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)

A Discovery!

What a nice suprise to find a new author and set of characters - well delineated, interesting, compelling. Apparently, it's one of a trilogy, the next one coming out late June. Starts a little slow, just a little, but well worth sticking with. The girl is really a new voice in a story and I hope she appears in the next book too. My husband and I both liked it, so give it a try.

Very nice suprise!

One of the most enjoyable books I've stumbled across in over a year. Well-written, superb plot and intelligently appealing. Drew me in quickly and made me wish for long drives as I listen primarily in my car.

Engrossing

I can't wait to hear the next 2 of the trilogy!!!!

Starts slow but worth the wait

The style of writing was difficult to follow at first. It was slow and seemed to lack direction - was I wrong. By the last 5 hours I could not stop listening. I found the book so enjoyable I downloaded the next book in the trilogy. Also this was the first narrative by Simon Vance I actually enjoyed.

several plot threads

I liked this book more in the last half as several seemingly separate threads start to come together and once one plot line gets wrapped up there is lots more. Some of it is really gruesome which is different when you are listening --viewing you can shut your eyes, reading you can skim --fast forwarding while listening is a little trickier; but its endurable --and like I say there are several stories within stories and the mysteries and characters are all interesting.

Good Story, Violent in parts,

What made the experience of listening to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo the most enjoyable?

It was a good story though very violent in parts, but very dis jointed. I also didn't like the way it seemed to except that women get raped or abused by men as a norm, But over all it was a good book with strong characters.

What other book might you compare The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to and why?

I would say a strong defective story with a good personal interest story with it, say Hound of the Baskerville and Gone with Wind combined into one boos

Which character – as performed by Simon Vance – was your favorite?

I can pronounce his name but the reporter that was the main charterer,

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

At the end when he is trying to say he is her friend. And make her understand what a friend is,

Any additional comments?

The book was good but only got 4 stars from me because the story was disjointed and it drove me crazy.

Great read...

Despite the graphic sexual violence, I enjoyed this book. The narrator did a great job with all the characters. Interesting with lots of twists and turns.

Captivating and Thrilling

I haven't seen the film adaptation yet, but I have heard great things. I was excited to start this novel. At first I was surprised about how uninteresting the book was, yet I was still enthralled. I promise if you get through the opening about the business world, it is worth it. I was excited when the mystery was solved!

I did feel like the novel fizzled out a bit toward the very very end/epilogue, but not enough to damage my opinion of the novel.

The narrator did a good job between the male voices and he has a pleasant voice. The female voices made me chuckle a bit initially but I got over it shortly.

Overall, I loved the book and enjoyed every step.

Superlative

This mystery thriller is very engrossing! I like Stieg Larsson a lot.

Great Book...

I enjoyed listening to this book. Simon Vance did a good job at distinguishing the characters. This one is one you need to pay attention too or it can get confusing.