The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Reviews

• This Swedish bestseller deserves to be a blockbuster here too.

  
  By AAY0T5U6OJMKN on 2008-08-25
  A 24-year-old computer hacker sporting an assortment of tattoos and body piercings and afflicted with Asperger Syndrome or something of the like has been under state guardianship in her native Sweden since she was thirteen. She supports herself by doing deep background investigations for Dragan Armansky, who, in turn, worries the anorexic-looking Lisbeth Salander is "the perfect victim for anyone who wished her ill." Salander may look fourteen and stubbornly shun social norms, but she possesses the inner strength of a determined survivor. She sees more than her word processor page in black and white and despises the users and abusers of this world. She won't hesitate to exact her own unique brand of retribution against small-potatoes bullies, sick predators, and corrupt magnates alike.
  
  Financial journalist Carl Mikael Blomkvist has just been convicted of libeling a financier and is facing a fine and three months in jail. Blomkvist, after a Salander-completed background check, is summoned to a meeting with semi-retired industrialist Henrik Vanger whose far-flung but shrinking corporate empire is wholly family owned. Vanger has brooded for 36 years about the fate of his great niece, Harriet. Blomkvist is expected to live for a year on the island where many Vanger family members still reside and where Harriet was last seen. Under the cover story that he is writing a family history, Blomkvist is to investigate which family member might have done away with the teenager.
  
  So, the stage is set. The reader easily guesses early that somehow Blomkvist and Salander will pool their talents to probe the Vanger mystery. However,Swede Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is no humdrum, formulaic whodunit. It is fascinating and very difficult to put down. Nor is it without some really suspenseful and chillingly ugly scenes....
  
  The issue most saturating The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is that of shocking sexual violence primarily against women but not excluding men. Salander and Blomkvist both confront prima facie evidence of such crimes. Larsson's other major constituent elements are corporate malfeasance that threatens complete collapse of stock markets and anarchistic distrust of officialdom to the point of endorsing (at least, almost) vigilantism. He also deals with racism as he spins a complex web from strands of real and imagined history concerning mid-twentieth century Vanger affiliations with Sweden's fascist groups.
  
  But Larsson's carefully calibrated tale is more than a grisly, cynical world view of his country and the modern world at large. At its core, it is an fascinating character study of a young woman who easily masters computer code but for whom human interaction is almost always more trouble than it is worth, of an investigative reporter who chooses a path of less resistance than Salander but whose humanity reaches out to many including her, and of peripheral characters -- such as Armansky -- who need more of their story told.
  
  Fortunately, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in English translation will be followed by two more in the Millennium series: The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Air Castle that Blew Up. I can't wait. Larsson also made a 200-page start on a fourth book, but sadly he succumbed to a heart attack in 2004 and his father decided the unfinished work will remain unpublished.
  
  I recommend this international bestseller to all who eagerly sift new books for challenging intellectual crime thrillers, who luxuriate in immersing themselves in the ambience of a compellingly created world and memorable characters, who soak up financial and investigative minutiae as well as computer hacking tidbits, and who want to share Larsson's crusade against violence and racism.
  
  

• Best Book of the Year

  
  By A2FV4Y4I7BBL6I on 2008-09-13
  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a masterwork of fine craftsmanhip. When I reached the final page I was disappointed that there was no more to read. I did not want the story to end. The characters are too intriguing for this to be the end. Apparently this was the first novel in a trilogy by the brillant writer, Stieg Larsson, who unfortunately died in 2004: the book contains a tribute to him and his career. I cannot wait to read the sequels scheduled for release in the USA in 2009.
  
  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an international best seller and is set in Sweden. It takes a little effort to get accustomed to all the Swedish names and places but then the story moves with lightening speed. There are two key plots happening simultaneously. In one, a Swedish financial investigative journalist publishes a libelous attack about a powerful industrialist and is sentenced to jail, fined a ruinous sum, and has his career torn to shreds. Another industrialist, Vanger, hires the journalist to investigate the 36 year old disappearnace of his then 14 year old grand niece. There has been no trace of her in all these years and she is assumed dead. Yet, every year on his birthday, he receives a mysterious gift of a pressed flower, mimicking a gift his missing grandniece used to give him when she lived there. Vanger, an old man, is tormented by the flower gifts, and wants one more chance to find out what happened to her and who killed her. What the journalist uncovers about the Vanger family's hitherto unknown secrets and connections to the Nazis, will have you hanging on the edge of your seat.
  
  The book is titled after yet another character, Lisabeth Salander, a societal outcast and social ward of the State, uncivilized without any desire to obey societal norms, and replete with piercings, tattoos, and a goth/biker appearance. In short, at first glance a totally undesirable and unsympathetic person. She is a researcher with a corporate security firm and ends up working with the journalist. In truth, she is a survivor of abuse in all forms with low self esteem, and an inablity to trust. She is a genius with Asberger's Syndrome, a form of autism, who sees patterns in things ordinary mortals miss and uses incredible computer hacking skills to accomplish her goals. She is fascinating: ruthless and tough to a fault, yet internally vulnerable, struggling to comprehend her own feelings. She has an appeal that draws you to her, rooting for her, and wanting to understand her. Lisabeth is unforgettable, unlike most characters that populate mystery thrillers. There is such depth here.
  
  The book is a thriller on many levels: The story about the Vanger family itself, the journalist's crusade to redeem his reputation, Lisabeth's vendettas and development, and of course, the truth about what actually happened to the missing Vanger heiresss. This is a superb novel and impossible to put down. Utterly stunning. Probably the year's best book.
  
  
  

• Couldn't put it down to the last page...

