Product Description

Brilliantly written ... the characters are superbly drawn and the story grips from first to last.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 542 pages

Review
A publishing sensation who seemingly came from nowhere ... crime fiction has seldom needed to salute and mourn such a stellar talent as Larsson s in the same breath - Sunday Times.

Just when I was thinking there wasn't anything new on the horizon, along comes Stieg Larsson with this wonderfully unique story. I was completely absorbed - Michael Connelly. --Reviews

Observer
A striking novel, full of passion, an evocative sense of place and subtle insights into venal, corrupt minds

Independent
Our surrender to the novel is guaranteed

Customer Reviews

Intelligent tense thriller with a conscience
Some incredible thrillers are coming from Scandinavian countries these days. Anyone who is a fan of the Kurt Wallander series of books by Henning Mankell will know what I mean. Now we have a new addition to the shelf, courtesy of deceased author, Stieg Larsson.

This is the first volume in the Millenium trilogy and after finishing this first book, I am very much looking forward to the next two volumes. Larssson died in 2004 soon after delivering the manuscripts for 3 crime novels to his publisher. It's a pity that this gifted author isn't around for a long time to come.

The tale is split between the shady secrets of a wealthy family and the murky dealings of a famous businessman. Mikael Blomkvist, a recently convicted journalist, is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance of his niece almost 40 years ago. Vanger promises Blomkvist the means to clear his good name as part of the payment and Blomkvist accepts.

The author manages to maintain an excellent pace throughout, but still delivers a strong social lesson while providing the thrills. It is an intelligent thriller with a conscience. Probably one of the best of its kind in recent years.

Excellent
For someone who normally reads one chapter of a book each night before bed, I found myself reading chapter after chapter with this one - it was so riveting I could not put it down.
Once the characters are developed in the first few chapters, the story takes on a pace which gets more and more exciting as it heads towards it's crescendo. Excactly as all good stories should be.

I can't wait for the next installment!

Don't shoot the translator
Having read a number of the reviews on this page, and agreeing with a great many, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that the greatest sticking point seems to be in the translation which is very often clumsy and dull. Reg Keeland's use of the word Anon is seriously grating - and there are many other examples where you can practically hear the pages of the Oxford Concise turning in the background. I am sure that this book's success in its native Sweden and in the rest of Europe are a testament to the original writing and to the fact that France, Italy and Germany have far better translators of Swedish than we do. Disappointing that the same person has been selected to translate all three of the books - which has put me off reading the next two. It is ultimately however a testament to the author, Steig Larsson, that despite the dreadful translation, his narrative is gripping enough to make it a fairly enjoyable piece of detective fiction. I just wish I read Swedish.