Saturday, November 13, 2010

Book Review: "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson



As I've discussed before, I often torn between rushing through all of the books in a series and savoring them, so I'm not left pining for more. While I read the first book in Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy about 16 months ago, I read the last two in the last three months, so impatience won out.

When The Girl Who Played with Fire ended, Lisbeth Salander had been seriously wounded in an attack and left for dead, while the public (and many in the Swedish police) believed she was guilty of three brutal murders. As she recovers from her injuries, she must fight for her life in many ways, as a political conspiracy grows ever more powerful in its desire to ensure she never has the chance to see the light of freedom again. As always, she is assisted by her friend, reporter Mikael Blomkvist, whose dogged determination to prove Salander's innocence threatens him and those he loves with significant harm. The ramifications that occur from Blomkvist and Salander's discoveries have the potential to shake the entire country.

I felt that The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest was a worthy conclusion to Larsson's trilogy, as it tied up many loose ends and advanced the lives of its characters in a logical, not necessarily convenient, fashion. While this novel didn't have as much raw action as the last two books, the courtroom drama of Salander's trial was pretty intense. I'll admit the concluding confrontation irked me a bit, as I felt it was almost tacked on for effect, but beyond that I can say this entire trilogy was tremendously thought-provoking and exciting. Do yourself a favor and read the books before the American theatrical adaptations are released, because I'll be amazed if they can do these books justice.

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