The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a masterwork of fine craftsmanhip. When I gotten to the last page I was disillusioned that there was no more to perused. I did not want the story to end. The characters are too intriguing for this to be the end. Apparently this was the first novel in a trilogy by the brillant writer, Stieg Larsson, who unfortunately died in 2004: the book contains a tribute to him and his career. I cannot wait to read the sequels scheduled for release in the USA in 2009.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a global blockbuster and is situated in Sweden. It takes a small deliberation to inch toward getting accustomed to every last trace of the Swedish names and situations but then the story moves with lightening speed. There are a few key plots event concurrently. In one, a Swedish money related investigative writer prints a derogatory strike regarding a weighty industrialist and is sentenced to imprison, fined a ruinous entirety, and has his job torn to shreds. Another industrialist, Vanger, hires the journalist to investigate the 36 year old disappearnace of his then 14 year old grand niece. There has been no trace of her in all these years and she is assumed dead. Yet, every year on his birthday, he receives a mysterious gift of a pressed flower, mimicking a gift his missing grandniece used to give him when she lived there. Vanger, an old man, is tormented by the flower gifts, and wants one more chance to find out what happened to her and who killed her. What the journalist uncovers about the Vanger family's hitherto unknown secrets and connections to the Nazis, will have you hanging on the edge of your seat.

The book is titled (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), after yet another character, Lisabeth Salander, a societal outcast and social ward of the State, uncivilized without any desire to obey societal norms, and replete with piercings, tattoos, and a goth/biker appearance. In short, right away look an absolutely undesirable and unsympathetic individual. She is a specialist with a corporate security firm and comes around to going with the columnist. In truth, she is a survivor of ill-use in all frames with level self regard, and an inablity to trust. She is a genius with Asberger's Syndrome, a form of autism, who sees patterns in things ordinary mortals miss and uses incredible computer hacking skills to accomplish her goals. She is intriguing: heartless and sturdy to a flaw, yet inside defenseless, laboring to fathom her particular affections. She has an appeal that draws you to her, rooting for her, and wanting to understand her. Lisabeth is unforgettable, unlike most characters that populate mystery thrillers. There is such depth here.