Friday, January 15, 2010

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Translated: Reg Keeland

Published: 2009
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Paperback: 608 pages
Rating: 5

Description from the amazon:
National Bestseller from Sweden

An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

About the Author:
Stieg Larsson was the editor in chief of the magazine Expo. He was a leading expert on anti-democratic, right-wing extremist organizations. He died in 2004, soon after delivering the manuscripts of the novels The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels.

My two-bits:
In-a-word: golf

This book turned out to be a really engaging mystery thriller!

The first couple chapters deal with the nitty gritty setup of facts and figures which threw me off for a bit. I wasn't sure if I was going to continue reading. But encouragement from fellow readers, rave reviews and praise for the book convinced me to give it a go. And, I'm so glad I did.
Like the description of the book above, lots of topics are covered in this book and woven together well. Each character is presented and developed well too.

In the end, what grabbed my attention the most was the main female character, Lisbeth Salander. Although the main mystery is resolved and interesting in its own way, the mystery of Lisbeth continues. She's tough. She's fragile. She's a genious. She's a wonder. I'm looking forward to learning more about Lisbeth in the next two books in the trilogy.

Millenium Series:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl who Played with Fire - my review
The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - release date: May 25, 2010

*as previously promised, this book will be making its way to Misty of Book Rat -- watch out for her review later
*part of my Thriller & Suspense challenge
*part of my IBC challenge

 
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