The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: The genre-defining thriller that introduced the world to Lisbeth Salander (Millennium Trilogy, #1)

by Stieg Larsson

THE BESTSELLING GLOBAL PHENOMENON

Meet Lisbeth Salander - the iconic character who has captivated 100 million readers worldwide.

"As vivid as bloodstains on snow . . . a perfect introduction to the unique strengths of
Scandinavian crime fiction"LEE CHILD

Lisbeth Salander gets under the skin of her targets like no-one else. Those who underestimate her live to regret it. If they're lucky . . .

Mikael Blomkvist - disgraced journalist, womanizer - is everything she ought to hate. But when she is hired by a security firm to investigate him, her report on his life reveals an integrity that fascinates her.

Then she discovers that Blomkvist is cracking open the cold case of a missing girl - uncovering secrets that have poisoned a family through generations.

And only one thing gives Salander greater satisfaction than exposing a liar: stopping a killer.

With an introduction by Val McDermid

• ISBN10: 1849163278
• ISBN13: 9781849163279
• Publish Date: 1 January 2010 (first published 1 January 2008)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Quercus Publishing
• Imprint: MacLehose Press
• Edition: Digital original
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 560
• Language: English

Reviews

[violetpeanut]

At first this was slow going but things picked up about halfway through and then I couldn't put it down.

[Melanie]

I am listening to this story. I have heard good things about it.


I really enjoyed this story. The murder/rape mystery was great. I would not have guessed the killer. I love the heroine. She is a bad ass.

I really like the guy reading the story for the audiobook. I think he portrays the characters well.

I can't wait to see the movie. I have heard good things.

Now off to start [b:The Girl Who Played With Fire|5060378|The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millennium, #2)|Stieg Larsson|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61zJ363UB9L._SL75_.jpg|6976108].

[chymerra]

https://readwithme2018.com/2019/01/03/throwback-thursday-january-3rd-2019/

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

It is very good! Normally I'm skeptical of crime/mystery novels. The whodunnit part pisses me off if the puzzle pieces/motive isn't clear throughout the book. This novel is NOT like that. I have the movie on my Netflix queue and it's the only reason I got a new library card yesterday.

[Grace]

I'll admit that I'm not usually a mystery/thriller reader... but if this is supposed to be one of the best of that genre (as indicated by its popularity), that doesn't bode well for the rest of the genre. Even at the climax, the action ranked at a tepid 5 on a scale of 10 for me. The writing was weak at best -- although I'll forgive that one since it was translated from Swedish (I think?). Most of all Lisbeth Salander annoyed me. She wasn't edgy -- she was what a 50-year-old man thinks is edgy. I actually put the book down in disgust when she throws a hissy fit after Blomkvist figures out she has a photographic memory. Oh boohoo, you have an awesome gift that pretty much everyone on the planet would die to have, you are such a freak. *eyeroll*

[mitabird]

I really enjoyed this mystery, though it did take me a while to get into it. There were some surprises and some things I suspected. I did find the ending a bit abrupt.

[rakesandrogues]

Though I really enjoyed this book, I'm not in love with the series. I'm satisfied where the story left off and I'm not in love with any of the characters that would make me want to continue reading the other books. As a reader of young adult fiction, I can see why this book is definitely marketed to an older audience. Other than the intriguing mystery of Harriet, there is nothing in this book that really appeals to me.

Honestly, I had a difficult time concentrating when the story led to things that were not about Harriet's disappearance. I grew easily bored when the Millienium was discussed, and I couldn't get myself to care about Wennestrom. I felt like I skimmed a lot more than I'd like to admit, especially at the beginning. The sex scenes throughout the book kind of grossed me out. I read scenes like that all the time in romance novels, so I didn't mind at first, but sometimes it got too graphic especially with Salander or I was constantly reminded of the character's age. I don't think that makes me immature as a reader; I really would rather not read about it.

The mystery was fantastic. I'm a fan of those television shows like CSI, so it was enjoyable reading about a murder mystery. I loved reading about the extensive research that it took to uncover the mystery behind Harriet. I would have liked to be shocked in the end, but I really wasn't. That was a bit disappointing, but I'm happy that I wasn't able to completely guess the ending.

To me, the book was really drawn out at the end. The last fifty pages were almost excruciating, but I kept on reading just for the sake of finishing the book already. I guess Larsson just couldn't leave readers hanging about Millenium and Wennestrom, but like I said previously, I didn't much care for either throughout the whole book. So to me, it felt like the ending really dragged. The book had "finished" for me when the mystery had been solved.

I can see why this book is a best-seller. I agree that it is superbly written. I had a great time reading it, but it's not for me. I can't imagine myself reading another 400+ pages.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

I wanted to read this book to see what all the hype was all about – and no, just because I read this book for that reason doesn’t mean I will read Twilight. I was pleasantly surprised with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo; it feels like a modern twist on the classic trapped-on-a-island murder mystery format. Basically the story is about an investigative journalist and a researcher employed by a millionaire to try and solve a mystery in his family that has been plaguing him for many, many years; the disappearance of his niece, on a day when only about 40 people were on the island.

The characters are flawed and feel so real because of those flaws, well except for the fact that Lisbeth only weighs 40 kilograms. I couldn’t help enjoying these characters and the way they interacted with each other. I’m glad I chose to read this book. Its nice to have a good murder mystery style book and even better to have a modern take on a classic format. I will read the rest of the books in this series at some point in time and hope they are just as enjoyable.

Word of warning; there is a bit of graphic violence and sexual abuse towards Lisbeth.

[inlibrisveritas]

This was a great book overall. A gripping plot with likable characters, I read this on my vacation to Virgina and I managed to finish it in that week. I can't wait till I read the second one.

[ibeforem]

This is a book I almost gave up. I listened to it on audio, and a few hours in I felt like I was still listening to background and set-up and was anxious for the story to get started. Thankfully, once it got rolling it was a snowball I couldn’t stop. Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander are very interesting characters… very alike in some ways, polar opposites in others. I spent a great deal of time wondering how their stories would be tied together, and I wasn’t disappointed when they eventually were. The mystery of Harriet’s disappearance was also very interesting, and the whole story is nothing you would ever expect when the investigation begins. I just had a couple of problems with it… the author tends to refer to everyone by their last name, which is much harder for me to follow. For some reason, I just don’t remember last names as well as first names, so every time someone was mentioned that we hadn’t heard of in a while, I had to think for a minute about who they were talking about. Also, there’s a bit of a loose end with the Harriet investigation that I was expecting to be tied up that never was. I was expecting a small twist that never came.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this and look forward to reading the next two (assuming the third makes it through translation to English). The ending to this one was sad in a way I didn’t expect, and I’m anxious to see what it means for Blomkvist and Salander. If you start reading this and struggle a bit through the beginning, just stick it out… It gets so much better!