Mondays Book Talk - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Written by Ben Kesp.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 

If crime is your thing, then the Millennium Trilogy is certainly for you. It is dark, full of intrigue and a guaranteed page turner that will leave you wanting more. 

The work belongs to Stieg Larsson, born in 1954 who was a leading expert on anti-democratic, right-wing extremist and Nazi organisations. He died suddenly in 2004 shortly after delivering the manuscripts for three crime novels to his publisher.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first novel to make up the Millennium Trilogy. The story follows two main characters, Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Blomkvist, a publisher of the Swedish political magazine Millennium, takes on an assignment from Henrik Vanger, retired CEO of the Vanger Corporation. Blomkvist is to investigate the disappearance of Harriet Vanger who vanished without trace 36 years earlier. Open up your world to the mysterious Salander, a security analyst, hacker and under legal guardianship, who has been assigned to work with Blomkvist as a researcher. They soon discover they are on the hunt for a serial killer.

The book begins introducing us to the different characters and builds momentum. The story grabs you from the beginning with the wonder of where it is going to lead. It keeps the interest right through to the end. With the many complex plot angles the pace is fast, making it a real page turner.

The main characters of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are well developed and it can be seen right from the start that the character of Lisbeth Salander is complex, unique and dark. The book never gives a full insight into her character as this is part of the intrigue and the excellent way in which her character develops over the following books. I found that I wanted to know more about her character that really draws you into her private, dark and untrusting world. Salander’s character is in total contrast with the character of Mikael Blomkvist that allowed me to see what kind of character he is more easily. His character is well developed and gives an insight into his past and how he analyses and views his own life and others around him. The book also introduces many great characters in which are developed over time for example in the character of Erica Berger, chief editor of Millennium, a good friend and lover to Blomkvist.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an excellent read and would recommend highly. The story can be dark and Stieg Larsson has captured the complexities of the events and characters in great detail.