An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

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::AMAZON REVIEWS::

I will never see a dragon tattoo the same way again.

Stieg Larsson's Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a delight to read. With a nod to the translator, Reg Keeland, the pages flow together seamlessly and create an absorbing and fresh style that demands your attention. The characters are remarkable, the plot is suspenseful, and after it's over, you find yourself incapable to stop yourself from reading the first few pages of the sequel that is included with the book.

Larsson's writing is humble, a refreshing break from other best selling authors. The style is straightforward, but Larsson's control of description transports you to a distant world, which doesn't seem that far from reality. The treatment of corporate corruption, sexual assault, and prejudice all combine together, creating a sense of morality that encompasses every aspect of modern day culture without sounding preachy.

For me, this story is an encouraging sign for readers: fiction can be entertaining and brilliant. This one should stay on the charts for years to come.

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The Book with the Strange Title
I finished this book last month, but wanted to reflect a bit before writing this review. Sure enough, the book really stayed with me, so here I am at my keyboard recommending it to others. What I loved about this book was its multilayered and original (even quirky) plot. This is an unconventional book, and as I was reading along, I wasn't sure where it would go; in fact, I wasn't even sure who the protagonist was. There's a whodunit in here, but that's not really the book's focus or (in my opinion) its strength. Rather, the real pleasure of this book is just letting it carry you along in a journey through some unusual (but still believable) lives. I'm glad I didn't judge this book by its title, which seems just as quirky as everything else in the book (although I suspect the significance of the title may become clearer once I read the second and third books in the series, which I now intend to do). No matter how you feel about tattoos, don't let the title turn you off; this book quickly draws you in and doesn't let you down. And even though this offbeat Swedish thriller is a runaway bestseller, it still makes you feel kind of cool (the way that seeing the movie "Diva" felt back in the 80s).

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Just Another RAVE Review
Intrepid journalist, recently indicted on a Libel charge, is approached by the aging/ailing Head of a noted/notorious Family of Industry..to solve the "mystery" of his Granddaughter's 40-year-old Murder...Let the Games begin.

Mikael Blomkvist is, in fact, an intrepid journalist...albeit on the moody/sexy/nerdy side...which leads him down many a garden path, and through many a bedroom door. LOTHARIO seems to be his second name..distracting to a point...

The VANGERs....give "family values" a bad name..turning said values on their head with a few slaps, punches, whip strokes, and cigarette burns. These people are not Nice, but neither are they truly repulsive. No Borgias here...just wealthy people too accustomed to getting their own way. Poor Grandpops Henrik is both clueless regarding the foibles of the Rest..and all too aware. Which gives his concern regarding dear Harriet's 'murder" an odd flavor..Murder? Disappearance? It seems that he's the only one to care..about anything other than himself. But his approach to Blomkvist...and the whole Family History assignment, is a smokescreen...for the destruction of a dishonest Financier (this part of the book..the Very End..was the best)...Harriet? yes, well......

I'm not squeamish regarding violent subject matter..but one can read only so much about torture/rape..before it becomes laughable...The "villain" in this case (Martin the Pathetic) was merely his father's son (Gottfried the Insane)...and Harriet (the little sister) would have paid if not for.......
but enough of the Vangers..

I love Liz(abeth) Salander..the anorexic, tattooed girl of the title. Wunderkind researcher, consummate computer hacker...Little-Girl-With-A Heart-Of-Ice...She's the only one who emerges from this book with a "clue" and a plan....to destroy those who have tried to marginalize/"destroy" her. The result of a Horrid Childhood, Liz doesn't let that stop her in her quest for Justice...I wish her well on her journey...she can stay with me any time...

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Very enjoyable read!
I bought this book truthfully not expecting much but wanting something to read. From the first page I enjoyed the book immensely and am looking forward to reading the other two books written by Larsson. I passed the book along to my dad who while an avid reader, tends to be a little pickier than me and he enjoyed the book as well. I thought the plots were well written and believable and the characters were very interesting. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to those who enjoy murder mysteries with a nice touch of suspense.

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Vengeance is hers
The first book in Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy is many things: a murder case, a financial intrigue, a family saga, and an (ersatz) feminist revenge fantasy. Its extraordinary popularity is almost certainly due to its partaking of the last category. Larsson's tale dwells uncomfortably on the horrible things that can be accomplished by "Men Who Hate Women" (the transliteration of the work's original Swedish title), and then tries to balance the score by offering elaborate retaliations visited upon the misogynists by the novel's avenging angel, an antisocial young woman named Lisbeth Salander who works as a researcher for a security firm. The novel tries to have it both ways: it offers Old Testament-style atrocities committed against women for us (and the novel's soft hero, Mikhael Blomkvist) to cluck over, and also to titillate us; then it offers Salander's vengeance schemes ostensibly to balance the injustices committed against women but really to titillate us even further. It's like "Inglourious Basterds," but imagined in terms of gender politics. Unfortunately, Salander is not as imaginative a creation as many fans of the book have proposed, and seems all too reminiscent of the many fabulous femmes fatales with attitude and technological know-how who have become archetypes of postmodern espionage stories, from Modesty Blaise to Sydney Bristow to La Femme Nikita; moreover, her willingness to sexually please her partner and only friend Blomkvist without him ever asking complicates any claims some have made that this novel truly champions feminism.

The novel works best in its central section, a complex mystery involving the disappearance of an industrial heiress on her family's private island more than thirty years previous to the main events of the novel: the sinister secrets of the Vanger family make the novel work here as a very gripping and dark family saga. Unfortunately, this plot is book-ended by a subplot involving financial intrigue that almost bored me into giving up the novel initially, and that I couldn't wait to get through in its final one hundred or so pages. The international success of the novel is undeniable, and at the very least the work is worth picking up just to see how Larsson can strike so many chords that resonate with a contemporary readership.

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