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)

All time favorite audio book

I love this book so much. I'm hooked on Simon Vance as a narrator- he is pure magic! The book isn't something I'd normal read, I thought, but after listening to it on audio probably 10-15 times over the past few years, I can definitely say, it is. And probably my all time favorite audio book. I loved the movies when they came out, different as they were from the books, because it was just that good to see the characters in real life.

Good story line, good characters but no aha moment

The book is a good listen. Very different way of the usual American detective story, not because the way it is written but because of the unusual setting Sweden. The author background might have helped.

No superhuman characters, this by itself is great.

Stick to it

A little slow going at first, but then I was unable to put it down. In fact, I had to get the sequel and now I am ready for the third book. Well written and suspenseful. Also, unpredictable.

The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo

Good story...should have used a reader with a Swedish accent.

Outstanding! Highly recommended.

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

#1

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

Many memorable moments. I couldn't put it down. A book rarely hooks me like this.

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

Salander. Outlaw chick with great talents.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. Like binging on Breaking Bad. Or Homeland.

Any additional comments?

Absolutely loved this story.
I have a new favorite author & will continue the Millennium Series.
Really enjoy Larsson's writing style & Simon Vance's narration is top notch too.
mike

Great book

Great book and easy to follow. Can't wait to start listening to the next book.

Loved it

I really enjoyed the book and when I heard the last sentence, I wondered if it was leaving a door open for a sequel and immediately checked back here. Now I just have to wait for the rest of the trilogy and hope they are as engaging and entertaining!!

Interesting

I have not watched the movies but was told I need to listen to the novels first. I found the storyline interesting.

Refreshingly Original

Typical murder mystery: complicated and conflicted male protagonist solves a crime assisted by a beautiful and intelligent female.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: intelligent but otherwise normal journalist solves a crime assisted by a complicated, hostile, oddly erotic, frighteningly intelligent, and all around strange young woman.

Definitely a much needed change of pace.

I would like to point out the normalcy with which the characters' relationships are presented. Blomkvist's best friend and "occasional lover" is a married woman and his business partner. They are not having an affair, however. Erika's husband is aware of the relationship. Blomkvist can't be categorized as a "lifetime bachelor" though because he is divorced with a daughter. He sleeps with three women in this novel: the aforementioned Erika, Cecilia - a widowed woman in her fifties, and Lisbeth - a young girl barely out of her teens. The relationships are consensual and intimate. I feel certain that if this book were written by an American author, these relationships would have been at the center of the plot. But because the author is Swedish, these circumstances are presented as relatively normal and quite insignificant. It was nice to see something so different.

A Great Mystery

A great story that always left me at the edge of my seat. I'm excited to listen to the next in the series.