Julie's Review: The Girl Who Play with Fire

Summary: Mikael Blomkvist, crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled genius hacker Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past. ~amazon.com

Review: These books are so intense that I took a long break in between reading the first two of the series. The Girl Who Played with Fire is intense from the get go. While I enjoyed the mystery around The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo I loved that this book delved into Lisbeth and her past. I admire Lisbeth for her strength and her perseverance. Do I think she has some issues? Heck yes but most of her reactions have always been because she needs to survive. She's been surviving all her life. She doesn't know how to need someone because she's always relied on herself.

I found the exposition of her life fascinating. Perhaps it's because it's so different than what most of us have known and also because you wonder how someone is still functioning after her childhood. I loved how Mr. Larsson slowly revealed bits and pieces of her life. They were always well timed and always wanted you leaving more.

I thought it was great how Mikael was still involved in the story and spent a lot of his time trying to prove Lisbeth innocent of the crimes she was accused of in the novel. As a reader, you wonder if Lisbeth is guilty but you know that she can't possibly be.

This book never stops. I had to put it down several times to just catch my breath and my thoughts. I finally just had to stay up late to finish it. Luckily, my edition had the first chapter of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest so I can wait until the paperback comes out in early 2012 to read the final novel.

If you haven't read the first book, I highly recommend it. I don't think I've ever read a character as interesting, intriguing and complex as Lisbeth Salander.

Final Take: 5/5

Julie's Review: The Hypnotist

Summary: Prepare for The Hypnotist to cast its spell. In the frigid clime of Tumba, Sweden, a gruesome triple homicide attracts the interest of Detective Inspector Joona Linna, who demands to investigate the murders. The killer is still at large, and there’s only one surviving witness—the boy whose family was killed before his eyes. Whoever committed the crimes wanted this boy to die: he’s suffered more than one hundred knife wounds and lapsed into a state of shock. Desperate for information, Linna sees only one option: hypnotism. He enlists Dr. Erik Maria Bark to mesmerize the boy, hoping to discover the killer through his eyes. It’s the sort of work that Bark has sworn he would never do again—ethically dubious and psychically scarring. When he breaks his promise and hypnotizes the victim, a long and terrifying chain of events begins to unfurl. An international sensation, The Hypnotist is set to appear in thirty-seven countries, and it has landed at the top of bestseller lists wherever it’s been published—in France, Holland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark. Now it’s America’s turn. Combining the addictive power of the Stieg Larsson trilogy with the storytelling drive of The Silence of the Lambs, this adrenaline-drenched thriller is spellbinding from its very first page. ~amazon.com

Review: Deeply disturbing, depressing, gory, graphic and upsetting; The Hypnotist wasn't really what I expected. I barely saw any rays of hope until the end of the novel. I like to think that life isn't that bleak, but perhaps it is in Sweden.

What I thought was going to be a book about a boy and finding the murder of his family turned out very differently. In fact, halfway through the book it shifted to a completely different plot. While it was related to one of the main characters, Erik Maria Bark, it never translated to the original plot. Essentially, these could have been two different books and for me they should have been.

While the 2nd case was wrapped up and the motives were made clear, the first case was wrapped up but I never got a sufficient answer to the motivation behind the crime. Was it really just that the murderer's mother didn't hug him enough? Did bond with him? I know that does have a psychological effect on people but this seemed extreme.

I certainly didn't feel much sympathy toward Dr. Bark and his wife Simone. They were pretty self-centered and shallow, which made them hard to connect with while reading the book. In the end you wonder if their marriage will survive the lies they've told each other and the lies they are telling themselves.

The most interesting character for me was Detective Joona Linna. He is a bulldog when it comes to solving his cases and he's almost never wrong with his hunches. In fact, because of this he's become somewhat of a legend. He follows his instincts and yet he does it within the law. The author alludes to something in Joona's background that makes him driven but we never find out more. That was a disappointment for me as a reader. I wanted to know what made him so determined.

While I thought the author did a good job of setting the scene and the desperation in both cases, it was too over the top for me with the gore. I think the plot could have been advanced without such descriptions. Leave somethings to the reader's imagination.

I would be interested in another Joona Linna novel if that's where the author wants to go in the future. He's an intriguing character with a background you want to know more about and want to unravel it slowly.

