The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (original 2007; edition 2010)

This time it's big. In the third volume of the Millennium trilogy Lisberth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist faces not a crazy serial killer or an old spy but none else than a renegade, secret group within the Swedish Secret Service, who wants them dead.... ( )

The author
Stieg Larsson (born August 15, 1954 in Skelleftehamn, Sweden as Karl Stig-Erland Larsson) was a Swedish journalist and writer who passed away in 2004.

As a journalist and editor of the magazine Expo, Larsson was active in documenting and exposing Swedish extreme right and racist organizations. When he died at the age of 50, Larsson left three unpublished thrillers and unfinished manuscripts for more. The first three books (Män som hatar kvinnor/The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Flickan Som Lekte Med Elden/The Girl Who Played With Fire, and Luftslottet som sprängdes/The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest) have since been printed as the Millenium series. These books are all bestsellers in Sweden and in several other countries, including the United States.

The synopsis
Lisbeth Salander—the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels—lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge—against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

The review
This book is the third in the Millenium series and gives all the answers. There are some new players but most have been there trough all three books. Some characters still surprise you though. I feel this book is a worthy end to the trilogy it has Cluedo things innit and some of the action which makes it a intriguing read. If you are a crime novel reader and ignored these books cause you had the feeling they where not your style and you are emotionally able to deal with the sever abuse that sometimes pops up you should read these books. ( )

A thrilling read, definitely living up to the hype of the series. The end dragged out a bit, but that is my only complaint. ( )

Satisfying conclusion to the Millennium trilogy. I definitely got the sense that it was originally intended to be a stepping stone in a series, but there was enough resolution for Lisbeth's personal storyline that readers shouldn't be dissatisfied. Lisbeth remains one of the strongest, most frustrating, and fascinating characters I've read in ages. ( )

One from my Magnus Magnusson ("I've started so I'll finish") collection - I still have to read "Bella's Fourth Big Book of Moping" by [a:Stephenie Meyer|941441|Stephenie Meyer|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1269985304p2/941441.jpg]...

I'm not sure I ever expected to finish all three books in the series, especially during the horrific slog through the world of financial journalism which constituted the first part of "[b:The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo|2429135|The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327868566s/2429135.jpg|1708725]". More surprisingly, I actually enjoyed it. That's probably not the right word: the story in "[b:The Girl Who Played With Fire|5060378|The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millennium, #2)|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327863896s/5060378.jpg|6976108]" and "[b:The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest|6892870|The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millennium, #3)|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327708260s/6892870.jpg|12883496]" was quite engrossing.

That's despite the insane amount of detail - by the end of the series we know exactly what every character likes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, exactly how much milk they like in their coffee (a double espresso with a teaspoon of milk for Armansky) and what brand of phone and computer they use. Oh, and a blow-by-blow* account of their sex lives: essentially, every Swedish woman has had sex with Blomkvist at least 17 times. Except the She reporter woman, apparently - "Imagine, a woman who can resist the famous Blomkvist charm" as Berger puts it. Supposedly this series would have gone on to 10 novels had [a:Stieg Larsson|706255|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1246466225p2/706255.jpg] lived, presumably detailing Blomkvist's exploits abroad with all the billions of women who had the misfortune to be born outside of Sweden and who until then had been unable to experience the unmissable joys of sexy times with Kalle Blomkvist...

There's a good (if crazy and preposterous) story in the series once you get through the minutiae of the characters' lives and some of the horrible writing - but I suppose part of the 'charm' lies in the clunkiness of the writing - and it ends quite satisfactorily with the courtroom drama: Giannini finally taking down Teleborian in the courtroom was very satisfying.

I'm glad I finished the trilogy, but I think that's enough for me. The loose ends are all pretty much tied up at the end of Hornets' Nest and if a fourth manuscript does turn up I'm not sure I'd rush out and buy a copy.

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*No pun intended. Seriously. I was probably too busy dreaming of Blomkvist when I wrote this to notice how that might be interpreted by those of you with dirty minds... ( )