Stieg Larrson - The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest

This is the third and final book of the Millennium trilogy, and I'm almost annoyed that there will be no more novels of Lisbeth Salander or Mikael Blomkvist on my reading list again. The final book in the trilogy opens with Lisbeth being shot several times in the head, after she attempted to kill her father, Zalachenko, who will be pressing charges. Zalachenko, a KGB defector, has been protected by a secret governmental organisation ever since he entered Sweden. Truths have been concealed, reports fabricated and a web of lies spun over the years, by various people in positions of power, and they are now threatened as to what might be unveiled thanks to the latest developments. Their masterplan is to get Salander committed to an asylum permanently. At the same time, Blomkvist, the irrepressible journalist at Millennium, is trying to figure out what's being covered, by whom and why. It's the classic battle between the good guys and the bad guys, with some necessary sacrifices being made by the "bad guys" - some people being used as pawns, and some being eliminated altogether; and both sides trying to outdo the other.

Most of the action in the book happens in the police/government offices, the hospital where Lisbeth is slowly recuperating, and the newspaper offices. The themes so far prominent in Larrson's books continue: politics and corruption in Sweden, the subjugation of women, the importance of good investigative journalism, and the Big Brother world we live in, where constant surveillance and hacking can get most answers.

A couple of other stories intertwine in the finale as well, making this book a monster of 750 pages (approximately). Some of the details seem unnecessary, and I did spend the first two hundred odd pages just trying to get to grips with the myriad of characters that kept getting introduced. Once I got past that, I just lapped up the rest of the book in no time whatsoever.

This book seems like it would make a good TV series (I'm thinking Alias right about now) - at least one season of a TV series. It's action-packed, things keep happening, and there are a number of cliffhangers. At the very outset, we know who some of the bad guys are, but as the book continues, the counter keeps incrementing. Plus, if one's interested, it does give a view of Swedish politics and its history.

Salander and Blomknist remain the "white" characters in the "black and white" world that this book depicts. Annika, Blomkvist's sister, plays a much bigger part, and she instantly became a favourite. With engaging characters (including the bad guys), and an incredibly well thought out story, I did enjoy this book. It's interesting, but the charm of the book doesn't lie in the ambience that's created, but more in the way things turn around and the characters act.

It's pop-fiction, but it's gripping pop-fiction, so even if you're turned off by seeing this trilogy on bestseller charts and ads everywhere, it's still worth giving it a shot, I think. You might be pleasantly surprised - I was!

Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Played With Fire

The Girl Who Played With Fire is the second book in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, starring Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. The tables have turned though, and while last time Mikael was on the wrong side of the law, this time it's Lisbeth. Lisbeth has had her share of trouble with the law before, but, since, she's presumably cleaned up her act, and is not as prone to spontaneous acts of stupidity as she once was. That was thanks to the careful guidance of her guardian, Palmgren. Since his stroke, the baton passed on to the despicable Bjurman, who had sexually assaulted Lisbeth in the previous book, and Lisbeth sought revenge - however, she didn't go to the cops with her problems, but took matters into her own hand.

Now, Bjurman is found dead, as are two friends of Mikael (Dag Svensson and Dag's girlfriend, Mia Johansson), who were working on an expose about sex trade and trafficking, for the Millennium magazine, which would ruin the reputation of various people in high places. Before his death, Svensson had informed Mikael of a new lead: Zala, a mysterious powerful stranger, who no one was willing to talk about. Lisbeth, who had been travelling for a few months prior to these murders, hacked into Blomkvist's computer, and saw the references to Zala - a bad memory from her own troubled and disturbed past.

When Lisbeth's prints are found on the gun, she is assumed to be responsible for all three murders. With a history of being violent, and having trouble with the cops, is it wrong to suspect her? Specially, as she was at Dag's and Mia's place just before the double murders occurred. Everyone is out looking for her, with only one person voicing his unequivocal belief that Lisbeth is innocent: Mikael Blomkvist - who doesn't even know how to get in touch with her! Lisbeth has cut off Blomkvist completely, and changed her phone number and address.

Coincidences run deep as Mikael and the rest of the Millennium crew carry out their own investigation, side by side with the cops. The Millennium crew are working on the assumption that the murders are a result of the controversial subject the couple were working on, whereas the cops have their "suspect" but lack the motive. Will the Millennium crew determine the real culprits, and find Zala, or will the cops find Lisbeth Salander, who seems to have dropped off the face of the planet?

This book is suspenseful - a page turner, if you like. Again, we come face to face with the darker side of the Scandinavian country, as well as find out the past of Lisbeth Salander, and what "All The Evil" was, that led her to become the tough-as-nails law-averse headstrong girl that she is.

The coincidences present in this book are convenient, to say the least - what are the odds that Mikael will be working with two people who are out to find a central person in Lisbeth's past? And how does Mikael conveniently be the person to take a call that gives them their biggest break?

With respect to the language and product placement, my complaints about this book are pretty similar to its predecessor. The Apple product placement is still all too rampant, as is the writing extremely descriptive.

She walked gingerly into the 7-Eleven where she bought some shampoo, toothpaste, soap, kefir, milk, cheese, eggs, bread, frozen cinnamon rolls, coffee, Lipton's teabags, a jar of pickles, apples, a large pack of Billy's Pan Pizza and a pack of Marlboro. She paid with a Visa card.

