Author: Stieg Larsson
Original Copyright Date: 2008
Translated to English by: Reg Keeland
Would Recommend to a friend?: not really
Back Cover Description:
A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue.
It is about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder.
It s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism, and an unexpected connection between themselves.
It s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism, and an unexpected connection between themselves.
My Thoughts:
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This was a crime drama that fell a bit flat. It was a quick read, and had the potential to be a gripping thriller, but it never materialized as well as I thought it could. It was fairly predictable, with a couple of decent twists. Was I entertained? Mostly. But I can't say I would recommend it without reservations. The crimes committed were gruesome, although most happened well before the two intrepid heroes are on the case. The suspense doesn't really start until well over 100 pages in the book and the climax occurs with about 80 pages remaining and the denouement was cliche. The whole thing came across as a episode of scooby-doo directed by Quentin Tarantino.
On a side note, I was very annoyed with the product placement in the book. It was like watching a movie where you can obviously see that Coke is the primary sponsor with the product placed conspicuously throughout scenes and the label always facing the camera. My ebook copy had to be returned to the library, so I can't dig up quotes to demonstrate it, but to paraphrase, "She stole his Dell pc laptop and copied the hard drive to her Macbook pro. Salander then turned on her iPod, an mp3 player the size of a matchbook, and went to work on the images from the night in Photoshop, played with the contrast settings until she could make out the "Visit some place in Sweden" bumper sticker on the blue Volvo S90 Hatchback"
A few character questions remain, to be answered in the remaining books of the series. I don't know if I will read them. Maybe I will once I separate my self a bit from this one. Like I said, it is a quick read and I was mostly entertained. If I am getting close to the deadline, with my book count a bit low, I might consider it.
Good to know!!
ReplyDeleteHow are you finding Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? I've never read it but think I know a few people the story is based on... x
ReplyDeleteYou are probably the first person I know who did not LOVE this book. I find it refreshing. To be honest I don't see the appeal. I have 100 books I want to read before this one and I am glad you have reinforced my gut feeling. Love you new project by the way.
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