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)

Fan freakin Tastic

Where does The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very top of the list

What did you like best about this story?

a person railroaded seemingly with no one but herself to figure things out. Its a Trilogy and I'm on number 3 now the girl who kicked the hornets nest hate to put it down but I have to sleep sometime.Thanks

An original story spoken with vitality and variety

Where does The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the top. Compelling story and Simon Vance captures the essence of the various characters' voices. Essential to understanding the story with so many conversations. Great listening,

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?

Too many. Don't want to give away anything. But when the main characters were in peril, the reader was right there with them!

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

He did an excellent job with the female lead, Lisbeth Salandar.

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

Too many to name.

Any additional comments?

I had seen the movie several years ago, but was compelled to listen as if I didn't know the story at all. I've listened to many books when I used to commute to work. Some would put me to sleep! This one kept me awake!

Amazing from start to finish

I can't believe that it took me this long to get around to this book. A brilliant plot with stunning character building. A must read!

Intricate, suspenseful, mystery novel

The first half of the book moves about as fast as molasses in December and it was so painfully paced and packed with extra details I almost had to stop. But I kept going and then Larson hits the accelerator and has you gripped with suspense with an incredible plot and a mystery that has an ending you will never see coming! And the Vance narrates with such fantastic vocals you feel as if the characters are in the room talking right in front of you. You can easily identify each character just based on the voice Vance gives them.

Doesn't Need Another Glowing Review, But .......

I've heard and read rave reviews about this series and just couldn't bring myself to read it, for whatever reason. It may have something to do with the fact that I have absolutely no ear for languages and this is a foreign writer and I often cannot relate to foreign works of fiction. This hands down one of the best intrigue novels ever written and one of the best works of narration I've ever listened to. I'm astonished and grateful and have already purchased the other books and can't wait to get started on them. So what made me cave in? I was sitting in my den, flipping through the TV channels (which is in itself strange, because I don't watch much of anything other than the food channels) and came upon the last hour of the movie. I was curious so stopped and started watching. Well, the movie is riveting as well, particularly the ending, and the actress who portrayed the female lead was ...addicting to watch. I was intrigued with her character that I immediately bought the audiobook and thought I'd give it a whirl. What a whirl! Love, love, loved it. It has everything: characters that are real, strange, human, flawed, a twisty turney plot, suspense, a serial killer (who doesn't like that!)--no, wait--serial KILLERS, sadness, sex, revenge.....Oh my, it has everything that roars my engine. In terms of narration, there is no better. He is spot on accents, inflection, pace, and emotion. His old man voice is better than Like Water for Elephant's old man voice (I'm trying to not give away plots and characters, hence "old man"). For all of us who are addicted to the audiobooks: it is rare to find a book that hits your sweet spot on all elements. Maybe 10% of your studiously researched (through reviews/narrators) purchases make you lean back with a smile on your face and feel satisfied. This is one of them. I have hundreds of audiobooks and these are my favorites: The Green Mile, Middlesex, We Have to Talk About Kevin, The Prince of Tides, any of the Robicheux novels narrated by Will Patton, The Life of Pi, Stephen King novels narrated by Frank Muller, The Silence of the Lambs, The Hundred Secret Senses, Lonesome Dove narrated by Lee Horsey (get it!).....and probably 10 others. If you like any of these, then you will probably like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I travel (fly) twice weekly and while I should be sitting on the plane working on my laptop or working during those delayed flights, most of the time I'm listening to an audiobook because I've already put in a 10-16 hour day and need some down time and tension relief. Audiobooks have enriched my life immensely over the years and I'm so very happy to have found this new series and narrator. Thank you Audible!

girl dragon tattoo

struggled to get started. a bit complicated. then I was hooked to the end good read

The best narrator

I love this series of books - they are a great listen. The narration is just wonderul.

Ideal

Story: Flowed well. Immersive. I have no complaints worth mentioning.

Narration: Great. The narrator had enough range to make all characters standout from one another. I usually find English accents to be too dry and dull, but not this guy.

love it

one of the best stories I have read...er...listened too. already got the second book, starting in about 20 minutes.

One of my favorite books of the last 20 years.

One of my favorite books of the last 20 years. the first chapter is still very dry but the book picks up steam quickly.