Dragon Tattoos, Murder, and Unique Characters . . .

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson. Knopf 2008. Translated from the Swedish by Reg Keeland. A sensation across Europe with millions of copies sold! There are storytellers and then there are Master storytellers. Stieg Larsson clearly falls into the latter category in this first of the so-called Millennium Trilogy. It’s a thriller of depth and complexity sure to satisfy any fan of the genre, and Larsson, who died in 2004 of a heart attack after completing the last of the trilogy, has created a central character so unique in Lisbeth Salander that she will outshine other attempts at strong women protagonists far into the literary night.

When a young woman, Harriet Vanger, member of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden, disappears without a trace forty years ago, her uncle remains determined to discover what happened to her. Now in his eighties, he reaches an agreement with Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist down on his luck, to pursue new evidence under the guise of writing a family history. The Vanger family is a collection of particularly nasty characters with only a few redeemed ones thrown in, and as Blomkvist uncovers new answers to the decades-old mystery he becomes a target himself. Enter (not until page 259!) Ms. Salander, a 24-year-old, tattooed, antisocial research genius who can kick ass and take names when crossed. What a team! As plot and subplot unfold simultaneously, you will be carried along faster and faster until you cannot lay this book down—even at 645 pages, you’ll be sorry to see it end. And the good news is—there are two more to go in this fabulous series—The Girl Who Played with Fire in July 2009 and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest in fall 2009. Not to mention the film--

-- Rosemary Carstens

http://www.feastofbooks.com/

To view the trailer for this book and to read more about the author: http://www.stieglarsson.com/The-Girl-With-The-Dragon-Tattoo