Synopsis/blurb........
Lisbeth Salander is a wanted woman. Two Millennium journalists about to
expose the truth about sex trafficking in Sweden are murdered, and Salander's prints
are on the weapon. Her history of unpredictable and vengeful behaviour makes
her an official danger to society - but no-one can find her. Mikael Blomkvist,
editor-in-chief of Millennium, does not believe the police. Using all his
magazine staff and resources to prove Salander's innocence, Blomkvist also
uncovers her terrible past, spent in criminally corrupt institutions. Yet
Salander is more avenging angel than helpless victim. She may be an expert at
staying out of sight - but she has ways of tracking down her most elusive
enemies.
My son read this late last year and enjoyed it more
than the first book in the trilogy. I would have to say his conclusions mirror
my own.
I usually have a reluctance to pick up books over a
certain length, more from an aspect of time management reasoning that I could
read 2 @ 250 pages long; in the same time it would take to read 1 @ 500 pages.
This doesn’t always ring true and a lot depends on the pace of the narrative as
to how quickly I plough through something.
At 569 pages long I was expecting to take just
under a week or so to finish, but in reality it took a little under 3 days – probably
because even though I felt not that much happened in the first 150-odd pages, I
was still enjoying it.
The action in the second half of the book more than
made up for the plodding start.
Not the best book I have ever read, but far from
the worst. Fairly predictable conclusion insofar as I was reading safe in the
knowledge that there is a third book to follow, so unless Salander and Blomkvist
needed to acquire Lazarus-like tendencies they were both sure to survive.
That said, within the narrative there were decent periods
of action and violence, likeable and unlikeable characters – mainly within the
investigating officers in the police force, and a reasonable plot with only a
slight stretch on the boundaries of credibility in my honest opinion.
I’ll be back for the 3rd instalment sometime
whenever, depending on whatever turns my head in the meantime.
4 from 5
Acquired second hand sometime last year from one of
Leighton Buzzard’s charity shops.
I actually enjoyed the first book the best, but I liked this one too. I'll be interested to hear what you make of book 3 which I didn't finish...
ReplyDeleteSarah, I'm curious as to why you didn't finish it.
ReplyDeleteI find myself having to plough through to the end even if I'm not enjoying something, some mad part of my brain almost feels it would be defeated if I gave up, and the author would have got one over on me. My family think I'm mad, not stopping and picking something else up.