The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I'd seen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson in bookstores for awhile now.  I suppose it was highly profiled because there was a film made of it, and because the third book in the trilogy was being released.   I was interested in it, but didn't really know much about it, so I never gave it a try.

A couple of weeks ago, I was lent a copy of it from a friend's mom. 

OH MY GOD.

WHAT A GOOD BOOK!

I just finished reading it, right now, and am ITCHING to go buy the sequel.  It's a story that takes place in Sweden, and features quite a large cast of characters that at first makes it just a touch confusing until you get to the point where the real plot starts to come into play.  Others have said that they found the book dull at first and tough to get into, however I didn't think the same and enjoyed it right from the beginning.

The main characters are instantly likeable.  Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who has been sued for libel and found guilty, is hired by a wealthy man (Henrik Vanger) to solve the mystery of his missing niece -- who disappeared forty years ago, in a case that went unsolved but that was suspected to be a murder.  Blomkvist gets wrapped up in the case, which he doesn't expect to solve, and intrigue and suspense carries on from there.

There are twists and turns as you dive deeper into the history of the Vanger family, and into Blomkvist's quest to clear his name following the libel conviction.  He teams up with Lisbeth Salander, a young woman with a troubled past and expert investigative skills, who is a character that I think we'll learn even more about in the sequels to this book.

If you haven't read it yet, and you like some mystery and suspense, I highly recommend The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I'm not sure how the movie is, but I might watch it just to compare it to the book.

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Edited:  Okay, upon some research, I think I understand the movie thing a little more.  Looks like there were Swedish movies made about all three books in this series; but in 2011, a Hollywood version is coming out.  I really didn't know much about this series before being loaned this book two weeks ago, haha... but I knew some movie was already on TMN.  Must be the Swedish version!  I'll give it a try.