  
  By API5JLBRT6FIN on 2008-08-28
  The novel is really rich in detail and quick paced -- And incredibly moving in depicting the struggles faced by its female protagonist. This novel somehow brings off having two really well drawn protagonists, one male, one female that one can empathize with. A middle aged journalist, and a troubled but incredibly talented young woman who works as a PI intersect to solve a labyrinthine plot. Lisbet's story would have made an incredible novel on its own. She has Aspergers and is trapped in an awful school /social system with no advocates and non-existent mental health services. It is really dark in its themes somewhat like the Kite Runner. The complex mystery, thriller aspects are really good, and then the whole other aspects of the novel which is also a social comment on society in Sweden, journalistic ethics, misogyny, and gut-wrenching sexual violence. So prepare to be disturbed by the darkness it depicts.
  
  The only thing that bothered me a little, though the incredible characterizations and plotting made up for it totally was the out of time technology -- It seemed like the novel was set in the 90s, but all of the technology action seemed to be happening in the late 2000s. So the technology used in the plot time lines seemed a decade out of whack sometimes. I will go back and read it and see if its something I misunderstood.
  
  All in all, its one of the best mystery /thrillers I've read from the last decade. In fact comparing it to the Da Vinci Code, the characters are not simplistic one dimensional cut outs at all. The rich characterizations and explorations of dark behaviour remind me of Elizabeth George. I'm waiting for the two final books of this trilogy. It is so sad that the author has passed away and we won't be meeting the characters for more than just 3 books.
  
  

• Less than I expected but still interesting

  
  By A7C77J4MH94B6 on 2008-09-18
  Henrik Vanger, an elderly Swedish industrialist, has long been receiving the same anonymous gift on his birthday: a single framed flower. He is convinced the series of flowers has something to do with his great-niece Harriet who vanished decades ago in mysterious circumstances when she was just 16.
  
  Vanger coerces a disgraced and prison-bound journalist, Mikael Blomkvist, to do some research into the disappearance. In exchange for information on his niece, Vanger promises Blomkvist enough dirt to take down the rich man who is sending him to jail.
  
  So begins "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," a blockbuster best-seller in Europe. As Blomkvist moves closer to the truth, he teams up with the titular character, a tattooed detective named Lisbeth Salander who's the real star of the show. Together they uncover things that stun even Blomkvist, a crusading financial reporter who thought he knew all there was to know about the rot of corruption, the myriad abuses of power and the darkest sides of ourselves.
  
  The novel is long and sometimes feels even longer; it takes its time threading out the dense plot. There's a lot going on here. This is the kind of book that provides you with a family-tree chart upfront; by midpoint you may be wishing there were even more aids offered by the author to keep track of things.
  
  There is a series of horrible crimes at the heart of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," but I hesitate to call this work a thriller. It's a crime novel, yes, but it has more on its mind than generic conventions. The author, the late Stieg Larsson, was a journo in the muckraking tradition, like his character Blomkvist. The book serves up a heapin' helpful of essay that tastes like story but isn't. And while the mystery element is shockingly compelling in spots, it's also surprisingly unsurprising in others.
  
  A million Europeans can't be wrong, and I'd be dishonest to say there's nothing worthwhile about this novel that is so popular across the pond. Despite its stop-and-go pace and tortuous (and sometimes tortured) construction, there is a serious emotional undertone to the book that is undeniable.
  
  If you're not yet bored with stories that present villains you've seen a hundred times before -- e.g., reactionaries, racists and capitalists -- you might just enjoy this. Me, I really wanted to like this book and I did, but just barely. It's a lesser "Smilla's Sense of Snow," and for many that's obviously enough.
  
  

• Bloated

  
  By A12JRKE8P4BCXI on 2008-09-25
  The reviews of this book led me to believe I had come across another addicting import, the last being Child 44. But unfortunately Stieg Larsson obsesses over back story and handles exposition like he has lobster mitts on. He wastes no chances to add useless material. And worse, he's infatuated with historical narrative rather than creating a dramatic scene. The paragraphs about the past are a bog from which it is difficult to emerge. It needs an editor. The book could have been 200 pages shorter and it would have been more interesting.
  
  I cannot recommend. Be forewarned.
  
  
• Maybe you had to be there...
  By A2Z4PB9O75XIR on 2008-10-11
  Whew! This book took me forever to get through! It became a chore and then a challenge, then it actually became interesting...then it fell flat.
  
  The story begins very slowly with a cryptic storyline about large scale financial crime and the journalist who tries to expose it. There are lots of names of, presumably, local publications, European businesses, and other institutions that Europeans are apparently familiar with. This meant nothing to me and made it hard to trudge through.
  
  However, silly me, the book isn't about mobsters and Swedish mafia. It's about something else. Hmmm... It takes over 1/4 of the book to actually get to the main story line. Hmmm...
  
  Interesting characters are introduced in great detail and then they disappear from the story. Story lines are started and abandoned. There is an inordinate amount of detail about meaningless things--the inside of a cabin, how someone is dressed, a character's apartment even though this has no bearing on the story, etc.--and yet much of this detail ends in dead end tangent after dead end tangent. It was frustrating and hard to make sense of. After 100 pages, it became downright boring.
  
  Based on the statistics quoted at the beginning of each chapter, the book is centered on the theme of women being used and abused by men. It's a great set up for a story, and yet, the theme is so lost in the details that I had a hard time remembering this.
  
  The main character, Mikael Blomqvist, is an investigative journalist and all around good guy. If the book is supposed to be about men who are hatefully aggressive towards women, Blomqvist is played as the direct opposite. He seems to be played as the kind and gentle, but hapless sex toy of strong women throughout the book. His role with women is to be kind and conversational, to respond to their sexual advances with mild surprise, a conjuring of the appropriate physical response, and because he's such a nice guy, he has sex with them, each and every one, over and over. What a guy! Like Sheriff Andy Taylor on Viagra... Thankfully, the detailed descriptions stop short of the bedroom scenes.
  
