A novel about love, table tennis, and the wild creatures lurking at the edges of the mind – and the city.
Author: Juhani Karila
Finnish original: Terapeuttini on ihmissusi
Publisher: Siltala Publishing, 2026
Genre: literary fiction
Number of pages: 348 pp.
Reading material: Finnish original, English sample, English synopsis
Eve’s relationship is in crisis, and unresolved traumas from the past are simmering beneath the surface. She goes to talk about her problems with a therapist: a large, sharp-toothed werewolf who runs a practice in central Helsinki. The city is teeming with strange creatures. They arrive from the mountains, whose snowy peaks rise high behind the city. Eve’s other refuge is table tennis, which she plays with her friends in the league. In the whirlwind of this neurotic game, one can find peace for a moment. But something strange is also afoot in the table tennis league as the finals approach and the stakes get higher.
Karila’s brilliant new novel is a story about mental health, us and them, and the literal and figurative spins life throws at you. Therapy led by a werewolf is unpredictable, but help rarely arrives in the shape you were expecting.
Praise for Fishing for the Little Pike:
“Karila’s fusion of crime story and folkloric fantasy is well realised, neither too whimsical nor too serious, with a lovely sense of its own absurdity.”
– The Financial Times
“Realistic everyday scenes, painted in an almost ethnographic way, but seasoned with elements of popular belief, produce a singular blend where characters from local folklore intrude on human affairs.” – Le Monde
About the author:
Juhani Karila