Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 614
 The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo November 23, 2009
E. Farber
This was a great read. I plan on reading Larsson's other books in the Millinium series.
 fascinating November 22, 2009
Matthew Arnold (Pacific Northwest USA)
My initial impression of this book was that it read like a long lost John Irving manuscript. The depth and richness in the development of the Vanger family, Mikael Blomkvist, and Lisbeth Salander reminded me much of his style. Salander, The girl with the dragon tattoo, is hands-down the hippest, edgiest, and simply coolest female character ever created by an author. She trumps even Robbins' Sissy Handshaw in Cowgirls. Salander is a side character who eventually enters into the primary story thread around the middle of the book. So, don't be confused that the title character does not appear much until the middle of the book. She's not the title character in the original Swedish edition which is called "Men Who Hate Women".
The novel has several different stories masterfully layered together; each by itself would make for a solid novel and taken together they form a masterpiece. There are very dark and disturbing themes, that is for sure. And the book is a heady cerebral read, not for those craving an action packed quickly read story. I did become so engaged in the story that I could not put it down and read the last 200 pages in one day. It is difficult to describe the story without including spoilers; suffice it to repeat what is included on the back cover: "...murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue...a complex and atmospheric novel."
Can't Get This Book Out Of My Head November 22, 2009
Queen of the Valkyries (Redding, CA)
I was fascinated by this book, and can't really explain exactly why. I think I was a little bit enamored with the way Stieg Larsson developed the main characters, and I loved that he created a smart, wily woman with a unique skill set and intuitiveness. As a journalist, I loved the plot line centering around what happens when you dig up a great story that goes bad, and as someone who still secretly wants to be a detective, I loved the way the main character went about solving a decades-old mystery. It was just a great book, and I can't wait to read the next 2 books (and the 3rd if it's ever allowed to be finished and published) that Stieg Larsson wrote before his own mysterious early death.
Swedish thriller lives up to the hype November 22, 2009
C. Shelnutt (JC, TN)
This book pulls you in from the opening pages, with the anonymous delivery of a rare, pressed flower to an elderly man, Henrik Vanger. He receives a different rare flower every year on his birthday. It turns out this is only one of 3 intermingled stories in the book: The wealthy, powerful, and strange Vanger family, who have wondered about the disappearance of Harriet Vanger some forty years earlier; the journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who's just been convicted of slandering a crooked industrialist and who would like to clear his name but for now just wants some time away from the magazine he part-owns and writes for; and finally Lizbeth Salander, a multi-tattooed and pierced young woman who, while she has difficulty getting close to anyone, nevertheless using all her street smarts and her "investigating skills" can find anything out about anyone.
Yes, the Swedish setting made it a little more challenging at the beginning, but not for long. And the various Vanger family members were hard to keep straight, but the family tree included early in the book took care of that problem too. Sexually speaking, some of the characters were really twisted. But, all in all, a great read.... the sooner I can lay my hands on "The Girl Who Played With Fire", the better.
Left me wanting more... November 20, 2009
Grace (Texas)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Downloaded the Kindle Book on a whim, after seeing it all over the airport bookstores. The first chapter was slow building with Swedish references, which were a little difficult to follow. A wiki overview of Sweden made the story much more interesting for me. After the first chapter I was hooked and could not put the book down.
The story was fresh, with unexpected twists and a tough as nails heroine who keeps the male characters on their toes. Can't wait to read the next book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 614
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