Frankly, I'm getting very tired of every Scandinavian crime writer being compared to Stieg Larsson. Those books are unique as are the books that these other authors write and perhaps each should be judged on their own merit.

If you are looking for another Scandinavian thriller I highly recommend The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen. If you are still intrigued by The Hypnotist, pick it up and read it. I'd like to know your thoughts.

Final Take: 3/5

Jenn's Review: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Summary:  Two seriously injured people arrive at the emergency ward of the Sahlgrensa hospital in Gothenburg. One is the wanted murderer Lisbeth Salander who has taken a bullet to the head and needs immediate surgery, the other is Alexander Zalachenko, an older man who Lisbeth has attacked with an axe.

In this third novel in the Millennium trilogy, Lisbeth is planning her revenge against the men who tried to kill her, and even more importantly, revenge against the government which nearly destroyed her life. But first she must escape from the intensive care unit and exculpate her name from the charges of murder that hangs over her head.

In order to succeed with the latter, Lisbeth will need the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist. He is writing an exposing article that will shake the Swedish government, the secret service and the whole country by its foundations. Finally there is a chance for Lisbeth Salander to put her past behind her and finally there is a chance for truth and justice to prevail.

Review: This final chapter is the confrontation we've been waiting for.  It's certainly the showdown that Lisbeth's been waiting for, but the question is, by whose rules will they be playing?  The tangled web of conspiracy gets more complex and constricting as it attempts to squeeze the life out of it's participants.

Larsson was a master.  He wove so many layers into this story that it blows me away.  The cast of characters expands with a plethora of names that are sometimes similar if you're reading fast.  When Larsson gets to switching point of views quickly as the story picks up, I know there were a couple of times it was jarring for me just because I had to stop and think who was who.  True, there is still some needless plot exposition (a page and a half on the Random Frequency Tracking System used to pick up and eavesdrop on cell phone calls, comes to mind as a glaring example).   However, the story itself more than makes up for the bits that drag a little.

The only tiny detail that irked me was that the police didn't seem to comb through Zalchenko's assets, which would have changed the outcome somewhat.  Although I suppose, in their defence, their attention was somewhat diverted due to the fact that they were chasing conspiracies.    I don't want to give too much away, but if a certain faction, was a little more skilled, instead of made up of retirees and rank armatures, this may have ended very differently.  It almost did end differently.  But here I am discussing this as if it were actual events again.  Larsson's writing is just that good.

The court room drama is so satisfying, on several levels.  Though the Swedish legal system has some obvious differences from the American system (for example, bench trials are held in a round table format and the concept of discovery seems to be absent), it makes for a far more entertaining read.  I can't wait to see how it translates to the screen.  Just reading it, I was very nearly booing and cheering aloud all the way through it.

Through it all, I think the character of Lisbeth grew.  No, she didn't change drastically, that would have been too much.  But her view of society and her place in it, changed and thus changed her.  It was heartening.

The story is left, slightly open, but in a satisfying place.  I know that there is a fourth unfinished manuscript out there, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.  While I would love to read more, a la Douglas Adams' The Salmon of Doubt, which is an incomplete manuscript published posthumously "as is", I don't want to be left in a precarious place wishing there was a resolution.  Yet I don't think anyone could finish it in Larsson's style, even if he left notes.  I have mixed feelings.

This is a brilliant series and I truly cannot recommend it enough.  If you put down the first book, please consider picking it back up... if you can push through that initial chunk of plot exposition in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and believe me, it's a definite chunk, it is worth every minute of the struggle. I will be watching the last two Swedish films, and I can't wait to see the American ones too.  I just can't get enough Stieg Larsson.

Final Take:  5/5

Jenn's Review: The Girl Who Played with Fire

Summary: Lisbeth Salander is wanted for a triple murder. All three victims are connected to a trafficking exposé about to be published in Mikael Blomqvist’s magazine Millenium, and Lisbeth’s fingerprints are on the weapon.

Lisbeth vanishes to avoid capture by the justice. Mikael, not believing the police, is despairingly trying to clear her name, using all his resources and the staff of his magazine. During this process, Mikael discovers Lisbeth’s past, a terrible story of abuse and traumatizing experiences growing up in the Swedish care system.

When he eventually finds her, it’s only to discover that she is far more entangled in his initial investigation of the sex industry than he could ever imagine.

Review:  My first thought, "Oh my geyod, I can't believe Stieg Larsson left it there!" My next thought, "Thank goodness I have The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest!"