  Finally, at the halfway point, the true story line appears and it's a good story. Mikael Blomqvist proves to be intelligent and dedicated to the job at hand. The mystery surrounding a young woman who disappeared without a trace back in the 60's is Blomqvist's adventure, shared with a skinny goth girl with a serious emotional disability, a photographic memory and an aptitude for hacking computers. It's a good mystery and it plays out extremely well. I enjoyed this part of the book. The mystery, the suspects, the new evidence emerging after 35 years, the hunt, the chase, the rescue. It's all there. Very well done.
  
  Once the mystery is solved, however, the original story line is picked up again and the book crawls to a feeble and flat ending. After wading through the first half of the book, I was rewarded with a terrific mystery, only to be let down again at the end. It felt like it was supposed to go somewhere, but there was no where to go. Did the author die before finishing? Honestly, this book could have been 250 pages long, rather than 465, and it would have been glorious. As is stands, I'm left confused as to why this book was declared a blockbuster in Europe. I'd like to believe that something was lost in the translation from Swedish to English. I was so glad to be finished that I couldn't bring myself to care about the information on the author. Hopefully this isn't the best this author has to offer.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• A Swedish whodunnit that will make you miss appointments
  By A35B4XHGXDAR6C on 2008-01-29
  I bought this book because of its good reviews, because I love Sweden, and because I'd read about the sad and premature death of its author.
  
  I don't often read mysteries, but this one had me hooked pretty quickly. You can't help being sorry that there will be no more new books from Larsson, but it's a relief to know there are two more books to come in this trilogy, because the characters he created are strong enough to carry that many and more. It's like having a wonderful first course and knowing there are still two to go.
  
  Mikael Blomqvist is a complex protagonist, dogged, humane, flawed and sometimes insecure. His sidekick, the resourceful Lisbeth Salander, who hates to be compared to Pippi Longstocking (thereby making the comparison for us), is even more complicated. Personally, I liked her, and I'm intrigued to know more about her, which will hopefully happen in the next two books.
  
  Plot-wise, this kept me guessing right to the end, with many satisfying twists and surprises. The writing is plain and unadorned, but with a story like this you really don't need lyricism.
  
  All I can say is, I hope the translator is working fast on the sequels!
  
  
• Cats go their own way
  By A17E7K3MQ5KKR5 on 2008-01-14
  This is my first Larsson mystery and not my last. He's as sociologically interesting as Mankell and Indridasen, far more byzantine but less dark. I thought I knew the killer and where the body went half way through but was only close, as in horseshoes. Also, the hero is (compared with Kurt Wallander) in good shape athletically and is not deprived of appropriate sexual company. The weakness of the story is that the too-perfect feats of the anorexic, sociopathic super-woman are too often not at all believable, but this doesn't kill the effect, the book is a very good mystery. The ending has similarities with a modern Swedish fairy tale, 'När Maanen gick förbi' by Alfredson and Aahlin. Unfortunately, we cannot ask the author if he read that tale, he died young of a massive heart attack in 2004 after a life of work as an anti-racism, anti-fascism expert. the latter topic appears in this mystery.
  
  This review is based on the Norwegian translation 'Menn som hater Kvinner'. The English title should have been "Men who hate women'.
  
  
• A tale that hits close to home....
  By A2UKBYYK5PN2AO on 2008-01-30
  I got all three books in the trilogy as a present,
  and read them all in less than a week (in Swedish), a personal
  record.
  
  The first book is now available in English.
  (The literal tranlation would have been "Men who Hate Women".)
  
  The books are complete page-turners, the suspense
  keeps building. The author's death prior to publication
  may have contributed to some minor errors of fact and
  of internal consistency, but this does not detract from
  the readability.
  
  The background portrayal of a school system
  gone haywire and of a mental health system out of control,
  both violationg people that don't quite fit in with the
  Swedish way resounds with its plausibilty. I am left with
  the impression that the author has first-hand experience
  with the horrors of the former, if not necessarily the
  latter.
  
  Curiously, the author fails to draw the conclusion that
  it is the welfare state itself that is the cause, he clearly
  embraces it - but then, he is a dyed-in-the-wool Swede.
  
  A piece of advice to the reader: It is helpful to have a
  physical map of Sweden handy; with the exception of one
  of the main locations (Hedeby, which exists only unrelatedly
  in Denmark) all the towns are real.
  
  The "Millenium" magazine featured in the books exists
  in the real world as "EXPO", and Mikael Blomkvist is
  clearly the author's alter ego. I believe that somebody
  familiar with the "in crowd" in Stockholm will find several
  matches between the fictitious characters in the trilogy
  and real people.
  
  
  Nils Andersson
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• A captivating read!
  By A3HQAPXAJV7PRX on 2008-08-28
  I wasn't able to put this book down. I am not normally a fan of the mystery genre, preferring to read "literary" literature, but the writing is very good and I was hooked. Plus, the political and financial intrigue really hit the spot. I am a political junkie, as a rule, and always wonder what's "really" going on behind the scenes in the secretive upper echelons of power. I get off on complexity, which this book has in spades.
  
  I felt especially drawn to Lisbeth. I suspected, even before it was mentioned toward the end of the book, that she might have Asperger's syndrome, with which I am acquainted. It was very easy for me to imagine her disarming "social charms" as a result--those eyes burning into you--and I found her character to be very vivid and interesting.
  
  One thing I really liked about this book is how so much of the life I experience was pulled into it almost incidentally: the state-of-the-art computer equipment, the news about Bush and Iraq, the tools of the hacker's trade (how scary was THAT?!), the funky clothes.
  
  I have disliked mysteries in the past because they often seem so contrived and dishonest. You know the drill: Trick the reader into thinking it's one thing, then hit them over the head with the splintered 2 x 4 of "what really happened." "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" was not at all like that. It kept me thinking and wondering all the way through, and even after its secrets were revealed it kept on giving. The author was able to thrill and surprise me without insulting my intelligence or setting me up to feel stupid post-denouement.
  
