The Man who Died, by Antti Tuomainen
ISBN: 9781910633847
Amazon ID: B06ZYW8BS3
An interesting premise for a story (a man discovers that he's being poisoned over an extended period of time, and determines to find out who's doing it to him).
The story is good for most of the book (parts one and two), but then in my opinion goes totally off the rails in the final (and relatively short) part three, where the explanations for what has been going on in the rest of the story just turn out to be ridiculous (and in my opinion, simply to prevent the reader's guesses at what has been happening from possibly being correct).
This is a pity - it could have been so good if only the ending had been up to the standard of the rest.
Specific comments
Chapter 2: I turn left out of the hospital car park. The most direct route would have been to take a left. I need a few minute; I want to gather my thoughts.
- Hm, right.
Chapter 7: Me and Kalle climbed down and peddled back to the shore in our underwear.
- Given that they had bicycles with them, I think this should be "pedalled".
Chapter 12: I press the keys into the ignition and the car roars to life. I don't turn on the motor.
- Hm, strange car - what was roaring, then?
Chapter 13: "Unless there's something else on you mind," he says.
- Hello, proofreader?
Chapter 14: The world isn't built of steel and concrete after all; it's made of sugar and candyfloss.
- Er, candyfloss is sugar.
Chapter 14: The shade of the sky has changed; it is now one degree, two degrees darker.
- I wonder how to measure the difference between one degree and two degrees of darkness.
Chapter 14: The attractive red-painted log house with its gleaming-white window frames cuts off the view from the road, while an oblong sauna-cumbarn, erected long before…
- I've not been able to find out what a cumbarn is.