#24

#24 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Millennium Trilogy Book 1)

Umm...wow friends. This thriller/mystery/suspense story was exactly that: thrilling, mysterious all the way to the end and fully suspenseful. Parts were tough to take believe you me...faint of heart shall not proceed, but I'm so glad I finally got my hands on a copy. I certainly will be searching for the next two in the series.

It always amazes me when a writer can create such an enormous story; in this case it was a complete family hierarchy with full detail of each character, all unique and many crazy. In stories I have attempted, I can come up with one or two semi-interesting characters and I'm tapped. It is too bad Larsson did not know of his writing success as the series was published posthumously.

I don't want to give much away regarding the plot as so many details must be experienced in context, but here's what I'll share. Harriet Vanger has been missing since she was 16; 40 years later, her mysterious disappearance remains unsolved . Reporter Mikael Blomkvist is charged with trying to discover what happened while also dealing with being found guilty of libel against a huge business mogul. Mikael does as he is hired to do, but uncovers so much more than he set out to. And just where does the girl come in? You know, the one with the dragon tattoo? Well, she's there. Her and Mikael's stories collide along with Harriets. A wild ride friends...Hang on tight!

Sidenote: I was curious about the movie version of the book, so I "On Demanded" it and watched it today also. It is in Swedish with English subtitles. That doesn't bother me, but some people don't appreciate that. I'm often disappointed with books as movies, but not with this one. It was very well done and while a lot of the story was taken out, the most important pieces were left alone making for a very complete story.

Onto #25! I'm nearly a quarter of the way done with my book quest this year!