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Visit our Swedish Crime Bookstore!
In association with:     Our warmest thanks to readers supporting our site by purchasing from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca or amazon.de via our links. When Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are not busy exposing the underside of the self-proclaimed moral kingdom where everyone has a social conscience, they drink coffee.
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The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg LarssonThe Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is the first book in a trilogy written by Stieg Larsson, often referred to as the Millennium trilogy. Sadly, Stieg Larsson died a few years ago, just after his manuscripts had been accepted by the publisher. He was a journalist, and died at his desk.
Mikael Blomkvist, one of the main characters in trilogy, is an investigative financial journalist and also publisher/co-owner of the independent magazine Millennium. In one of his stories, about the crooked and wealthy financier Hans-Erik Wennerstrom, he goes too far. Wennerstrom sues Blomkvist, and Blomkvist loses and is sentenced to jail. Also, of course, Millennium loses credibility and advertising revenue.
In examining the case, Mikael Blomkvist eventually teams up with Lisbeth Salander, a free spirited young woman with a dragon tattoo associated with the mysterious security firm Milton security, who is also a drop-out from society, has been labeled dangerous by social workers, and is unable to control her own finances and manage her own life. However, Lisbeth Salander has amazing computer skills and is a very talented hacker with ties to an international group of hackers. Lisbeth Salander is the coolest of avenging angels, and an intriguing heroine.
Together, Mikael and Lisbeth, a quite unlikely but very fascinating pair, manage to piece the case together. And as the pieces fall into place, the pace of the book picks up. The suspenseful conclusion involves the fate of the victim in Vanger’s mystery, Wennerstrom's power, the future of Millennium, the Vanger secret, as well as backdrops of a Nazi past. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is one of the best crime books written lately. The characters, especially Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, and the interpersonal dynamics, are highly interesting and well described, and the investigation tickles you imagination. The story is haunting. Like excellent wine, its taste will linger for quite a while after you have finished with it. NEW: Order Stieg Larsson's books from amazon DE: Verdammnis
 , Verblendung: Roman , or Vergebung .You can also order all three books in the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson in French from amazon CA: Hommes qui n'aimaient pas les femmes 1  , Reine dans le palais courants d'air 3 , and Fille rêvait bidon d'essence allumette 2 .
The Girl Who Played with Fire,
(To be released in January 2009, review based on the Swedish original.)
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However, wealthy Henrik Vanger offers Mikael a deal he can hardly refuse. By doing a job for Vanger that involves uncovering the truth of a disappearance that has been unsolved for 40-odd years, he will get access to evidence to convict Wennerstrom and thus ensure the survival of Millennium. 
from amazon US, or   |
Stieg Larsson
Swedish writer and journalist Stieg Larsson’s (1954-2004), is now rapidly becoming famous for his internationally renowned and successful Millennium Trilogy.
Stieg Larsson is chiefly known for his work and writing in the field of fascism, racism and right-wing extremism in Sweden. He finished three detective novels prior to his sudden death of a heart attack in 2004. Rumors say there exists a fourth, not quite complete, manuscript as well.
Since Stieg Larsson’s first book was released in Sweden in 2005. Over 2.6 million copies have been sold (Sweden has a population of 9 million). More than 8 million copies have been sold in Europe and the Danish publisher, Modtryk, commented “that only the Bible has sold more copies than Stieg Larsson in Denmark”. With several awards to its name, the rights to the Millennium Trilogy and Stieg Larsson’s following should increase in the years ahead his novels are scheduled to appear in 32 countries worldwide by 2010.
The trilogy is in the process of being filmed, with the first book being filmed in 2008, by Danish director Niels Arden Oplev. The first film will premiere in Scandinavian cinemas in 2009.
The Millennium Trilogy releases in the UK:
- The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, released on January 10, 2008
- The Girl Who Played With Fire, to be released in January 2009, and
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (or Castles in the Sky), to be released in January 2010.
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Almost everybody is convinced that Lisbeth Salander is guilty. A witch hunt starts. The evicence seems clear. But Mikael Blomkvist does not believe Lisbeth Salander to be guilty of this crime!
The characters in The Girl Who Played With Fire
Once again, we meet the key characters from The Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo: The journalist and editor Mikael "Kalle" Blomkvist and the people in Millennium, as well as the asocial, but brilliant hacker Lisbeth Salander. As well, we meet the somewhat mystical corporation Milton Security. In The Girl Who Played With Fire, we get to know many of them a lot better.This is especially the case with Lisbeth Salander. In the previous book, she was a somewhat remote, albeit resourceful and very intelligent girl with the ability to act quickly. Even so she was placed under guardianship by Swedish society. Obviously, Lisbeth Salander's computer skills are awe-inspiring, her hacking brilliant, but still she is viewed as being without the ability to manage herself and her personal finances. Instead, they have been placed under the administration of a sleazy lawyer, Nils Erik Bjurmann. In a way Lisbeth Salander emerged as a paradox. She was a person I definitely wanted to learn more about.
In The Girl Who Played With Fire the reasons why Lisbeth Salander was placed under guardianship are becoming more clear. They are surprising as well as interesting reasons. Also, her childhood was special, and makes for extremely interesting reading. Revealed are also seemingly the reasons why the Swedish government is trying to park her on the sidelines. I have to say that as I read more about Lisbeth Salander, I not only understood her better, but also found I liked her more and more.
Excitement!
The tension builds quickly in The Girl Who Played With Fire. Moreover, it lasts and intensifies. Stieg Larsson has written another masterful thriller that in my opinion is even better than The Girl With the Dragoon Tattoo. The Girl Who Played With Fire is complex, intense, psychologically interesting, intriguing, and has lots and lots of action. Stieg Larsson's style is uncomplicated, engaged, and elegant. You will become even more fascinated with the characters, be intrigued by the mystery, and be excited about the tension! This is not only a page turner - it is a spellbinder!The Girl Who Played With Fire is a thick brick of a book - my version is 622 pages. Yet it still feels too short. By far!
Buy The Girl Who Played with Fire
by Stieg Larsson from amazon US or preorder The Girl Who Played with Fire 
from amazon UK or preorder The Girl Who Played with Fire
from amazon CA.
! (By purchasing it via these links, you support this site as well!)Praise:
"The sequel is a cut above last year’s best seller./.../ Stieg Larsson uses a marvelous language. Not even the most finicky fault finder will detect anything out of place, everything simply flows. /.../ I am not exaggerating when I say that Stieg Larsson is the best Swedish crime writer of the decade. And naturally I’m already reserving a copy of the third and final part of the Millenniumserien (Millennium Series)."
- Per Erik Tell, Kristianstadbladet
"And when a writer delivers such a complex and fascinating portrayal like that of Lisbeth Salander all we can do is bow down in gratitude. It doesn’t get much better than this."
- Anders Wennberg, Gefle Dagblad
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