Monday, October 3, 2011

Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo


The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Millennium #1
by Stieg Larsson
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Hardcover
ISBN 9780307269751
465 pages
Release Date: September 18, 2008
Available for purchase 
AMAZON          BARNES AND NOBLE




Why did you choose this book? I have heard so much about this book and it seems like everyone has read it or has it on their ‘to-read’ list. I wanted to know why it is so popular.
When did you read this book? June 2011
Who should read this book? fans of thrillers and mysteries; definitely for ‘mature audiences’
Here is a synopsis of ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' from Goodreads, where it rates 3.95 stars.

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. 

My Review 

This is a long book; over 400 pages. (I read it on my ereader.) It started out very slowly, and to be honest, I almost gave up on it. Because other reviewers recommended sticking with it I did, and I learned it is worth struggling through the first 70-100 pages until the story becomes too interesting to put down!
The main characters in this story are Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. Mikael is an investigative journalist who, with his best friend and part-time lover, owns and manages a magazine. Lisbeth is a very intelligent young woman who has been in and out of psychiatric facilities through the years. She is more comfortable hacking into computers than she is in ‘social’ situations and has a court appointed guardian to manage her affairs.
As the story begins, Mikael has been convicted of slandering a respected businessman and sentenced to prison. He agrees to step down from managing the magazine to protect its integrity. Lisbeth works for a security agency and has been hired to investigate Mikael for another businessman who hires Mikael to investigate the unsolved presumed murder of his favorite niece. She disappeared 30 years earlier without a trace, and he suspects a family member is responsible. Lisbeth and Mikael join forces to solve this mystery, and the result is a suspenseful thriller that is hard to put down. If you haven’t read it, be sure to add it to your TBR pile!

My Rating:  ★★★★ 4 Stars

1 comment:

  1. I have not read this yet, but it is on my list. Great Review!

    ReplyDelete