However, just like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, this book's definitely worth a read, as the characters of Lisbeth and Mikael transcend the pages, with their individuality, sense of morality and loyalty, sheer intelligence, heavy conscience and utmost bravery.

Rating: B

Steig Larsson - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo has dominated the bestsellers' chart this year, and the Swedish author has received much acclaim posthumously (Larsson died of a heart attack at the age of just fifty). It first came to my attention about a year ago (February 2009), and I added it to my ever-growing list, but, was quick to discount it as another "Da Vinci Code" - lots of hype, minimal substance. Finally though, the crime-thriller-lover in me gave in, and for that I'm grateful. I enjoyed the book thoroughly, but simultaneously, some aspects of it annoyed me a fair bit. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is the first book in the Millennium series, and in its opening pages, the reader is introduced to the main protagonist of the story, Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced financial journalist, who has just lost a libel case (against one of the business tycoons), and simultaneously, forced to temporarily relieve himself of his job at the small independent magazine, Millennium, which founded along with his best friend, Erika.

Out of a job, and in a bit of a financial flux, an offer comes to him by way of Henrik Vagner, an industrialist who offers Blomkvist over 2 million kroner, to write a memoir of the Vagner family. However, what Vagner really wants the journalist to do is solve a forty year old murder mystery - Harriet, Vagner's niece, disappeared from the small island one fateful day, and no one had heard from her since, leading to the only reasonable conclusion: she had fallen victim to foul play. Despite his (and Erika's) better judgment, Blomkvist does take up the job, and gets caught up in the web of part thieves, misers, bullies and incompetents, that makes up the Vagner family tree. Some members are pro-Nazi, some reclusive, some downright crazy, and all, it seems, with secrets to hide!

Considering the task at hand (solving a mystery forty years old, where all the evidence has been examined and cross-examined, and all the clues washed up), Blomkvist is convinced that he will not find anything. However, as the story takes its course, he comes face to face with "the girl with the dragon tattoo", Lisbeth Salander. Salander is a complex lonely character, with multiple tattoos and piercings. She has her own sense of morality, does not abide by the country's law, has serious intimacy issues, has photographic memory and is a genius hacker - a skill that comes in handy, as Salander acts as his research assistant and co-investigator.

The book picks up pace, and once you're in the midst of all the action, it's almost impossible to put down the book (note: I was up 'til half two in the morning finishing this book, on Wednesday, when I had to go to work Thursday!). You see Salander dealing with the troubles in her life her own way, acting on her own impulses; Blomkvist trying to escape the media circus around his name; Vagner desperate to solve a mystery that has consumed his whole life; and a myriad of other characters who seem to have their own whims and fancies.

Also, while on the face of it, this is a crime thriller, the book explores many other themes as well, specially those of misogyny and anti-Semitism. Initially, the book was called, Men Who Hate Women, and that should give the reader an idea as to what to expect, and trust me - at times, some of the more sadistic scenes will make you want to turn the page as fast as possible, while simultaneously, you won't be able to peel your eyes away from a single word!

So, yes, the book is engrossing and it's a pure page turner. Yet, it needs to go under the editor's red pencil once again - I have serious doubts about it even being edited just the once. There's some poor grammar, and while I do like descriptive writing, there is something called going overboard...

The office was a rectangle of more than 120 square meters. One wall was dominated by a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf nine metres long containing a remarkable assortment of literature: biographies, history, business and industry, and A4 binders. The books were arranged in no apparent order. It looked like a bookshelf that was used. The opposite wall was dominated by a desk of dark oak. On the wall behind the desk was a large collection of pressed flowers in neat meticulous rows.

Only the last line of the above paragraph has anything to do with the plot of the novel! Two hundred odd pages could have easily been slashed.

There are also too many characters, and I had to continuously look at the family tree charted at the beginning of the book, to keep track of who's who. I got the feeling that not all the characters were essential, but, they existed to make the book slightly more confusing.

Finally, I've always associated product placement with movies and TV shows, but never with books. However, this entire book had so many brand references, that it made me wonder - is this the future? Books being used to "place" products in the market as well?

The loss of her computer was depressing, but not disastrous. Salander had had an excellent relationship with it during the year she owned it. She had backed up all her documents, and she had an older desktop Mac G3 at home, as well as a five year old Toshiba P.C. laptop that she could use. But she needed a fast modern machine.

Unsurprisingly, she set her sights on the best available alternative: the new Apple PowerBook G4/1.0 GHz in an aluminium case with a Power PC 7451 processor with an AltiVec Velocity Engine, 960 megs of RAM and a sixty gig hard  drive. It had BlueTooth and built in C.D and D.V.D. burners.

The above mentioned laptop spec is already outdated, and PowerBooks haven't existed for a few years now, but, that's not the point. Not only do descriptions like the above prevent the book from becoming as timeless as it could be, but, it's also descriptions that most readers don't care about. Don't get me wrong - I love everything Apple, and hate most things Microsoft, but, the random incessant name-dropping is a turn off.

If you can deal with some ramblings, and bad editing, this book comes highly recommended. I'm already half way through the second book, so, I think that speaks for itself. However, if you're pedantic about things like that, and don't indulge yourself in much "guilty pleasures,"  maybe you should skip this one?

Rating: B-