Author:Stieg Larsson Binding: Audio CD ISBN: 1407434578
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
"highly overrated"
"The next one is even better"
"wooden characters, plodding plot"
"Why has the world lost its collective mind over this dreck?"
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Editorial Review:
A sensation across Europe--millions of copies sold A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue. It's about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder. It's about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet's disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age--and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it--who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism--and an unexpected connection between themselves. It's a contagiously exciting, stunningly intelligent novel about society at its most hidden, and about the intimate lives of a brilliantly realized cast of characters, all of them forced to face the darker aspects of their world and of their own lives.
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2008: Once you start The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, there's no turning back. This debut thriller--the first in a trilogy from the late Stieg Larsson--is a serious page-turner rivaling the best of Charlie Huston and Michael Connelly. Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo. --Dave Callanan
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
highly overrated Although I am not really a mystery fan, if a book is well written, I am more than happy to dig in. With all the hype surrounding this series and friends who loved this book I was really hoping to enjoy this book. I thought it would be somehow different. From the very beginning I found it to be quite formulaic, very much a mystery novel. Which is fine if that's what you're in to. The title character is interesting, and parts of the book are engrossing, but on the whole I found it to be very unevenly written... more info
The next one is even better The first half of the book is tough to get through and I almost gave up but my wife pushed me on promising it gets better and books two and three in the series are must reads. And so many people were raving I figured I couldn't just give up. I'm glad I kept going. There are just so many characters with difficult Swedish names to track that is what made the first half of the book tough for me....but once I got in the groove there was no looking back. The next book in the series is better...(I saved it for... more info
wooden characters, plodding plot I am so glad that I finally found some bad reviews for this book. I was beginning to feel like a pariah--sort of like how I felt when I appeared to be the only person in the world who hated the movie, PRETTY WOMAN. With all due respect to those who have practically a cult-like love for this book--I just don't see the appeal. -----------These examples may contain some spoilers------------------------------ Our hero is a man-bimbo who is simply irresistable to women of all age groups. I know... more info
Why has the world lost its collective mind over this dreck? So, I finally get around to reading this INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON. Where to begin? Hm... Well, first of all, it's really poorly written. The writing style is trite at best, often choppy, full of unenlightened cliches, red herrings and loose ends that never get tied. As far as the plot is concerned, the mystery is fairly predictable, and the plot "twists" utterly unoriginal, except to say some of them are just DISGUSTING for the sake of being disgusting. People make a big ado about how the female protagonist... more info
