Book Review - The Girl

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

You should know up front that the author, Stieg Larsson, is dead. I tell you this because he meant to write a series of ten books and there are only three in print. He almost finished a fourth, but because of Swedish laws, it apparently will not be published. We’ll have to wait and see.

It is obvious that these books are meant to be series but don’t let that stop you from reading these books. They are loads of fun and very interesting. I don’t know much about Sweden, so I learned a bit about their government and history and now I need to learn more.

The books are fast paced, loaded with interwoven plots and story lines, filled with conspiracies and the characters are different. Parts are briefly very graphic but not gratuitous.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – plot summary (from the website):

Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomqvist is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance of Vanger’s great-niece Harriet. Henrik suspects that someone in his family, the powerful Vanger clan, murdered Harriet over forty years ago. 

Starting his investigation, Mikael realizes that Harriet’s disappearance is not a single event, but rather linked to series of gruesome murders in the past. He now crosses paths with Lisbeth Salander, a young computer hacker, an asocial punk and most importantly, a young woman driven by her vindictiveness.

Together they form an unlikely couple as they dive deeper into the violent past of the secretive Vanger family.

The Girl Who Played with Fire – plot summary (from the website):

Lisbeth Salander is wanted for a triple murder. All three victims are connected to a trafficking exposé about to be published in Mikael Blomqvist’s magazine Millenium, and Lisbeth’s fingerprints are on the weapon.

Lisbeth vanishes to avoid capture by the justice. Mikael, not believing the police, is despairingly trying to clear her name, using all his resources and the staff of his magazine. During this process, Mikael discovers Lisbeth’s past, a terrible story of abuse and traumatizing experiences growing up in the Swedish care system.

When he eventually finds her, it’s only to discover that she is far more entangled in his initial investigation of the sex industry than he could ever imagine.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest – plot summary (from the website):

Two seriously injured people arrive at the emergency ward of the Sahlgrensa hospital in Gothenburg. One is the wanted murderer Lisbeth Salander who has taken a bullet to the head and needs immediate surgery, the other is Alexander Zalachenko, an older man who Lisbeth has attacked with an axe. 

In this third novel in the Millennium trilogy, Lisbeth is planning her revenge against the men who tried to kill her, and even more importantly, revenge against the government which nearly destroyed her life. But first she must escape from the intensive care unit and exculpate her name from the charges of murder that hangs over her head.

In order to succeed with the latter, Lisbeth will need the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist. He is writing an exposing article that will shake the Swedish government, the secret service and the whole country by its foundations. Finally there is a chance for Lisbeth Salander to put her past behind her and finally there is a chance for truth and justice to prevail.

Here’s the hype from Google products:

All across America, readers are talking about Stieg Larsson's best-selling novels, set in Sweden and featuring Lisbeth Salander "one of the most original and memorable heroines to surface in a recent thriller" (The New York Times) The trilogy is an international sensation that will grab you and keep you "reading with eyes wide open" (San Francisco Chronicle) "[It] is intricately plotted, lavishly detailed but written with a breakneck pace and verve" (The Independent, U.K.), but "be warned: the trilogy is seriously addictive." (The Guardian, U.K.) "Believe the hype . . . It's gripping stuff." (People) "Stieg Larsson clearly loved his brave misfit Lisbeth. And so will you." (USA Today) "Larsson has bottled lightning." (Los Angeles Times) … "Unique and fascinating . . . Like a blast of cold, fresh air.” (Chicago Tribune) "Wildly suspenseful . . . Intelligent, ingeniously plotted, utterly engrossing." (The Washington Post) "A gripping, stay-up-all-night read.” (Entertainment Weekly) "Dynamite.” (Variety)

I give these books 4 out of 5 butterflies (I'm going one short only because I want the other 7 books.) 

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