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: “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). • 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, coming soon!

Listen to the rest of The Millennium Trilogy.

©2008 Stieg Larsson (P)2008 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"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)

Dragon girl is a true bad ass, but tragic figure

This was a great story, but could not help feeling sorry for her because of her tragic past. It is not until another author picks up the tale after Mr. Larson’s mysterious death (apparently murdered)that the tale is picked up and contained , which contains the details of her upbringing. Great story!

Excellent writing, excellent narration- well done

Excellent writing, excellent narration- well done overall. highly recommend. I hope the next one is as good!

Every Readers Dream

I was so sad when this book was nearing its end that I began to parcel it out in 15-minute increments so I could spend a little more time in “their” world. Larsson is a masterful writer and Simon Vance brings every character fully alive with his extraordinary narration. I was ecstatic to realize there is a series of books centered around Lizbeth Salander in the Millennium Series. I’m overjoyed with the prospect of embarking on new and exciting adventures with my new friends straight out of the pages of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Super intense story

I loved the book, not súper into financial stuff so some of the excerpts and terminology kinda lost me but the rest of the book was A+.

Dark plot twists and relevant problems

Although the beginning of the book was mostly a drag learning about politics and journalism. When it finally ramped up, it was almost non-stop twists and turns. Would recommend highly.

Getting Ready for Book 4

Although I generally eschew best sellers, I'll admit that I read the Millennium Trilogy not long after the books were published in English and loved them. With the amazing character of Lisbeth Salander and the dark and twisty plots, these books are hard to put down once you pick them up. And since they are long books, reading Stieg Larsson means you have to hide out from family and friends for days at a time which is something my life just doesn't allow too often. But when I heard that a fourth book in the series will be published in August of this year, I knew I wanted to re-read the trilogy first. So, I decided to buy the audiobooks and re-visit my friend with the dragon tattoo in a way that doesn't make me give up the rest of my life.

I can't add much to the many reviews of the books this late in the game, so I will just review the audio experience for anyone like me who has read the books and wondered if it was worth 3 credits to buy the audiobooks. IMHO - YES! If you haven't read the books in at least 2 - 3 years, you probably won't remember a lot of the details even though you might remember the basic plot lines so the story still felt fresh and surprising to me the second time around. And, if you are going to spend 55+ hours listening to a narrator, you want the best and you will get it. Simon Vance is tough to beat - I loved every minute of listening to him. He gives each character a unique and believable voice and maintains the narrative flow perfectly through these long suspenseful stories.

Swedish author, David Lagercrantz, is writing the fourth book in the franchise and although he will be using the established characters, he will not be working from Larsson's notes. It's hard to believe that the fourth book will be as good, but I am sure I will read it and just hope another writer can capture some of the magic that Larsson put into the original three.

Patience required

What a great suprise, if you can get thru the first 45 minutes, and keep track of the characters, and their Swedish names you will be rewarded with a great story with: mystery, murder, a wealthy complex dsyfunctional family,and intriguing smart lead characters interaction. If you are looking for a quick read..don't get this one...it needs to be savored

Good, smart, original mystery.

Quick explanation for those jumping into this cold: The author was a writer and activist in Sweden who envisioned and wrote a series of novels in his spare time. He published three of what was supposed to be a ten part series, then died, with the outlines of several more novels in his notes.

This is important because some things happen in this novel which set up events in later novels. I found this out listening to the second novel, when some of the seemingly gratuitous events in the first novel came into play.

This is a smart novel with interesting characters and unusual mysteries, set in Sweden. The settings alone make it interesting. The central mysteries themselves are not well executed in this book, but there are underlying themes involving gender, mental illness, governmental abuse and freedoms, that make it a smarter novel than the mystery alone does. Overall, it reads like a good first novel, complete with rookie mistakes, by a writer with something to say.

The narration is excellent, though some of the names blended together in my American ear, and some of the novel dragged or got confusing when the author described something he expected his Scandanivian audience to know. It pulls it all together by the end to create a richer story than the average thriller serial novel.

Some of it may disturb sensitive American ears, though. Just to warn you. Don't listen with your kids. Some scenes are a bit sexually blunt.

Gripping

Serial Murder mystery but light on the gore. Lots of twists and turns in story and ending leaves you wanting more in the series. Narrator did good job with various accents and characters. Was sorry to have it end.

The best trilogy I've ever read.

No matter what you think of this first book, rest assured the next two make it even better! What I loved most about each book as well as the trilogy itself was how thoroughly the author completed the victories of his heroes and demise of each villain. I loved all its characters. I still cant quit listening to it!