The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo By: Stieg Larsson

I figure all blogs (especially book blogs) need variety, so I asked my wonderful friend Rebecca to review a book that is totally different than the books I read. You would have to be living under a rock, to not have heard the buzz The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series  is receiving. So without further ado here is my first guest reviewer's take on a very distinctive book.

                5 stars out of 5!

          What do you get when you mix a cold case murder, violence, love and an anti-social genius? Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I bought this book after receiving my Kindle DX in the mail, and desperately wanting to try it out, I bought Larsson’s best-seller without really knowing anything about the hype surrounding the Millennium Trilogy. The book is a staggering 600 pages, and I have to admit, the first 50 pages mainly consisted of conversation and background information. However, the semi- boring beginning was well worth the rest of the book. In fact, I finished it in two days.
          By reading Larsson’s words, I was thrown into the streets of Stockholm, drinking coffee in a street side café. The protagonist, Mikael Blomkvist, is a shamed journalist who watches his reputation fall to pieces after being convicted of libel against a wealthy Swedish businessman, Hans-Erik Wennerström. Redemption arises when an elderly ex-industry leader, Henrik Vanger, offers Blomkvist a deal: solve the 40-year-old murder of his niece, Harriet, and receive damning proof of Wennerström’s misdeeds. Unable to refuse, Blomkvist uses the help of Lisbeth Salander, an anti-social girl with a dragon tattoo, to solve the case. Though rail thin, petite, and Goth’s fashion icon, Salander is nonetheless a treasure chest of uncanny wisdom and resourcefulness. Blomkvist and Salander unveil startling information about the Vanger family: information that may cost them their lives.
         If I had to describe Larsson’s novel in one word: thrilling. Every page of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an adventure. However, I have to warn you: this book isn’t a light, “day at the beach” read. You’ll undoubtedly be on the edge of your seat and biting your nails, as Larsson does not hold back on describing the abuse and sexual violence the characters encounter on their journeys. In fact, the original Swedish title of the novel is Men Who Hate Women. So beware: mature readers only!
       After you get to page 600, I guarantee that you’ll run to your nearest book supplier to pick up The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest. Unfortunately, Larsson passed away after submitting the trilogy to his publisher. Nevertheless, his amazing talent lives on in the pages of these incredible novels.