WARNING: SPOILERS in the Publishers Weekly description
***** Spoilers begin*****
From Publishers Weekly
Fans of intelligent page-turners will be more than satisfied by Larsson’s second thriller, even though it falls short of the high standard set by its predecessor, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which introduced crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist and punk hacker savant Lisbeth Salander. A few weeks before Dag Svensson, a freelance journalist, plans to publish a story that exposes important people involved in Sweden’s sex trafficking business based on research conducted by his girlfriend, Mia Johansson, a criminologist and gender studies scholar, the couple are shot to death in their Stockholm apartment. Salander, who has a history of violent tendencies, becomes the prime suspect after the police find her fingerprints on the murder weapon. While Blomkvist strives to clear Salander of the crime, some far-fetched twists help ensure her survival. Powerful prose and intriguing lead characters will carry most readers along. (Aug.)
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*****Spoilers end*****
I really enjoyed this book. It is the second in a trilogy that Steig Larsson delivered to his publisher before passing away unexpectedly. I do suggest reading ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ first.
A couple of things:
1. I was really irritated to find out that most of what was written on the dust jacket (and the description above) doesn’t actually happen until page 200 or so.
2. There are a ton of side stories so you really need to concentrate a little more while reading than on some books. Thus it took me quite a bit longer to read this 500 pager than I had anticipated.
3. As I am a not-so well-traveled American, it took me a while to get used to all the Swedish names and locations.
Once you get past all of that, this is an amazing read. It picks up about where the first ended. It involves many of the same characters. It answers many questions from the previous novel. It is incredibly well-written. Very intricate, no holes in the plot, characters well-developed. One weird thing, there is a part where a couple of characters are talking about the ethical decision of publishing a recently deceased person’s manuscript. That gave me a bit of pause.
I highly recommend. 5 out of 5. I cannot wait for the third book.
Side note: This book was due yesterday. I’d had to wait for it for a long time so I was sure there would be holds, thus preventing me from renewing. But nope, it let me renew. That was a little bonus for me. (though I would have just kept it and paid the 5 cents for the late fee.)
I love this book!