Helsinki White

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For my son, Christopher.

And, as always, for Annukka.

With special thanks to neurologist Dr. Jukka Turkka,

specialist in post-trauma neurological recovery and cognition,

without whom this book would not have been possible.

PROLOGUE

It’s May second, a sunny Sunday, a chilly spring evening. I walk around downtown, check out the main drags. The outdoor bars are packed, everyone drunk and happy. Yesterday was Vappu—May Day, the heaviest drinking holiday of the year—and most of these people have been drunk non-stop, morning to night, since they got off from work on Friday. Morning drinking delays hangovers. Eventually, the price has to be paid, but they can be sick at work tomorrow, on the company dime.

Raucous laughter emanates from everywhere. I stop under the clock in front of the main doors of Stockmann Department Store, the biggest and best in the city. I sometimes shop here because they almost always have what I want, and specialize in quality merchandise, even though the prices they charge for convenience and quality are highway robbery.

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