Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I didn't even know this book existed until the release of the film, which is pretty sad but just the way it goes sometimes. The series has been talked up a great deal by a great many people, so I had high hopes and expectations, but for some reason found myself disappointed by the end. Perhaps it's that wretched first-novel-in-a-series-provides-all-the-set-up drag.
If you're not familiar with the premise of this first book in the trilogy written by Mr. Larsson it centers on journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his failed expose on a Swedish industrialist/billionaire. In disgrace, Mikael must relinquish his position as publisher of his political magazine but in turn is given an unusual assignment by a Swedish CEO to write his family's history. Underlying this assignment is the CEO, Henrik Vanger's, true motive: to solve the mystery of his niece's disappearance/suspected murder 40 years earlier. Blomkvist pairs himself up with an unlikely accomplice: pierced, tatooed, and very mysterious, Lisbeth Salander. Together, at the risk of their lives, they uncover a dark and twisted family past that continues into the present day.
Throughout the book we are given only bits and pieces of Salander's own past and what causes her to be the unusual and mysterious individual that she is. This intrigue, combined with the mystery of the book, certainly makes for a suspenseful novel. However, as I stated, there was a sense of let-down when I reached the end.
BOTTOM LINE: Not one that I couldn't put down.

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