The Girl with Ice in Her Veins: A Lisbeth Salander Novel (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Series)

The second book of the third trilogy featuring Lisbeth Salander, genius sociopath hacker. The problem with novels which centre sociopaths as the hero is the villains have to be complete psychopaths in order to present some spectrum of good to bad. So, here, for example, a bad guy who infiltrates a group of eco-activists turns out to be a paedophile, because being on the bad guy’s side is not enough on its own. And when every villain is grotesque beyond plausibility, suspension of disbelief even, then you have to wonder what point the story is trying to make.

On the other hand, this is a deckare, a thriller, so I guess making a point is not, well, the point of the book. The Girl with Ice in her Veins is not a translation of the book’s show more original Swedish title, Lokattens klor, which means The Lynx’s claws, but neither of the titles is especially relevant to the plot - although there is a a newly-introduced character nicknamed Lo, lynx. She’s a baddy, of course.

Like the preceding novel, The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons, The Girl with Ice in her Veins is set mostly in the invented north Swedish town of Gasskas. It also features the same cast - not just Salander and Blomkvist from the original trilogy, but also Blomkist’s daughter and family, Salander’s niece, and the trilogy’s main villain, disabled white supremacist millionaire Branco. The ecological theme also continues, although this time it’s opencast mining rather than windfarms.

Salander’s niece, Svala, is interning at the local newspaper and has joined a local group of eco-activists. After discovering a local abandoned sanatorium is secretly in use, Svala’s mentor at the newspaper is murdered. A bomb explodes near a disused mine, which appears to be in the process of being re-opened. There’s also a consortium interested in opening a new mine in the area.

It’s all connected, of course, although the novel seems more interested in the depredations of the secondary cast, especially the villains. The Cleaner is hired to murder someone in Copenhagen, who turns out to have connections to the new mine in Gasskas, but instead he decides to help Svala. A visiting Greek/Chinese millionaire, who is interested in investing in re-opening the old mine (which is actually owned by Gaskass kommune), turns out to be the father of Blomkvist’s grandson. But because he’s a baddy, he’s also a domestic abuser and made his fortune through people trafficking. Branco pops up every now and again, but he’s after the harddisk containing billions in cryptocurrency which Svala was given by her mother and which she has hidden. He’s also less interested in business and more in his white supremacist political organisation.

The Girl with Ice in her Veins resolves its main plot-threads, but Branco once again escapes. So that’s the plot of book three - as yet untitled - sorted. The prose is present-tense again, and often choppy. It mostly works, but occasionally gets perilously close to the fourth wall. I did spot a couple of weird choices in translating Swedish words/culture, but fewer than in the previous book. The Girl with Ice in her Veins is not a great book, but then the series could hardly be called a great series. The first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/Män som hatar kvinnor, was a solid serial killer hunt thriller, but it’s been downhill since then. I must admit, I do wonder how far they plan to take the series. Blomkvist is now in his sixties, Salander is slowing down too… The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons and The Girl with Ice in her Veins do feel a little like they’re moving Svala to centre-stage, so who knows… show less

A complicated and dark mystery thriller.

This is the 8th book in the Millenium series and its third author as the books featuring Sweden’s Lisbeth Salander continue. Lisbeth is a trauma survivor and is more of an anti-heroine in most of the stories. She’s full of tattoos and piercings and definitely has her own moral code though she typically goes after any man who hurts a woman. With her fighting skills and photographic memory, she’s hard to forget or to come up against.

In this novel, Lisbeth takes a back seat to her precocious niece, Svala, who at age 13, is already a talented writer and a confirmed environmental activist. Svala has gotten involved with a group of activists who are protesting development of new mines in show more Gasskas. It also happens that Lisbeth’s friend and best hacker, Plague, has been kidnapped and taken north. As luck would have it, Mikael Blomkvist, happens to get a new job revamping a local newspaper in Gasskas so those three are there together when it all goes down.

This was very slow moving at first and it wasn’t until the last part of the book that the action picked up. Not a lot of concentration on Lisbeth or her unique skills, as the shift to Svala as some kind of kid genius. Lots of deaths per usual and lots of icky people. Sometimes the writing is so ambiguous that the reader isn’t sure what is going on and so I was confused at times. Although there is as character list at the beginning, it’s hard to keep the relationships of some of the characters straight so I’d advise you to keep that handy. Also, this isn’t a book you can jump into if you haven’t read the other books in the series. I’d suggest you start from the beginning. Too much backstory.

Unfortunately, the plot just didn’t keep my interest and this is not my favorite of the series. I wanted more Lisbeth doing her thing and less about her romantic woes. Not ready for Svala to take the lead or for Lisbeth to train her up. Blomkvist is getting up there in age so we need a new guy pal to be Lisbeth’s wingman so he can get over Lisbeth and take a break.

I tried to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC provided to me by the publisher. The narrator, Simon Vance, didn’t work for me. His voice drove me crazy and he sounded like an old man and mumbled. Everyone sounded the same and the accents for different people weren’t always that great. I had to stop listening. Usually an audio book enhances a book for me but not in this case. show less

My thanks to the Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
This is the eighth book in the MILLENNIUM series spread across three Author's, and the second for this Author. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one. Each Author has added their own slant to the series, featuring one of my all time favourite characters Lisbeth Salander. This Author as introduced Svala, and turned Lisbeth into an Aunt, to a teenager a brave clever fearless independent young lady, remind you of anyone, and it's a masterstroke on her part. Well written with superb characterisation throughout plenty of Action and mayhem and surprises. The ending suggests to this avid reader that show more there is more to come. I certainly hope so.
Completely and utterly recommended. show less

Just not very good. The style of not fully describing what is occuring does not build suspense. Having two villians in the plot divides focus. This is more about Svala and Lisbeth is sadly more in a matronly role. Making Marcus Branco like the Bond Spectre does not have me waiting to read the next one.

This book continues the story from the previous book about Marcus Branco, the rich, depraved, controller who kills people with little thought. In this one, Henry Salo is trying to get financing for opening an old mine. Marta Hirak's daughter, Lisbeth Salander’s 13-year-old niece, Svala Hirak, is living with her reindeer herders uncles. Svala, a student and an intern journalist at 13 has become active in eco-terror goup--led by Siimon Frisk--with a goal of preventing the opening of the old mine by a corporate group in Gasskas. She is in possession of a hard drive with millions of bitcoins on it that Branco feels is his. The Cleaner, Joar, is back supposedly trying to complete is last job, to kill Ferm, a very rich man with an addiction show more to pain. Pernilla, married to Henry Salo, is upset when her former boyfriend and father of her son comes to dinner to discuss financing for opening the mine. He had been looking for them for years after she escaped from him in Greece. Meanwhile, Lisbeth goes to Gasskas with her old friend, Mikael, who has become editor of the local newspaper, to figure out what is happening and helping her niece, Svala. show less

No revuelquen más el glorioso personaje de Salander por el fango de la mediocridad y el oportunismo

Story line was jumbled. Hard to follow. My least favorite of all the books.