The story picks up almost a year after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Lisbeth has severed all ties with Blomkvist and has been traveling around the world.  As she returns home, now a woman of leisure, she begins to asses her life and what she wants to do with it.  She doesn't want to go back to working at Milton Securities.  She also has come to the realization that she has no friends.  So Lisbeth attempts to reconnect with people in her past that she cares about, everyone but Blomkvist, that is.  But just when she begins to reach out, she is accused of a double homicide.  Now she needs people on her side, but will anyone come to her defense?

Once again, there is a ton of plot exposition before the story takes off.  This time, however, it's not tedious as we know the main players so well.  It isn't until the homicides, that the story elevates, and then it stalls a few times with several back stories on policemen and people at Milton security.  Larsson is a fanatic for details, though, and they do add much to the story, it's just, at times, I wish he could find a way to give them to us in smaller doses.  There is a bevy of new names to keep track of and it gets complicated, but it's worth it.

It's a heavy topic, but again Larsson treats it it with a clinical view so that it isn't overwhelming to the reader.  Larsson switches points of view more often in this book  However we get insight into the police investigation of Lisbeth which is kind of interesting.  The police go from assuming it's an open and shut case to being completely baffled.  We also finally get a look at Lisbeth's past, not what is stated in the reports, but what truly is, and may I say, it's no wonder that girl is the way she is.

I must warn you, where some complained that there was too much denouement in the last book, here there is next to none.  We reach a major climax resolution but the story is far from over.  I suggest you have the next book ready, because you're going to be dying to know what happens.  I know I am.

Final Take:   4.75/5

Book to Movie: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (foreign)

If someone asked me my opinion of the film in passing, I'd tell them, "It was okay," because truly I had higher expectations for it.

The cast, save for Henrik Vanger, was really nothing like I imagined the characters to be in my head, so that took some adjustment right out of the gate. The film was more graphic than an American film but not so vivid as to be hard to watch. It also runs longer than two and a half hours.

The story skipped right into the 'meat' of the Vanger family mystery, skipping over most of the plot exposition of Blomkvist and Lisbeth that made the beginning of the book drag. However, my husband, who hadn't read the book, thought that the lack of exposition made the story difficult to follow. The cuts they made to the rest of the plot made sense, skipping most of Blomkvist's financial story but keeping the Lisbeth sub-plot. Although, I'm not sure it was clear why Lisbeth was a ward of the state or what exactly her issues are.

The changes made to the climax of the Vanger story, though minor, bothered me. Perhaps the script writers drew from information in later books, I don't know, but it really changed the way you viewed the character of Lisbeth, in my opinion. I don't think it added anything to the plot, and it left me feeling uneasy about Lisbeth, a character we are supposed to take an interest in so that we want to follow her story in the next book/movie.

All in all, it was an interesting take on the story. I look forward to seeing the American film to see how it compares. My recommendation is if you've read the books, check it out, if you haven't (you definitely should!), I'd wait for the American version.

Jenn's Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Summary: Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomqvist is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance of Vanger’s great-niece Harriet. Henrik suspects that someone in his family, the powerful Vanger clan, murdered Harriet over forty years ago.

 Starting his investigation, Mikael realizes that Harriet’s disappearance is not a single event, but rather linked to series of gruesome murders in the past. He now crosses paths with Lisbeth Salander, a young computer hacker, an asocial punk and most importantly, a young woman driven by her vindictiveness.

Together they form an unlikely couple as they dive deeper into the violent past of the secretive Vanger family.

Review: Many of reviewers will tell you, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a slow start. To be honest, it's downright sluggish. The translation is cumbersome in the beginning, full of names, places, and plot exposition for three seemingly unrelated stories -- in the beginning. Then, just when it seems impossible to continue, the three stories begin to weave together into an intricate and engrossing tale.

Blomkvist is a bit of a paradox to me. He has high journalism ethics, which he touts to anyone and everyone, but low morals. He's not an unlikeable character, but he's certainly flawed. Lisbeth, on the other hand is fascinating, though we only get a peek into her life because this is, after all, Blomkvist's story.

There is a decent amount of violence and abuse, something I often have trouble reading about, but Larsson approaches it in a clinical, detached manner that doesn't minimize it, but makes it bearable to read.  I'll have to see how it translates to screen (I may have to cover my eyes for some of it).

