldn’t resist a numbers joke!
This is an intelligent thriller with a difference, one minute laugh out loud funny, next darkly threatening. You will veer from giggles to gory goings on, prepare to be on the edge of your seat and for your moral compass to be challenged. I’m more than a little in love with Henri Koskinen and can’t wait to read the follow up to this brilliant story.
A well deserved ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read
*Final note is a shout out to the translator, David Hackston, who has done a superb job in making this a seamless read. The only clues that this was written in a different language involve names, places and an obviously more efficient public transport system.*
No comments:
Post a Comment