The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen

 

The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen.

Translated by David Hackston.

Published 23rd October 2025 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Sofas, secrets and a snowbound road to trouble…

Helsinki, 1982. Recently divorced postal worker Ilmari Nieminen has promised his daughter a piano for Christmas, but with six days to go – and no money – he's desperate.

A last-minute job offers a solution: transport a valuable antique sofa to Kilpisjärvi, the northernmost town in Finland.

With the sofa secured in the back of his van, Ilmari stops at a gas station, and an old friend turns up, offering to fix his faulty wipers, on the condition that he tags along. Soon after, a persistent Saab 96 appears in the rearview mirror. And then a bright-yellow Lada.

That's when Ilmari realises that he is transporting something truly special.

And that's when Ilmari realises he might be in serious trouble…

A darkly funny and unexpectedly moving thriller about friendship, love and death – The Winter Job tears through the frozen landscape of northern Finland in a beat-up van with bad steering, worse timing, and everything to lose…

***********

Helsinki, 1982. Postal worker, Ilmari Nieminen has a problem: he has promised his daughter a piano for Christmas, but the financial demands of his recent divorce mean the coffers are bare. With only a few days to go until Christmas Eve, he is determined not to let her down, but how is he to lay his hands on the money he needs at such short notice? Then the perfect opportunity come his way when he lands a job transporting an antique sofa to Kilpisjärvi, the northernmost town in Finland.

With the sofa secured in the back of an old van, and plans to take in a couple of stops on the way to deal with unfinished business, Ilmari sets off into an increasingly heavy snow storm. Stopping off at a petrol station for assistance with his broken windscreen wipers, he meets up with childhood friend Antero, who fixes the problem in exchange for a lift.

As the pair head north, they notice that they are not alone. A mysterious green Saab 96, and an almost luminous yellow Lada seem to be in hot pursuit... and when they inspect the contents of the van, they realise that this is no ordinary sofa, and no ordinary job.

How I love an Antti Tuomainen book, and this brand new gem was an absolute festive delight. The story follows the progress of Ilmari and Antero's deliciously absurd road trip to Finalnd's icy north, cutting back and forth from their slow-burn, buddy story to the darkly comic agendas of their pursuers - a misfit pair of communist revolutionaries (one of whom is obsessed with the soap opera Dallas), and a violent outlaw with major anger issues.

Along the way, there are oodles of thrills, spills, and hilarious cock-ups as the assassins on their trail do their very best to wrest the precious sofa from Ilmari, against a cracking (mostly) 1980's soundtrack, and Antero proves his worth in his role as 'shotgun' (quite literally on occasion). Pitch black humour Tuomainen style is the order of the day, which gave me lots of chuckles, and the story is flooded with lovely themes about friendship and loneliness that strum mercilessly on your heartstrings in the way he does so well. Have the tissues handy for the touching moments, because you will need them.

David Hackston does a wonderful job translating this novel, as anticipated, and he pulls an absolute blinder when it comes to the choice words and phrases he uses to hit Tuomainen's farcical mark - particularly when it comes to the opening lines of the chapters about Otto, the wrathful outlaw, which are a riot!

Quintessential Tuomainen madness with a heartfelt core of pure gold, and with the magic of Christmas too. Perfection!

The Winter Job is available to buy now in hardback, ebook and audio formats. You can also support indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. In 2011, Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for Best Finnish Crime Novel and was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. In 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime-genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller and has been released as a TV series, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach Finland (2018) was an immense success, with The Times calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’, and Little Siberia (2019) was shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Readers Awards, the Last Laugh Award and the CWA International Dagger, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel. The Rabbit Factor, the prequel to The Moose Paradox and The Beaver Theory, will soon be a major motion picture starring Steve Carell for Amazon Studios.

About the translator:

David Hackston is a British Translator of Finnish and Swedish literature and drama. Notable publications include The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy, Maria Peura’s coming-of-age novel At the Edge of Light, Johanna Sinisalo’s eco-thriller Birdbrain, two crime novels by Matti Joensuu and Kati Hiekkapelto’s Anna Fekete series (which currently includes The Hummingbird, The Defenceless and The Exiled, all published by Orenda Books). He also translates Antti Tuomainen’s stories. In 2007 he was awarded the Finnish State Prize for Translation. David is also a professional countertenor and a founding member of the English Vocal Consort of Helsinki.