All three story lines had intriguing resolutions although, one was slightly more spectacular than the others.  However, Larsson doesn't try to resolve all the story lines at once, letting them unfold as they might naturally. As a matter of fact, I had to remind myself on several occasions that this is a work of fiction not a factual account of real happenings. Although I was pretty sure I solved the mystery of Harriet early on, Larsson made me doubt myself, and in the end I was only partially right.

The ending was a bit open as far as the personal stories go, but it segues nicely into The Girl Who Played with Fire, which is Lisabeth's story.  I can't wait to know more about her. (As you can imagine, that just floated it's way to the top of my To Be Read pile.)  If you've tried this and put it down, I urge you to give it another chance.  I thought it was superb.

Final Take:  4.5/5

Julie's Review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Lisa's Review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Part of Jenn's 2011 TBR Challenge

Lisa's Review: What I Read on my Winter Vacation

I don't remember ever being as busy as I was in 2010. I literally for the first time in my life read about three books all year. So you can imagine my excitement for a planned weeklong vacation to Mexico at the beginning of this year. Was I excited to go lay out in the sun on the beach, not doing anything all day? Sure I was but honestly I was even more excited to catch up on my non work-related reading material. Seriously! I had a ton of books to choose from, so it was difficult to decide which ones to bring with me. I didn't want to spend my little free time reading crap, so I focused on recommendations from friends. I brought along The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, borrowed from a friend who all but assured me that it was a great book and I already had Game Change CD: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime loaded on my iPad. In addition to my planned magazine reading, I felt I was ready to go.

The Reviews

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

I finally fell for the hype. I resisted for as long as I could, but sometimes the hype is real,  for example Harry Potter. I resisted there as well and by the end I was one of the people in line at midnight.  Anyway, this book started slowly and the translation was clunky and I felt like I really had to slug through it, but I am glad I did.  Even though the book is titled The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I think Lisbeth was simply introduced and this book is more about Mikael Blomkvist. He gets invited to investigate a family tragedy after being found guilty for libel and being "fired" from his magazine. Lisbeth shows up in the beginning and we visit her throughout and you can't help but be fascinated by her. She's a bad-ass.  She joins Blomkvist in his investigation about halfway through and they finish it up together. It's a fascinating mystery too. Julie has a great in-depth review and I agree with her assessment. I felt like I didn't really know who Lisbeth was at the end, I really wanted that. Just a great read. Final Take: 4/5

 

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

Technically, I didn't read this on my winter vacation, but I had a short trip planned just after I got back from vacation, that I immediately borrowed The Girl Who Played with Fire as soon I got back. I read this on the very long flights to and from and was able to finish it. I gotta say, I love this one even better than I did the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  For one the translation got much better in this version. Thank goodness for that. This time the mystery was all about Lisbeth Salander. As I mentioned, I left Dragon Tattoo feeling like Lisbeth was still a bit of a mystery. This book told her story  and fleshed her character out more. You understand how and why she became this fascinating person. This one took a while to get going as well and once it did, we were off to the races once again. All in all, just another fantastic read. It's clear based on the ending Steig Larsson clearly had a plan in mind about how he wanted to tell these stories. I can't wait to find a spare moment to get into the final novel, it's going to be a while before that happens.  Final Take: 4.5/5



GAME CHANGE

Even though, I followed the 2008 presidential election with much interest, I'm not a big fan of non-fiction reads nor do I care much for political reads. However, more than one friend encouraged me to read this book, so I downloaded and figured I'd get to it when I get to it. I started this the day before I left and finished on the flight back and I immediatly wished I'd read this sooner. Talk about an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at all the drama. It was great. The things that were reported aren't nearly the half of it. I was was concerned that the writing would be tedious and technical, but it was such an easy read, that I needn't have been concerned. Besides, the details are so juicy, it was almost like reading a gossip magazine. Wait it was exactly like reading a gossip magazine.  I laughed out loud in places and was even more appalled in some. And Sarah Palin.... There are just no words.  If you were the least bit fascinated by that election, then you must read this book. Doesn't matter who you voted for - it's just too fascinating. Final Take: 4/5

 