  The best part was that, after the major revelations, I still couldn't put the book down until the very end, which did not come for a while. The loose ends were woven back into the braid and I did not feel at all like the writer abandoned me or any of the characters. I closed the book thinking about how they all would go on living, engaged with each other in their eccentric, quirky way.
  
  In short, I didn't want it to be over, and in the end it wasn't...and it was. I can now hardly wait for the next books. I am so sorry to know that Stieg Larsson is gone, but I'm grateful to know that this book was not the last.
  
  
  
• Not as good as it could have been
  By A2A33KJUP7T2FK on 2008-09-16
  I started reading this book with high expectations but was extremely disappointed. The book has a good plot BUT was extremely overladened with boring and repetitive details. The story was hidden somewhere in this book and was painful at times to get to. Many times I just wanted to scream out "Just get to the point now!" Very choppy writing style that did not flow. A book should not be a chore to finish....this one was!
  
  
• Didn't quite live up to the hype...
  By A277TO3PKKNYDH on 2008-09-14
  THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is a young hacker named Lisbeth Salander. Everything I had read about this book had indicated that she was the leading character of this Swedish story. When I picked it up, however, the story seemed much more to center on Mikael Blomkvist. A disgraced financial journalist, Blomkvist is facing a jail stint and possibly the crumble of his magazine. It is at this dark time that Henrik Vanger, a wealthy, retired industrialist and his laywer contact Blomkvist with a proposition.
  
  Reluctant to get involved, eventually he is made an offer he can't refuse. A chance at some information that he can use build a case that will clear his disgraced name. Convinced to come live near Vanger under the guise of writing Henrik's memoirs, his real mission is to investigate the murder of Vanger's neice, Harriet, who went missing fourty years previous. The mysterious circumstances of Harriet's dissappearance suggest that she had to have been murdered by a member of her own extended family. For months Blomkvist makes very little headway in the investigation and the elderly Vanger takes ill. Will the mystery by resolved before Henrik Vanger passes on? A very lucky break in the case brings Blomkvist to a point where he needs a research assistant and Vanger's lawyer calls in Lisbeth Salander, whom he had hired to investigate Blomkvist before Vanger hired him.
  
  The two make a rather smashing duo, their respective strengths complimenting one another as they begin to make strides in solving the mystery behind Harriet Vanger's murder. But when it all unravels will they find out more than they bargained for? Who killed Harriet Vanger and has everything they thought they knew about the Vanger family been carefully woven lies? The skeletons in the collective Vanger closet certainly pop up in this international best-seller.
  
  Unfortunately I didn't find it to be much of a page-turner. I had read great things about it both online and in Marie Claire magazine before picking it up. I could count everything I knew about Sweden on one hand before reading this book. In some ways that made this book a challenge and in others it made it educationally interesting (one of the reasons I was excited to read it!). The late author, Stieg Larsson, knew what he was writing about. His own involvement in financial and political issues within Sweden served as research material. At times I found his lengthy delvings into some of this information tedious to read but it was obvious he was quite passionate about the subject.
  
  The mystery within the story was well crafted and for the most part the characters were believable. I found the seperate storylines of Blomkvist and Salander a bit frustrating since I had been lead to believe she was the main character. Many other readers have pointed out what a great character she is. She is indeed a very interesting figure and the story could easily have been written with she alone as hero(heroine). I think that could be why I found the book to be just "okay". It felt like the primary focus on Blomkvist, his issues and his relationships to be unrelatable enough for me to sympathize and truly be interested in him.
  
  As a final note I would like to make mention that (and this may be spoilerish depending on how you view this sort of information) there is a fairly graphic scene of rape in this story. I am a bit sensitive about reading that sort of thing in such detail and almost stopped reading the book because of it. I wish I had been forewarned so I could have been mentally prepared for it and offer this spoilery information with only that in mind... to warn sensitive readers of this content.
  
  
• Wa-a-a-a-y overrated
  By A24YEZT66C6VTR on 2008-10-27
  Eh, it was just okay. There are too many unrealistic thread and holes in the book. The book has two different storylines and only one of them is interesting, the disappearance of a character. I just could not get into the libel story-line - I just kept thinking, "So what? Get over yourself."
  
  I am amazed at the amount of publicity that this book has generated. As far as mysteries go, it's really just ho-hum.
  
  
  
  
  
• This book is so addictive that it should come with a warning!
  By ACVVFJYG3IGSR on 2008-01-14
  Yes, it's that good.
  
  Journalist Mikael Blomquist is hired by a business tycoon to investigate what happened to his nice who vanished a long time ago. He teams up with hacker Lisbet Salander, who is a great character.
  
  Imagine a story that diggs into the one family's darkest seacret. A story that makes twists and turns you wouldn't expect. And imagine a grown up Pippi Longstocking teaming up with journalist Blomquist to solve the mystery.
  
  This is one of the best mystery books ever written. This is blockbuster material. Be patient through the first chapters, before the story really takes off. It will be well worth it!
  
  
• For burnt out readers of American mysteries looking for a change of pace...
  By A3NYTSAEPZDJ7Y on 2008-08-20
  After rave reviews in Europe, this book is finally coming to the US with much fanfare. American readers of literary fiction who also enjoy a whodunnit mystery will appreciate the multiple plot lines that interweave as the characters lives intersect. The primary plot concerns Mikhail Blomkvist, who as a disgraced reporter begins the investigation of a cold case murder. As he digs deeper into the history of the victim's family, he uncovers dark personal and financial secrets within the family. Of course because this is a thriller someone is not happy that these secrets may see the light of day and sets out to stop him.
  
