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)

Thrilling

A thrilling book, with dynamic characters and plot, but I was disappointed about the graphic rape scene in the middle of the book. So much detail was unnecessary.

Wonderful

This book is filled with dynamic characters that keep the story moving along beautifully, and is filled with intriguing plots to keep you on edge. Well written, fabulous storyline, true escapism at its best.

Great book, loved it.

I'm generally a fantasy fan but took a break and listened to this book. It was great, and I can wait to read the other two books from this author. I am excited to go watch the movie as well. The only issue I have with the book is that there are so many characters and to many of the names start with B. (Blomkvist, Birger, Borg, Bjurman, Berger, and a few others with the "B") where this would normally not be a problem, this book has a LOT of characters. I recommend looking at a character list or the WiKi. Other than that it is great and once I finally got all the characters straight I could pay attention more to the story than who is who.

Best since Henning Mankell

The book was excellent. I just can't wait for Audible to have the next two sequels "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest". This is a trilogy and anyone that uses the Internet knows this. Getting back to the book, it had as many twists as can be imagined w/o making the story too convoluted. Though the story seemed to focus on the male character whenever Lisbeth entered my interest piqued as I knew good action and or a more interesting narrative would begin. One last thing it seems that the narrator for the next novel is NOT Simon Vance. What a shame as his narration was at least half the value of listening. Since the story is so good I will be forced to at least try to listen. Audible just get the next novel PLEASE.

Different, but great

I didnt fully know what to expect from this book. my only hints from a friend were "dragon tattoo chick, hacker, big story." thats to light for this book. i didnt like the amount of cursing that was in the book, but let's face it, the whole world swears and we cant avoid it. Other than that, very interesting characters, twisting storyline, some messed up events that are easily within the human ability, and lots of subterfuge (after a fashion). worth it book for those who can get into it. may be a hit and miss

Utterly Engrossing

I love audio books as I spend a lot of my time in the car commuting, but even as a veteran audio book listener I was surprised how engrossed I became with this story! The mystery of Harriet's disappearance left me wondering - and when I got sucked into the whole investigation I found myself listening to this not only in the car but also at home while doing chores! Simon Vance's narration is excellent helps heighten the story as well.

As Good as All the Hype--MUCH Better Than the Movi

If you could sum up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in three words, what would they be?

First, I love the narrator. He really makes the book. Great voice for both men and women.

The book had interesting characters that were well developed. The story held me in suspense during the entire time. And I liked the twist in the ending.

I bought this book at a discount and immediately went to pay full price for the second and third books after finishing this one. I'm glad that I listened to three in sequence. However, I found the first book to be the best one--but I did enjoy the second and third books.

Rarely do I enjoy popular books since I usually find them dull and not stimulating. This book, however, is definitely worth the hype. I'd guess that many readers--both men and women--would enjoy this book.

Whatever you choose, though, don't watch the related movies--even the Swedish version. The movies are so much worse than the book--they're quite a disappointment.

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

I rarely listen to crime/mystery books so I don't have much to compare it to. I do, though, enjoy crime/mystery/suspense television shows, and I'd compare this to "Person of Interest" or perhaps in between White Collar and The Wire.

Which scene was your favorite?

I was surprised by who turned out to be the bad character on the Island. I don't want to give away the ending, so I won't say more on this point.

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

I enjoyed the entire book--one part didn't stand out more than another.

Any additional comments?

The loose ends from this book are tied up in the next two books in the series.

girl with the dragon tattoo

do not start unless you have a whole day to finish it. Found myself getting up in the middle of the night to listen to more of it.. Melt down at end reminds you of todays Madoff mess.

good listen

this was interesting, graphic, just wish i listened to the 1st book and stopped, did the whole series and was disappointed

Loved it!

I think this book just moved into my all time favorite audiobook position. I enjoyed it thoroughly and was sad when it ended.