Steig Larsson: The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest (A brief review!)

Having bought all three books in the Millenium trilogy a few years back, I had previously had an abortive attempt at reading this final massive volume of 602 pages.

On a recent long trip I started again from the beginning and succeeded in getting to the end.

For the most part, it is tightly and cleverly written, and reveals the attention to detail in the underlying research. Of course it helps to know the back-story, and the legendary sexual prowess of protagonist Mikael Blomkvist is a little tedious at times, but all the threads of the story are woven together in a masterful and largely satisfying way.

One gets the feeling that it could have been edited a little more tightly, but it is what it is. It portrays strong women, resourceful hackers who it seems can do anything, and a group of elderly men who seemingly have been puppeteers for the Swedish State over many decades.

Given Larsson's untimely demise, it is fitting that it concludes with a raprochement between Blomkvist and Salander.

If you can stay the distance, a worthwhile read!