  The cause of the Mikhail's disgrace is another mystery, and is the focus of the beginning and end of the novel. Unfortunately the first hundred pages or so are the slowest. The family history is complicated, and I found it necessary to frequently refer to the family tree printed in the beginning of the ARC I was reading. Only once Mikhail partners with the girl with the dragon tattoo who helps solve these mysteries does the pacing of the book pick up speed, and it does so exponentially. At times this book was difficult to put down.
  
  This book has received much praise by critics in Europe because of the commentaries it makes about race relations, financial corruption, and misogyny in Sweden. As an American reader with virtually no knowledge about Sweden I did feel that my ignorance made me not appreciate some aspects of this book fully. However, the fascinating characters and complex plot lines should be enough to win over a wide American audience for this book. Highly recommended for mystery readers looking for a smart and original read - it should appeal to fans of Sharp Objects.
  
  
• 6 stars or more
  By A1VUN4JU731CBH on 2008-09-09
  I stumbled across Stieg Larsson a few months ago by accident. I had been reading Henning Mankell and was looking for other Scandinavian thriller authors when I decided on a whim to order The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
  
  What a read! Not since devouring the early Ludlum books almost thirty years ago has a thriller captivated me that much. The story centers around an old family mystery: Harriet Vanger, the teenage niece of a wealthy Swedish industrialist, had vanished without a trace decades ago. Now at the end of his life, the uncle, who suspects someone in the family is responsible for Harriet's disappearance, finally wants to get answers and solve the case. For that, he hires Mikael Blomkvist - an investigative journalist who comes with plenty of baggage of his own.
  
  The true heroine of the book as I see it is Lisbeth Salander though. She becomes Mikael's partner in solving the case and she is a private eye unlike any other in thriller literature. Tattooed, very rough around the edges, tough, and with a tendency of being anti-social, she is at the same time fragile and vulnerable - what a fascinating character! Stieg Larsson's art is to make Lisbeth so believable. Even though she is hard to understand at times (make that 'most times'), I found myself inevitably rooting for her and wanting to protect her.
  
  The book is an absolute page turner, whether the storyline concerns the search for Harriet or the personal lives of Mikael and Lisbeth. I do not want to give away anything so I won't go into any details but it is at times very dark and twisted - for example Lisbeth's encounters with her newly appointed legal guardian, and at others endearing when it hints briefly at the deep connection that begins to develop against all odds between Mikael and Lisbeth.
  
  Even if you are not a fan of thrillers: This is the one must-read thriller. It is intelligent, captivating and has a lot more layers to it than just the obvious - which regrettably is the case with so many other books in this genre.
  
  I am crushed that Stieg Larsson passed away and only wrote three Lisbeth Salander books. I, for one, cannot wait to read them all.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• "Now I know what my price is."
  By A319KYEIAZ3SON on 2008-09-30
  When Mikael Blomqvist arrives on remote Hedeby Island to do research for the biography of Swedish industrialist Henrik Vanger and his large family, he is looking for a place where he can avoid attention. Blomqvist, a financial journalist for Millenium magazine, is due to serve a three-month prison sentence soon for libeling a man he accused of criminal activity. For his own reasons, he did not challenge the charge and offered no defense, preferring to get the sentence over with in the face of enormous publicity. The temporary job he accepts on this remote island involves the search for Harriet Vanger, Henrik's niece who disappeared from the island when she was sixteen--thirty-seven years ago.
  
  Sometimes helping Blomqvist in his research is Lizbeth Salander, a young woman thought to have Asperger's syndrome, who is under the guardianship of the state. Salander has suffered enormous sexual and emotional abuse and has withdrawn to the point that she trusts no one. Marking events in her life through tattoos and body piercings, she lives as solitary a life as possible, connecting primarily through the internet where she has "met" several fellow computer hackers. Gradually, Salander begins to respond to Blomqvist's honesty and respect for her talents as she discovers important new information about the Vanger family.
  
  Though the novel starts rather slowly as the characters are introduced and the genealogy of the Vanger family is explored, author Stieg Larsson succeeds in creating a sense of Sweden's social culture and atmosphere as he sets up this "closed room" mystery and creates vibrant characters to carry the action. The reader cares about Blomqvist and Salander from the beginning, as both are vulnerable and have suffered unjustly, and as the novel develops, the author also creates sympathy for the elderly Henrik Vanger. Larsson was the editor of an anti-racist magazine, and his unforgettable depiction of some of the other Vanger relatives, who were ardent adherents of fascist and Nazi movements, carries the ring of authenticity.
  
  As the novel develops, the skeletons in the Vanger family closet emerge, and a host of repulsive crimes, including murder, rape, torture, and the wanton abuse of women over many years are laid bare. The novel becomes an utterly compelling can't-put-it-downer, as the reader "travels" with Blomqvist and Salander, sharing their frustrations and their physical danger as they investigate this decades-old disappearance. Developed in minute detail, this rich novel is especially satisfying because it leaves no loose threads, connecting every detail to produce a blockbuster conclusion which satisfies in every way. The first novel of a trilogy which Larsson completed just before his premature death in 2004, at age fifty, this thrilling novel will leave its fans panting for the next installment. n Mary Whipple
  
  The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second novel in this trilogy, due in January
  The third novel, tentatively titled The Air Castle That Blew Up, has no US publication date yet.
  
  
  
  
• Convoluted. Unbelievable.
  By A11BSCGB3XPB6 on 2008-10-22
  Attempts to be too many different books. The final message seems to be that no woman is whole without a man.
  
  
• Absolute must read for crime fans!
  By AJ2A6254CLHHG on 2008-01-22
  This is a multi-layered crime book that breaks several rules, all for the better. The title is a misnomer. The original title translates as "The Man Who Hated Women". It's complex, layered and endlessly engrossing. Every time you think it's coming to a conclusion, it moves to another rewarding track. It doesn't cheat but rewards the reader. Despite the book's relentlessly dark tone, the real sadness is in realizing that no more than the three books Stieg Larsson have written will be published. He died unexpectedly soon after submitting them to his publisher.
  