Julie's Review: The Shadow Woman

Summary: It's August and the annual Gothenburg Party is in full swing. But this year the bacchanalian blowout is simmering with ethnic discord spurred by nativist gangs. When a woman is found murdered in the park-her identity as inscrutable as the blood-red symbol on the tree above her body-Winter's search for her missing child leads him from sleek McMansions to the Gothenburg fringes, where "northern suburbs" is code for "outsider" and the past is inescapable-even for Sweden's youngest chief inspector. Psychologically gripping and socially astute, The Shadow Woman puts this master of Swedish noir on track to build an American audience on par with his international fame. ~amazon.com


Review: Inspector Erik Winter has a hell of a case on his plate. A woman is found in a park with no id and seemingly no past. Obviously, this makes his case all that much harder when you can't identify your victim. It's hard to deduct motive without knowing who your victim was at the time of death. The Shadow Woman takes us through his journey to figure out who she was and what happened to her.

Now I don't know much about Swedish culture and the kinds of issues they have over there in regarding political or societal, but it seems to me from this book that biker gangs are a huge problem. They seem to be at the bottom of every bank robbery, murder, mayhem ensuing issue.

The case takes us in a variety of directions and I was never really sure how all of this was going to be wrapped up nicely but it did. Not only are their different directions but there is a fair amount of twists in the novel as well. I was concerned that this was not going to be related to the case and just hang out there unresolved but there is one thing Ake Edwardson does well, it's wrapping it up. You are not left wondering about something that was brought up early in the novel and then dropped. Ake Edwardson does a great job of making you care about the characters. You also get a very real feel of how police work affects the police officer's lives and psyches.

There were times when I thought the novel dragged or didn't seem to flow well but that could be due to translation. It didn't really take anything away from the novel though. There is a lot to say about this book but as usual I wouldn't want to ruin the book.

I found myself engaged in Inspector Winter's life as well. He's a very interesting character; although it does make me wonder, why cops in books are always a bit messed up in the head. Probably their line of work.

If you are looking for a great crime/thriller/mystery novel set in a different part of the world, then go pick up The Shadow Woman. If you are looking for a replication of Steig Larson's books, this won't do it for you. These books are similar in nature to Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch novels. You will enjoy these as well if you are a fan of James Patterson's Alex Cross series.

I will be looking for the other Inspector Erik Winter novel's to add to my to be read list in 2011. I want to know more about this man who is Sweden's youngest Inspector.

Final Take: 3.75/5

Julie's Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Summary: 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. ~amazon.com

Review: I'm pretty much of the opinion that if you haven't heard of this novel/trilogy, you live under a rock. Even my mom has heard about it! I know that a lot of reviews have been focused on Lisbeth Salander, the heroine, in the books, but for me The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is really Mikael Blomkvist's story. Lisbeth is intermixed in the beginning and does become crucial about halfway through but she's not the story in the book.

To me the book was about a couple things: 1) The mystery of Harriett Vanger's disappearance/murder and 2) Mikael's case against Hans-Erik Wennerstrom. Most of the book is spent dealing with Harriett's case and boy was it an interesting one. I love how rich, well-to-do families have the most skeletons in their closets. It makes for great fun reading. The Vanger clan has deep and dark roots in Sweden. You see there was a faction of the family that was heavily involved in the Swedish Nazi movement. Thank goodness the book didn't really follow that trail.

Mikael was a fantastic researcher and ended up caring about the family more than any journalist should to maintain professionalism. I believe this is one of the reasons I liked him as a character. He's a good person. He's not just digging for an answer and be damned the consequences. I also really enjoyed Henrik Vanger, the patriarch of the family. The disappearance of his niece has haunted him for 40 years and helped shape how he viewed his other family members.

Lisbeth Salander is introduced in the beginning of the book but she doesn't become an integral part of the book until later. I'd tell you how but no, I want you to read the book. She's a mystery. She's brilliant with a computer but can't deal with human emotion or contact. She's got anger and anti-social issues abound. I have a feeling that this is what will get her into trouble in The Girl Who Played With Fire. She is definitely a mystery and that is what makes her so intriguing and for me, ultimately likable.

If you are looking for a fast-paced, well-crafted, exciting novel; you should pick up The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I know I picked it up after hearing all the buzz about it. I will say that this one lives up to all the hype. I will say I wasn't keen on the end but that's just because I wanted it to end my way.

I have a few books to read before I read the 2nd book in the trilogy, The Girl Who Played With Fire but I will read it this summer.

Final Take: 4.75/5