Product Description

Salander is plotting her revenge - against the man who tried to kill her, and against the government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. But it is not going to be a straightforward campaign. After taking a bullet to the head, Salander is under close supervision in Intensive Care, and is set to face trial for three murders and one attempted murder on her eventual release. With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at Millennium magazine, Salander must not only prove her innocence, but identify and denounce the corrupt politicians that have allowed the vulnerable to become victims of abuse and violence. Once a victim herself, Salander is now ready to fight back.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #720 in Books
• Published on: 2010-04-01
• Original language: Swedish
• Binding: Paperback
• 656 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
A young girl lies in a hospital room, her tattooed body very close to death -- there is a bullet lodged in her brain. Several rooms away is the man who tried to kill her, his own body grievously wounded from axe blows inflicted by the girl he has tried to kill. She is Lisbeth Salander, computer hacker and investigator, and the man is her father, a murderous Russian gangster. If Salander recovers from her injuries, she is more than likely to be put on trial for three murders -- the authorities regard her as a dangerous individual. But she won't see the inside of a courtroom if her father manages to kill her first.

This is the high-tension opening premise of the third book in Stieg Larsson’s phenomenally successful trilogy of crime novels which the late author (a crusading journalist) delivered to his publisher just before his death. But does it match up to its two electrifying predecessors, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire? The success of Larsson’s remarkable sequence of books is, to some degree, unprecedented. Crime fiction in translation has, of course, made a mark before (notably with Peter Hoeg’s Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, published, in fact, by Larsson's British publisher, Christopher MacLehose). But even the success of that book gave no hint of the juggernauts that the Salander books would be (the late author's secondary hero is the journalist Blomqvist -- who bears more than a passing resemblance to Stieg Larsson himself).

There are two overriding reasons for the hold that this massive trilogy has attained on the public: machine-tooled plotting which juggles the various narrative elements with a master's touch and (above all) the vividly realised character of Lisbeth Salander herself. She is something of a unique creation in the field of crime and thriller fiction: emotionally damaged, vulnerable and sociopathic (all of this concealed behind a forbidding Goth appearance), but she is also the ultimate survivor, somehow managing to stay alive despite the machinations of some deeply unpleasant villains (and the new book has a slew of those) as well as the hostility of often stupid establishment figures, who want her out of the picture quite as passionately as the bad guys. She is, of course, aided by the protective journalist Blomqvist, despite the fact that she had dumped him as a lover. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest brings together all the elements that have made the previous books of the sequence so successful. Its relentless pace may be a bit exhausting for some readers, but most will be happy to strap themselves in for the ride. It's just a shame that this will be the final book in the sequence (though conspiracy theorists are hinting that Larsson began another manuscript before his untimely death…) --Barry Forshaw

Review
'With the spiky and sassy Lisbeth Salander - punkish wild child, traumatised survivor of the 'care' system, sexual adventurer and computer hacker of genius - Larsson created the most original heroine to emerge in crime fiction for many years' Independent. '[To] be read in great hungry chunks' Louise France, Observer.

About the Author
Stieg Larsson was editor-in-chief of the anti-racist magazine Expo and a leading expert on right-wing extremist organisations. He died of a massive heart attack in 2004, soon after delivering the text of the novels that make up the Millennium Trilogy. Since then, these books have taken the bestseller charts by storm throughout the world.

Customer Reviews

A fitting conclusion.
For those who think that I'm reviewing this before it is avaliable in English, let me tell you that I live in Holland, where it has been available in English since 26th September. I don't know why, and I don't care, but it was a great surprise to see it sitting there in the bookshop on Saturday!

Anyway, the third and final part of Larsson's amazing trilogy doesn't disappoint, and will certainly be revered by those who have already feasted on Lisbeth Salander's two previous outings. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest picks up from where the second part finishes. Salander is laid up in hospital recovering from a bullet wound in the head, but she has inadvertendly started a chain of events in the most secretive of government agencies, and they are determined to cover their tracks at all costs.

This whole series must surely be one of the most original ever to be committed to paper - a thoroughly unique (anti?) heroine in Salander and revolving around a investigative newspaper? Good Heavens. Even so, this whole series has been a masterpiece of plotting on Larsson's part - it is a complex web, but the writing is stark and simple that one never really gets lost in its intricacies. And make no mistake about it, it's a page turner - Larsson is not afraid to throw in the odd curveball that you're really not expecting to mix it all up, and the story just keeps on going with unstoppable momentum. This really is the perfect finish, when all the cracks that appeared in the first two books start to creak and grown and eventually the whole things falls down in a crash and a cloud of dust. I simply didn't want it to end. Famtastic.

In short, I can't praise it highly enough - not only is the whole series a brilliant crime caper, but as all great crime stories should, Larsson takes a mighty swipe at the post-war Swedish political landscape at the same time(I love Micheal Dibdin's Aurelio Zen series set in Italy for the same reason.)

Anyway, I was hooked halfway through the first (and, in my opinion, weakest) on the series, but this one really cranks up the pressure. It truly is one of the greatest crime masterworks of the decade and its such a crying shame that Larsson died long before his time and is no longer around to produce such great stories. I, for one, will miss Salander enormously.

5 stars, no question.

A great ending
The sad thing here is that the author Stieg Larsson is dead. At the end of the book i
felt like i wanted/needed a sequel, but realised it could never happen. Its the same
feeling experienced by the end of the second book, that excruciating cliffhanger.

As you'd expect Lisbeth Salander is in fact alive, albeit taking a bullet to the head
and being in intensive care. The same people who declared her mentally ill and sentenced her
to that instituion want her to go back there. They make her take the fall for two murders and
also the attempted murder of her father.

But Lisbeth is ready to fight back. The journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at
Millennium magazine provide invaluable help for her to prove her innocence and identify
the corrupt politicians that have allowed the vunerable to become victims of violence and abuse.

In my opinion it feels like a continuation of the second book rather than stand alone novel.
As a result its vital to read the other two books to understand the story and characters.

After about 100 pages or so the book takes off. Your subjected to new characters incredibly fast in
an attempt to explain the conspiracy against Lisbeth. The pace never gives up, its a genuinely
exhilirating read. Its a great ending to the trilogy, and it will no doubt leave you wishing for
that little bit more. Thank you Stieg Larsson.

Apt ending - leaves one wanting for more
I ordered the first book (Dragon Tattoo) out of curiosity and the second one along with it (primary reason being to reach the min order for free delivery!). Was taken by surprise by the excellent development of characters and the realistic yet forceful turn of events. The month-long wait after that to read the third book was well worth it. (In this respect, very very different from the serious letdown from Dan Brown).
To me, the third book is a continuation of the second book and as such there aren't so many twists in the plot. It is more of a book that brings the story to an end providing answers to all the questions that may have propped up during the first two books. The part about the Section is very well done and the clinical dismissal of the prosecution case makes for a pleasant ending to the series.
There are a few things that could have been done better though - Erica Berger's side story seems to be completely irrelevant. Unlike with Blomkvist in Dragon Tattoo, her absence from Millennium is something that the reader does not find very important. Secondly, and this is for the whole series and not just this book, few characters (if any) seem to have any shades of grey. This is probably because the author wants to take a very clear line as to where he stands. The commendable thing is that he still does not sound preachy (except for some parts in book 2 where Blomkvist tries to defend Salander).
All in all, it's an excellent book and an excellent series that deserves all 5 stars. Thanks Stieg Larsson for giving us Lisbeth Salander.