Book review: (This review has no spoilers)
The girl with the dragon tattoo is a classic who done it mystery novel. This book will strike a chord with the thriller aficionados. With various digressions into financial journalism and Swedish Nazi mafia, this book definitely stands true to its hype.
This book is written by Stieg Larsson and is the first book in the 3 part series by the author. Unfortunately, Stieg died in 2005 and all his books were published posthumously. The books in this series are stand alone. So you don’t have to worry about unfinished business.
The scene is set in the first decade of the 20th century Sweden in which the protagonist and owner of Millennium magazine, Mikael Bloomkvist is duped by a infamous business typhoon Wennerstorm. Owing to the calumny of Wennerstorm, Mikael is ascribed 3 months in prison by the court. To keep his publishing running and save its reputation, Mikael also has to give up his role in Millennium.
With unemployment glooming over his head, Mikael is confronted by Henrik Vanger, the head of Vanger Corporation for a job. Although well past its heyday, Vangar Corporation still had some stand in the Swedish manufacturing industry. What is his task you may ask?
Harriet Vanger, the niece and probably the one set to be Henrik’s successor had disappeared 40 years ago. With no vestiges of Harriet’s disappearance, the task for Mikael who wants to redeem himself in the Wennerstorm case is to find how did she disappear. To finish this undertaking, he is helped by an Autistic, tattooed girl with a photogenic memory and unparalleled hacking skills, Lisbeth Salander( read Mike Ross).
Lisbeth Salandar, the girl who is subjugated to various acts of rape and mistreatment by men helps Bloomkvist to uncover the sudden disappearance of Harriet. What these two uncover together next are series of unfortunate and unfathomable events. The corruption, misogyny and killings in mid-twentieth century Sweden. The story is immense and thorough in the investigation of Harriet’s disappearance but fails to land a solid punch towards the end. The story of Mikael’s retribution lacks some solid base and sometimes feels stretched.
This book earns a solid 8.75/10 from me. It invokes all the feelings of excitement and backyard detective in you. With the book being New York’s best seller in 2005, I can only recommend it to everyone who likes this genre. If you can put behind the diluted ending, this book is a must read.