  
• Two stars or five?
  By A30WRE5N6JRFJZ on 2008-10-03
  I think the problem with this novel, which other reviewers have ably summarised, is that it is an artificial construct.
  
  I mean, I didn't find the story boring, tne number of characters excessive or the plot(there are in fact two; which is the main one in human terms, possible future reader?) difficult to follow, as other negative revs have. On the contrary, for me the narration flowed agreeably, the twists were unexpected, and the book didn't pretend to be what it was not (a semibrow literary piece). But it, or rather its main characters, are implausible: cardboard, not flesh-and bone. At all times you're aware you're reading a story, not something that could have been real life. Here we revert to an Ellery Queen type of novel without its intellectual tease, which leaves ... nothing.
  So the book is basically a kid's one (although full of episodes a real kid souldn't read), with heroes that are decent, loyal, intelligent, charming, truthful -one of them agonizes over a moral dilemma that could find a place in Lincoln's hagiography-, with liberal worldviews, etc.; with a convenient deus ex machina that finds out everything that's needed at the drop of a hat; with corrupt -and worse- financial tycoons/villains; with real dark, dark imperturbable villains with awful perversions and insatiable bloodlusts; and with a closing tirade about the evils of finance (for maximum impact the book should have been published after the current Wall Street turmoil) with words lifted almost straight out of Keynes.
  
  Perhaps I could summarise it all with three words: it's a politically correct book. Nothing against them, of course, and for that (and the research it inconspicuously packs) I give it three stars. But if you have read Lehane's "Gone, baby, gone" (a book less grisly by far, but that poses a real moral dilemma), you'll understand what I mean.
  
  
• Warning - graphic violence against women
  By A1IGTINORED3XK on 2008-12-11
  The first half of this book is a great read - well-written, captivating, conveys the northern European ambience well.
  
  HOWEVER - the second half is filled with descriptions of graphic violence, mainly against women, but also men and even a cat. Unless you have the stomach for this, DON'T read this book. I am very sorry I bought it.
  
  
• From all the reviews I expected it to be phenomenal. It falls well short of that.
  By A2Y07EB0LRF6UY on 2008-12-26
  (Warning-Possible (very small) spoilers)
  
  The writing is, overall, quite disjointed. The first thing that struck me was that I was 85% certain that I knew the identity of the villain as soon as the character was even SPOKEN about, much less introduced. Needless to say, I was 100% certain when the villain does something dumb that shows him to be the bad guy... and no one catches on. Not surprisingly, I had also been able to warrant a very good guess as to what happened with Harriet.
  
  I found the character of Blomkvist kind of a drag. It's hard to pull for someone who is so BLAH. He ruined his marriage by continuing to sleep with Erica, but I'm never sure WHY. She's married, it is clearly NOT the great love of his life, and they have little to no real chemistry. The 'relationship' seems forced, and to be honest it skeeved me out that she would tell her husband when she was going to sleep with Blumkvist. Eww.
  
  Blumkvist is totally dense and doesn't pick up HUGE clues about what happened with Harriet, even though it's pretty obvious who the bad guy was, and the answer to what happened to her (without the details of how) is there the entire time. The answer is so ridiculously in your face, you almost feel let down when it turns out to be what you always knew it was. I figured with the reviews here, the solving of the crime must pack quite a punch! I was wrong.
  
  To top it all off, the writer makes sure to let us know that, on top of being a bad husband & an idiot, Blumkvist is also a crap parent. Woo woo, what a hero. He's an idiot who will (LITERALLY) sleep with anyone and has no emotional depth. WHY were we supposed to be rooting for him??
  
  Salander was (obviously) the more interesting character here. But I feel like the author took a certain joy in having her treated like terribly. Seriously, what else ABSOLUTELY AWFUL could happen to this poor girl? The ending angered me to no end. She finally makes an enormous emotional leap, only to have her hopes smashed by the idiot with NO EMOTIONAL DEPTH!
  And of course he remains oblivious to the carnage he has wrought with this ridiculous 'relationship' with Erica.
  
  Seriously, I hated the character of Blumkvist & really feel he ruined the whole book. Lisabeth should have been the main character and the entirety of the book should have been told from her perspective. Of course, had that happened, the book would have been about 200 pages long... because Lisabeth would have figured it out PRONTO.
  
  The writer used the dumber character to try and slow down the 'climax' of the (paper thin) story.
  
  
• Action, Coffee, Romance, and Mystery... sign me up!
  By A2N1PP91RO3VUM on 2008-08-23
  This is a fantastic mystery novel with strong character development and a delightful combination of action, romance, and of course, intrigue and mystery, to keep readers glued to its pages. I've been busy recommending this book to my friends, and I'm confident that you will find yourself doing the same.
  
  I live in Sweden but unfortunately I'm not literate enough in Swedish to read this in its original language. I bought the English version at a bookstore before my flight to Miami - the flight was 9 hours, and I was done before I landed. It was THAT good.
  
  As a transplant, some of the cool things about reading this book is a) understanding the cultural nuances presented in the book, and b) being able to recognize streets and other significant landmarks. If you've ever visited Sweden or lived in Sweden, you'll know how important coffee drinking is to the culture here. The author does not hide this detail and with the amount of coffee that the main characters drink, I still can't understand why they haven't opened up a Starbucks in Sweden.
  
  There are a lot of names and characters mentioned in this book so it's a little hard to keep track of who's good and who's bad sometimes, but fortunately the author helpfully included a family tree at the very beginning. I recommend that you dog ear that page as you will be flipping back to it constantly!
  
  Overall, a fantastic read - it's just too bad the other books won't go on sale for a while (2009 for the second one and 2010 for the last one). Just to be able to read the other two books is almost reason enough to learn Swedish!
  
