Staff Book and Media Recommendations

Millennium Trilogy

• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
  
• The Girl Who Played With Fire
  

Stieg Larsson

When I'm travelling, I love to relax with a book that will hold my interest but doesn't require undivided attention. Stieg Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy" is a perfect example of this balance, and was enjoyable no matter what was going on around me. The three novels, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, follow the adventures of two well-developed and intriguing characters; Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist.

The first, and my favorite of the trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, introduces us to journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who has just been convicted of libel and hacker/investigator, Lisbeth Salander, who has been investigating him. Blomkvist is hired by a wealthy industrialist to look into the presumed murder of his niece; a case that has long since been abandoned by the police. The narrative winds between the actions of the two characters as their lives become more intertwined and as their investigations progress.

The following two novels, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, pick up one of the minor plot lines from the first book, and develop it into a full-fledged action story. They are written as two parts of a single arc, and move at faster pace than the first novel. Lisbeth finds herself being chased by the police and the novels' villains, while Mikael is desperately trying to protect her from both, even as she resists his intrusion into her affairs. Mikael's investigative magazine, Millennium, is working on a story and finds itself in the midst of a government conspiracy, to which Lisbeth is tangentially connected, but soon becomes the primary target of the people Millenium is investigating.

These three novels are perfect vacation fare as they envelope the reader in a mysterious and dangerous world of conspiracy, journalism, and spectacular hacking. In addition to the expertly-constructed characters and plots, these novels' intense descriptions of Sweden will make you want to take another trip this summer!

If you haven't read them yet, pick up these three novels from the library! ~ Jeanette Norris

Reviewed April 2011