Be prepared to be addicted to this book. In fact, if you read the first book, you might as well purchase The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest because you will shortly after reading the first book pick up the second book and continue the saga. Conclusion? I found the book series I was DESPERATELY searching for. The downside? The Introduction to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2008) reads:
Stieg Larsson, who lived in Sweden, was the editor in chief of the magazine Expo and leading expert on antidemocratic right-wing extremist and Nazi organizations. He died in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscripts for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and the third novel in the series.
Looks like there will NEVER be a fourth in the series. Here's to enjoying these three thrilling works of art in my literary world!
Looks like there will NEVER be a fourth in the series. Here's to enjoying these three thrilling works of art in my literary world!
You will wonder what the story is about, begin reading, get used to the names of the towns and cities of Sweden and constantly wonder just what the girl with the dragon tattoo, Lisbeth Salander, will do next. “She’s an extraordinary character you’ll fall for,” a lady told me at the hair salon upon seeing me reading this book. At that point, I was only about 20-25 pages in and had just begun to see the developing plot consume my interest and curiosity.
The story unfolds around the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, a relative of one of the most prestigious families in Sweden, over 40 years ago. Mikael Blomkvist is hired by Harriet’s uncle, Henrik Vanger, to do undercover work and investigate the case of his missing niece. Blomkvist is to tell the many Vanger relatives and curious citizens he meets of the small island-town of Hedeby that he has been hired to spend the year there to write a biography of Henrik’s life for him, and of course, one of those chapters will have to deal with Harriet’s disappearance. While many of the Vanger relatives feel that Henrik is often obsessed and suffering from a compulsive disorder because of his fascination with this case, Blomkvist comes to quickly agree with Vanger that there are details surrounding the disappearance that are missing and must be identified before finding Harriet’s whereabouts, presuming worse-case, that she has been murdered.
Lisbeth Salander’s story is intertwined in the complex plot as readers learn some, but not all, of the story behind her childhood and her current status in Sweden of being “incompetent” and by having this title, having to have a guardian at the age of 26. She has little family to depend on and many who meet her find her reserved and quiet, yet her outward appearance is more of a tattooed, punk rocker teenager. She stands under 5 feet tall and weighs only 90 pounds. Salander is a prodigy in many ways and her talents will come in to play when helping Blomkvist to solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Harriet.
I would HIGHLY recommend this book – I loved it! I am not typically a reader who picks up a mystery book filled with suspense and drama, yet I read this book and the second book in less than 10 days. I probably could have had the third book read as well except I was on my Honeymoon in the Caribbean and could NOT find the book anywhere on the islands we visited by cruise ship!
Tomorrow, I will have to pick up a copy of the DVD and see if it is HALF as GOOD as this book!
