Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 618
 I want to be Salander November 24, 2009
Janice F. Damick (upstate NY)
The twisting, detailed plot holds your interest as it builds to a crescendo. It is well written, A little boggy in the beginning. Character development is rich; you understand and want to be these characters as you become familiar with them
 A compelling read November 23, 2009
Not Miss Havisham
Gritty but.
In spite of its grittiness in places and its in places insufficently worked out characters and plot versus in other places too lengthy descriptions, I was surprisingly compelled by this book.
Would Mikael's life be every man's fanatasy?
I wonder.
Loved Salander...
"Everyone has secrets." November 23, 2009
E. Bukowsky (NY United States)
Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is set mostly in Sweden. The hero is forty-two year old Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist who is convicted of libel and has no plans to appeal. He had been trying to bring down a crooked industrialist but realizes that he has failed miserably. His biggest regret is that the negative publicity surrounding his trial will harm the magazine, "Millennium," of which he is part owner. His only consolation is his ongoing relationship with the editor-in-chief of the publication, Erika Berger, his best friend and occasional lover.
Soon, Blomkvist has another distraction to take his mind off his impending jail sentence. Eighty-two year old Henry Vanger, a wealthy man and former head of his family's vast business empire, hires Mikael to write his biography, but admits that his underlying objective is to find out who murdered his beloved granddaughter, Harriet, thirty-six years earlier. Although Blomkvist has no desire to tackle this very cold case, Vanger makes him an offer that he cannot refuse. Soon, Mikael takes up residence in the remote town where Henrik lives, and the reporter finds out more than he would like to know about the Vanger family's dirty laundry. As he digs deeper, Blomkvist gradually learns the sordid truth about this incredibly dysfunctional clan. His unlikely ally in his inquiries is an emotionally damaged twenty-four year old named Lisbeth Salander, an investigative genius who never lets anyone get too close to her.
Reg Keeland's polished translation from the Swedish makes this book a pleasure to read. Although the plot is overly complicated, it is intriguing and suspenseful. Mikael is a handsome and likeable individual who seems to attract almost every woman he meets. It is fun to follow along as he sifts through hundreds of documents and photographs and interviews persons of interest, looking for answers that have eluded law enforcement professionals for decades. Lisbeth, who has a tattoo of a dragon (among others) and various piercings, is a rebel who is desperately trying to live down her miserable childhood and find her way in a world that has treated her brutally and unfairly.
Although "The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo" has become an international sensation, it is not without flaws. It is too long and veers uneasily from one subplot to another. The villains are stereotypical psychopaths. By the time the author reaches his long-awaited conclusion, he scrambles to tie up a variety of loose ends, with uneven results. Still, most readers will find themselves caught up in the story's many twists and turns and will be drawn to the immensely appealing Lisbeth and Mikael. Most will want to read more about this mesmerizing pair in "The Girl Who Played with Fire."
Few are as good November 23, 2009
Howard Butler MD (Lantana, FL United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is one of the best novels I have read in years. The prologue sets the stage for rest of the book and with but a few, slow character building pages, the rest just explodes with exciting reading.
This IS a book you will not put down once you read past the 20% point. The author does an extraordinary job of developing the main characters/suspects of a twisted "successful" family, most living in an isolation. The most unlikely of characters, including the two sleuths, are meticulously developed and brought together in unusual circumstances to solve the insolvable. The mood is set on a freezing and relatively deserted island in Sweden.
I instantly took a liking to his prose and while not pedantic, did have just the right balance for detail allowing for a smooth read.
One of my favorites. Looking forward to #2 and eagerly await #3.
The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo November 23, 2009
E. Farber
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was a great read. I plan on reading Larsson's other books in the Millinium series.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 618
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