The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

A Lisbeth Salander Novel

By: Stieg Larsson, Reg Keeland - translator

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The thrilling first book in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series featuring Lisbeth Salander • Also known as the Millennium series

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

Look for the latest book in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, The Girl in the Eagle's Talons!

Listen to the rest of The Millennium Trilogy.

©2008 Stieg Larsson (P)2008 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME

"Cases rarely come much colder than the decades-old disappearance of teen heiress Harriet Vanger from her family's remote island retreat north of Stockholm, nor do fiction debuts hotter than this European best seller...At once a strikingly original thriller and a vivisection of Sweden's dirty not-so-little secrets, this first of a trilogy introduces a provocatively odd couple." (Publishers Weekly)

"Combine the chilly Swedish backdrop and moody psychodrama of a Bergman movie with the grisly pyrotechnics of a serial-killer thriller, then add an angry punk heroine and a down-on-his-luck investigative journalist, and you have the ingredients of Stieg Larsson's first novel." (The New York Times)

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a striking novel. Just when I was thinking there wasn't anything new on the horizon, along comes Stieg Larsson with this wonderfully unique story. I was completely absorbed." (Michael Connelly)

Definitely entertaining

I couldn’t tear myself away from this. The story is so enthralling and the characters are all interesting in their own way.

Wonderful

I had seen each movie, both the American and Swedish versions. The book was even more delicious than the movies. I am happy to know how true to the book each movie attempted to be. The book just gives you so much more insight into who both Mikael and Lisbeth are…it was truly fantastic…even after having already seen the movies. This is one of my all time favorite books.

Excellent Book in a Series of 3

I first saw the movies, all 3 made in Sweden, and I had to read the captions. I loved the movies. Then after I joined Amazon Audible, I found the books. I was so excited I bought all 3. They are well done, and hold your interest. You feel as if you are right there and involved in the story. OMG! to only have half the computer knowledge this girl has self learned.

The audible works well for me, as I am 70, and reading tires my eyes, and I am able to do other things as well as listen..

If you enjoyed the film, you will love the book

I was surprised how close the film stayed to the book, but with any adaptation there are changes. The biggest of which are a number of subplots that cover in great detail things just mentioned in the film. I also think it does a better job of not just brutally depicting violence against women, but makes you really think about it. It's supposed to make you uncomfortable, but ignoring this issue does it a greater disservice.

If you at all enjoyed any of the films, I think you'll very much appreciate the book. The story is more rich for the added detail and the writing is superb. If you've never seen the film, but enjoy a good mystery/thriller then its a great listen. I will say having seen the film helped me form mental pictures of the characters since there's quite a few but that's not a necessity and I always recommend avoiding spoilers.

The narration is also top notch. Simon Vance does a great job affecting the accents of the various characters. Never so much that it becomes obnoxious or distracting but enough to have a better understanding of whom is speaking which can otherwise be difficult with an Audiobook, particularly one with multiple protagonists and for a story told from the perspective of different characters.

Needs different narrator

Simon Vance sounds like he should be reading Sherlock Holmes instead of this, he didn't do a bad job it's just feels like a less than ideal fit

great book

This is a great mystery and written very well. The narrator was great as well!great book

Engrossing

Second favorite series the characters seem like real people. 2goat; Name of the wind 1st

Voice Talent amazing

What could be a slightly challenging book for audio was made so engrossing and interesting due to the amazing voice talent. He could change voices by character, by accent, age and sex. Fantastic. Haven’t seen the related movies but found it interesting that the girl with the dragon tattoo actually had a minor role in the story. Great story though.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

1st in the series of 3. great story and unfolding mystery

Great Listen

Loved this book! It held my interest to the end - I invented places to go so I could listen while I drove, and many times I sat at my destination not wanting to get out of my car. I was slightly disappointed in the ending, and hope subsequent stories by Steig Larson bring back the same characters. It is too bad he has passed away.