  
  
  
• A No-Spoiler Review
  By A151OW029XD9JU on 2008-09-01
  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a layered and nuanced mystery with so many different plot threads and intrigues that it's a shame to ruin any of the twists and turns. The novel opens with Swedish industrialist Henrik Vanger reluctantly opening a package on his 82nd birthday. It's another anonymously-posted pressed flower, the same gift he has received every year since his beloved grand-niece Harriet disappeared back in 1966. He believes that her murderer is tormenting him.
  
  Elsewhere, financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist is being handed down his sentence in criminal court. He has been convicted of libeling the wealthy and powerful Hans-Erik Wennerstrom, and it seems they take libel rather seriously in Sweden. It carries a steep fine and jail time. His career in shambles, Mikael is offered an unusual freelance job. Henrik Vanger wants him to move out to the country, ostensibly to write a history of the Vanger family. In reality, Mikael is being hired to investigate Harriet's disappearance 36 years prior--one last time with fresh eyes. Vanger has been obsessively investigating the crime for decades and has never been able to move on with his life.
  
  As much as he doesn't want the job, Mikael is coerced into accepting the proverbial offer he can't refuse. It's a fascinating writing project, an enormous paycheck when he most needs it, and one more thing...Vanger promises to give Mikael dirt on Wennerstrom that will stick when the end of his one-year contract is up.
  
  Where, you may be asking, is this eponymous girl with the dragon tattoo? She is Lisbeth Salander, a 24-year-old private investigator who enters the story gradually. She is hired by Vanger's lawyer to investigate Mikael Blomkvist before the job offer is made. After that early introduction, we follow her exploits occasionally, and it is no surprise when she eventually gets dragged further into the heart of the story. Lisbeth is a very different sort of literary character. Warm and fuzzy she's not. In fact, there seems to be something... wrong with her. But we only get tantalizing bits of information about her background, and how she has come to be in the position that she's in. Nonetheless, Lisbeth, with her many gifts and many flaws is the perfect counterpoint to nice guy Mikael. (I literally lost count of how many times he proclaimed to someone, "I want to be your friend.")
  
  This novel had a long dénouement, as there were so many different storylines to wrap up. Naturally, there was far more to the case of Harriet, the goings-on of the Vanger family, and even the libel case with Wennerstrom than immediately meet the eye. The novel is deftly plotted, and the conclusions are deeply satisfying, all the while paving the way for the two sequels Larsson wrote before his untimely death. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been a monster bestseller in Europe, and is likely to become one here as well. It has no literary pretensions, but it's a well-written, fast-paced story with richly imagined characters. If that's your cup of tea, by all means, dive right in.
  
  
  
• A little slow at first.... but... WOW!
  By A1GK0OJIRIEMQ4 on 2008-09-24
  To think I almost put this down. Around page 160, I started to think that though I thought the writing was solid, and I liked the characters, nothing was really happening. I read a bit further. And then I found myself grudging the fact that I had to stop reading. And as the conclusion approached, I grew less and less willing to read the final pages -- even as I couldn't stop reading. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is why we read. Gripping. Horrifying. Thoughtful. Beautiful. The sort of book to recommend to friends. The sort of book to proudly read before most folks. One of the best books I have read this year.
  
  
• Great Story with a Poor Beginning/End
  By A3TFL3ZUIE1YHF on 2008-12-11
  I hadn't read a mystery/thriller in awhile when I came across this posthumous book by Swedish author Stieg Larsson. This international bestseller was very engrossing. The first fifty pages or so got a little bogged down in a description of a libel case. I almost gave up. Once the mystery got introduced, however, I was hooked. I must warn you..this book is not for the faint of heart. There is a great deal of violence towards women and gruesome depictions of sadism. I couldn't put it down, though. After the resolution of the mystery, the story gets bogged down once again in the libel case. I can't understand the reasoning behind such a clunky plot device. The author bookended an "unputdownable" story with a boring beginning and ending. I still enjoyed the book, however, and look forward to the release of the next book in the trilogy.
  
  
• Corpse and Robbers
  By A1TPW86OHXTXFC on 2008-09-07
  Millennium Trilogy has or will publish three novels that encapsulate the characters in the first novel 'The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo' by Stieg Larson. And, Tattoo is one of those novels that will stick with me as the one that started it all- the love of Larsson's writing.
  
  Flowers,unusual flowers,pressed, framed and sent every year from a different city in the world. Sent to an unnamed person, signifying an unnamed crime, perhaps? A mystery about to become undone. A journalist, Mikael Blomqvist, disgraced after losing a libel case against one of the wealthiest men in Sweden. He understood that this case was his to lose and the repercussions he thought he was prepared to take. He brings us back to how this all began, and then the mystery deepens. He is hired by that unnamed man to investigate the mystery that has encompassed his entire life. Harriet Vanger, 16, disappeared forty years ago- she was simply gone and there was no trace of her, none at all. This unnamed man, that we will come to know, is confident that she was murdered. Blomquist follows the leads and then they come to a stop. It is not until an angry young punk girl. Lisabeth Saqlander, who is also one of the most able computer hackers joins his team that the story starts to come together.
  
