The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson, dominated the #1 spot on the Kindle bestseller list for a long time, and has maintained a spot in the top 100 for an astounding 630 days. Dragon Tattoo was just recently unseated from the #1 spot by Daniel Silva’s The Rembrandt Affair. The others in the Larsson’s much sought out trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest are not far behind with about a year in the top 100.
The trilogy follows financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and brilliant young private investigator Lisbeth Salander as they seek to solve several intense, mind blowing murder mysteries. In Dragon Tattoo, they get an assignment to solve the mystery of a nearly 40 year old murder case involving 82 year old Henrik Vanger’s beloved great niece, Harriet. Throughout the process, Blomkvist does his research in exile on Vanger’s vast estate. The pair uncover a great deal of corruption within Vanger family and about Salander’s own past.
The Girl who Played with Fire follows the duo again as Salandar is accused of murdering a couple in their Stockholm apartment based on her previous violent tendencies, and the presence of her fingerprints on the murder weapon. The trilogy goes out with a bang in Hornet’s Nest as Blomkvist works to figure out who harmed Salander in a previous circumstance and murdered Salander’s father, a longtime asset to the Swedish Secret Police. Read how to open PKPASS file.
The reviews for the whole trilogy are very positive overall. There are some dissenters who say that Blomkvist’s character is not fully developed, and that the Swedish words are kind of distracting. I’m currently reading Dragon Tattoo, and I echo what a lot of reviewers and peers have said in that it is a bit boring for the first hundred pages because of financial jargon and other plot set up. After that, it starts to pick up and then you can’t put it down. I also highly recommend the Kindle version over the paperback because the paperback is bulky, and the print size is tiny. So be patient, put on your seat belt and get ready for a wild ride.
So what do you think? If you’ve read any of these books, do you think this trilogy is as good as the hype surrounding it suggests?
Absolutely. Three of the best thrillers I have read for a very long time. It’s a crying shame that the author is no longer with us and that he was not recognised as such a good novelist during his lifetime.
Haven’t read them yet but definitely looking for recommendations!
I just finished the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, yeah it was almost 40% through the book (Kindle reader, no idea what page count that translates to!) before things really got interesting but then it was really really good, although there was a rather lengthy closing of loose ends at the end too. Loved it overall and can’t wait to read the next one, which is already waiting on my Kindle!
It catches your attention and keeps you interested through all three books. I devoured them in a very short time.
The books are excellent. I just wish I had my Kindle before purchasing the books. It would have been so much easier to carry and read because once the novel kicks in (I agree that it takes a while in the first book) you can hardly put it down.
Tip: It is best to read the trilogy in order and be warned that the 2nd book ends at a key point so if you don’t have the 3rd book handy be prepared to pick it up quickly.
Just finished Dragon tattoo and am immediately starting the “Played with Fire”. Great read and find the two central characters fasinating. What will she do next!
The Trilogie will absorb you for a Long Time. Brilliant. Though somehow Not for the Fait at Heart….
Brilliant books. Read all three back to back on my Kindle. I was bereft when I finished the last one!
I loved the glimpses of Swedish life, with the author’s fascination with the size of apartments (sq meters), coffee and sandwiches!