Little Siberia by Antti Tuomainen

This book was a totally unexpected little gem. It surprised me, confused me and occasionally made me laugh out loud. The trouble in the village starts as a man takes a (very drunk) scary drive along the back roads. As the car hits a bump he takes off into the air. He takes a quick glance over at the seat next to him, as if he expects someone to be sitting there. Suddenly, a bright light seems to fill the car, and as the rally driver lurches to a stop he sees a fireball in the passenger seat. The fireball turns out to be a meteorite. 

A little while on and we meet our narrator Joel, the village pastor who also volunteers as security in the small museum where the meteorite now resides. Hurmevaara is a small Finnish village in the north, snow bound and isolated from the outside world. The meteorite only has a week left on display here before moving on. Rumours suggest it is worth millions. This is a bad day for Joel for two reasons. Firstly he hears sounds at the museum and finds himself attacked by two intruders. One cuffs him on the head with a hard object. The other makes a grab for an exhibit. He assumes they are stealing the meteorite and follows them as they make their getaway. He follows them to a remote cottage and watches as they turn on each other. One grabs their loot and runs inside the house, soon followed by a huge explosion. They have stolen a grenade, not the meteorite. Secondly, his wife, who he loves very much has just informed him she is pregnant. This should be good news; they have always wanted children. But our narrator is carrying a huge secret. On his last tour in the military he has been injured and although largely recovered he was told one thing he kept from his wife. He is unable to have children. 

The rest of the novel we follow Joel as he tries to find out who wants the meteorite and who is the father? Are they even the same person? The novel veers between serious meditations on faith and belief, thrilling action sequences as Joel’s various adversaries cross his path and the blackest comedy. I love the sequence with the grocer’s suspicious early morning visit and laughed out loud as Joel has to improvise with a scarf to convince someone a Russian gangster isn’t as dead as he seems. The author weaves these threads together to create a unique novel that all Nordic noir lovers will enjoy. It’s a great thriller and because I have a dark sense of humour, hilarious in places. It is quite unlike anything else I’ve ever read.