The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

SUMMARY:

"Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch - and there's always a catch - is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo."

MY REVIEW: 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has a well-designed plot with many surprises and a perfectly satisfying, even though predictable, ending.  This book demands a lot from the reader, such as dealing with some financial Jargon.  This book also demands a bit of patience on the reader side.  This is not a book which catapults you through the story.  Instead, you are taken step by step through Blomkvist and Salanders journey and are given a bit of background information on the two of them.  The book consists of credible characters, no one who was too out there to be believable. The story has all you can ask from a mystery; fraud in big business, old family secrets, a small town, internet-masterminds and political corruptness. I liked to watch Mikael Blomkvist from the first page until the end.  I also liked his friends, enemies, colleagues, lovers and relatives, but the one I liked most was Lisbeth. A little bit more than a little bit crazy, underrated by nearly everyone, arcane but also pragmatic, the avenger. Finally, I liked the evil characters.  They were not trite, disgusting and primitive, but their malignity had style, background and warranty, the sophisticated evil, which is the worst.  These characters caused some emotional drainage on my part!  The Swedish title is, “Men Who Hate Women”.  In my opinion this title fits much better!  As a woman, there were several parts of this book that were hard for me to read.  However, it is sadly realistic.  Overall, I loved this book and I can’t wait to get into the next of the series.