Impostor

Original title: Huijari

Author: Tatiana Elf

Published: 2025

Publisher: Into

Genre: Crime & Suspense

Pages: 285

Part of a series: Rebekka Nummi series

Reading material:

Finnish MS, Full English translation

This twisted psychological thriller follows Rebekka, a young and attractive sociopath, who can charm anyone… and destroy them just as easily

Rebekka Nummi is a confident, curious, and completely fearless young woman. She has an exceptional superpower: she is a high-functioning sociopath. Rebekka hasn’t killed anyone, but she can break into her friend’s house or steal a car without feeling any guilt or shame. To tame her impulses, Rebekka goes to therapy. It has worked surprisingly well and she hasn’t done anything terribly bad. Yet.

Then Rebekka meets Alex. The man evokes warm feelings in Rebekka, feelings that she hadn’t even considered to be possible to feel. Alex is intelligent, funny, and, best of all, she doesn’t fear Rebekka.

But can a manipulative and unpredictable sociopath create a genuine connection to another person? Can one control one’s violent impulses? And what happens when Alex is revealed to have a secret that changes everything and forces Rebekka to cross a threshold from which there is no going back.

Rebekka is both charming and terrifying. The twists of the book leave no breathing space before the final page and make one thirst for more.

An exceptional main character creates tension and opportunities. Elf seizes them beautifully. In addition to unusual characters, Elf's story has good plot twists. […] It’s great that the author boldly does something new.

Asta Tenhunen, Keskisuomalainen

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Rights sold:
FINLAND: Into (orig.)

Tatiana Elf

Tatiana Elf is a versatile author and screenwriter living in Helsinki. She has been the head writer and creator of various popular and critically acclaimed Finnish crime drama series (Roba, Fast), winning the award for best drama for Keisari Aarnio in 2018. She has also created, written and directed several reality and entertainment series (Love Connection, Dancing with the Stars, Supertähdet). She started her career by writing for the most popular daily TV drama (Secret Lives) in Finland.

She was born in South-Africa and is half Finnish, half Slovakian. She has a BA in Psychology and Sociology from London Metropolitan University and an MA in Philosophy from University of Helsinki. Her studies help her create interesting and complex characters both for screen and novels, especially when it comes to crime writing. She is passionate about research and the complexity of the human mind. She is praised for her candid portrayal of caregiving, especially in her autobiographical novel and her dramedy series (Goldfish) based on her mother with Alzheimer's. She uses emotional authenticity and humor even with darker themes.

In her free time, she enjoys reading, solo travelling, home renovation, binge-streaming series and caring for her friend’s pets. She is quite accident prone and therefore a constant source of worry to her friends.

Photo credit: Anna Cappelli

About author

Tatiana Elf

Bibliography

Impostor