  This first part of the trilogy is a love story of sorts. As the mystery is solved we get to know Lisbeth, the tattooed young hacker, and Blomqvist, the journalist ex-con, Their relationship is beginning, isn't it? This may be the start of something big! Steir Larson believed that the criminal is responsible for his or her crimes. In the past we have blamed poverty, social injustice, parental abuse, a difficult childhood - anything and anyone except the criminal. "As Salander says, it's as if we no longer believe anyone has a will of their own. Salander has a will as tough as steel and takes it for granted that everyone else does, too. Despite having suffered every kind of abuse imaginable in her young life, from sexual assault to time in a psychiatric clinic, Salander holds others responsible for their actions. The revenge she exacts on those who behave badly moves the plot along nicely at several pivotal points. Sullen, single-minded and occasionally vicious, she is also incorruptible, which is more than you can say for even the good guys in Larsson's world. You know straight away whose side she would have been on in the French Revolution." Robert Diassax
  
  Stieg Larsson unfortunately died of a heart attack. However, his last two novels of the trilogy are yet to be read. 'The Girl Who Played With Fire' won a Swedish Academy for Detective Novels award. And, the third part of the trilogy,' Castles in the Sky', will be out soon. "Larson," says, Margo Johnson, "is a leading expert on right-wing extremists and neo-Nazi organisations, was editor of Expo, the magazine for a project he had set up to combat racism. He began writing the trilogy after work each evening in 2001. He claimed he enjoyed it so much that he was partway through the third before he even considered sending anything to a publisher."
  
  Highly Recommended. prisrob 09-07-08
  
  
  
  
• Wonderfully satisfying
  By A60I5OE4TBKQO on 2008-09-18
  Clearly one of the best mysteries/thrillers I've read in years (the other one that springs to mind is The Execption by Christian Jungersen, which, oddly enough is also by a Scandinavian).Mikeal Blomkvist is a financial journalist who has just been convicted of libeling one of Sweden's movers and shakers, Hans-Erik Wennerstrom. Wennerstrom retaliates by having his many friends and business concerns pull their advertising from Blomqvist's magazine. Into this mess steps retired industrialist Henrik Vanger, who hits Blomqvist with an offer he pretty much can't refuse -- to move near Vanger's home base and investigate the dissappearance of Henrik's neice, Harriet Vanger, under the guise of writing the Vanger Family history.Blomqvist takes advantage of the offer because (1) it'll get him out of the media spotlight, (2) it will remove him form the magazine and hopefully restore reader/advertiser confidence so Millennium won't fold and (3) it'll pay the bills. Here's the catch: Harriet disappeared 37 years ago, the case was thoroughly investigated at that time and now a lot of the suspects are probably dead.The book is incredibly well written and is the complete opposite of formulaic, which, being a rarity these days, is something to savor and enjoy (at least for a bit -- Larsson died in 2004, and although there are two more books in the series to come, that's all there are). The characters are so well drawn you feel you know them -- I would recognize Lisbeth Salander, computer genius, even without the tattoos and piercings, I think. They react the way actual human beings might, and tend to do the unexpected, or the opposite of what you yourself might do. That could be a drawback, but it works here. The book feels more like something that might have really happened instead of a well plotted mystery book. The result, while we may wish certain parts had turned out differently, is supremely satisfying.
  
  
• A great anti-hero in Lisbeth Salander
  By A20VX7F4164FVC on 2008-09-18
  Of all the characters in this book (and there is a plethora of them!), I was, intentionally of course, most intrigued by Lisbeth Salander, the young, seemingly frail yet curiously tough computer hacker who isn't what she seems yet is much more than the sum of her parts. The time frame for this 'murder mystery' is present day, yet Salander reminds me of some of William Gibson's characters who populate his stories of future globally-computerized dystopias. As many mysteries as are unravelled in this wonderfully told tale, Salander's is the one that remains unsolved at the end, but I suspect her tale will be told in one of the two remaining novels in this promising trilogy. The plot of this particular tome is convoluted and utterly fascinating and most readers who enjoy intelligent story-telling will most likely be lured in to the pleasure of becoming involved in the myriad threads of an updated version of the 'locked room murder mystery'. I was saddened to learn that the author died suddenly in 2004 but am grateful he was able to complete this trilogy and I look forward eagerly to the next two installments.
  
  
• This international best-seller deserves the praise it is getting.
  By A25HYPL2XKQPZB on 2008-09-23
  THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson is a great thriller. It also has an interesting history. Before making it to the USA, it was a phenomonal best seller in Europe. Also, Larsson died tragically in 2004. I'd never heard of the author, and the book summary sounded interesting but not overly compelling. What drew me to the novel was the incredible list of endorsers: Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben, John Lescroart and Lee Child. Knowing the quality of work from these authors, I decided to give the book a try, and you should too. Don't be intimidated by the Swedish origin of the novel. Nothing is lost in the translation.
  
  Mikael Blomkvist has just been found guilty of libeling industrialist Hans-Eric Wennerstrom in his magazine MILLENNIUM. Blomkvist accepts the verdict and agrees to take a leave of absence from the magazine and his business partner/part-time lover Erica Berger. Bllomkvist gets a call out of the blue from Henrik Vanger. Vanger is the patriarch of a fading Swedish conglomerate. Vanger has an assignment for Blomkvist. Spend a year writing a biography of the Vanger family, and while you are at it, secretly find out what happened to Harriet Vanger. Harriet disappeared in the 1960s and her disappearance has never been explained. Blomkvist is the primary focus of the novel as he tries to piece together a puzzle that happened 40 years ago. At the same time, he tries to find a way to get back at Wennerstrom.
  
  The heart of the novel belongs to Lisbeth Salander. She's 24 years old, disfunctional, has multiple tattoos and piercings. Due to tragic circumstances in her childhood, she's been declared incomptent, or crazy, and must be looked after by a ward of the state, even though she's 24. Lisbeth however, happens to be a genius with computers and has gotten a job with a computer firm. Plot twists bring her to work with Blomkvist, and together they make a great team.
  
  The plot has elements of business, political, and mystery thrillers. I've never read anything like it. Larsson's writing style in and of itself isn't great, but I found the story captivating. As an American, it is intersesting to read about life in a different culture. This thriller is getting a lot of publicity now as it finally makes its way to America. I think it is worth it. Fortunately, there are two more books coming in the series that Larsson wrote before his death. I can't wait to read them.
  
  
  

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