Book excerpt: It is 1916. Russia and Finland are playing their age-old game of "cat and mouse"-each Finnish village has its own rules and social mores-life is harsh and uncompromising-and most of the inhabitants will hang onto their birthright until the bitter end unless their choice is taken away. This is the harsh reality of Kaarlo Heitala's world but he, through fate, is forced to leave his beloved country and begin a new life in America during one of the bloodiest times in world history. Finlander becomes an odyssey of man's place in life's continuum and how one man can touch the lives of many and prove that each individual truly does have a story-a story of inescapable courage and determination.