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)

Just Great

I was a fan of the triple movie set, and listened to the 2 new books. I now went back to enjoy listening to book 1. The narrator Simon Vance is a "voice actor" offering a wonderful performance. Of course, the story is great.... but more importantly, the 16+ hour reading is a fantastic ride, told with a verity of voices, that brings you totally into the story. I'm a 100+ Audible purchaser.... this is one of the very top read / performed books.

I want to rate this lower, but can't justify it.

For some odd reason, I want to, but cannot. Why do I want to rate it lower than I did? Because the reader? No. Because of the story? No. Because anything I can describe? That is just it, no. Maybe because it ended. This was a situation where I cannot explain why I was so drawn in after the first chapter. I have a long commute and this kept me in the car a few times to get just a little more before I got out. I followed this up with the movie and while the move was good, the audiobook was better.

Bettrt than I expected

I almost didn't read it because of the "Buzz." Glad I didn't pay attention. Saw the American version of the movie. Wondered how the author would weave together the strands of the story. Excellently, it turns out. Found myself sitting in my car in the garage listening late into the night. Could not stop until the end. A really good listen!. On to the second book!

great book

I got this book based on review, was really surprised I really enjoyed it. will get the next from trilogy.

Truly a great listen

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

This audiobook along with the the rest of the trilogy is well worth the listen!

great story

Loved the story. Kept me guessing the entire time! Looking forward to listening to other books by this author

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I loved everything about this read. Story, narrator. The only problem is it ended!

Excellent read

Would you listen to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo again? Why?

I have listented to this book several times and found it to be as interesting the fifth time as it was the first Much info was given about many different things all tied neatly up in the story line a wonderful way to get a touch of information causing me to go research the subject matter.
I highly recommend this book,

Who was your favorite character and why?

Salinger she is a real true survivor no i am strong who can help me crap

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

kept the mood with different folks and different situations was hardly aware it was a book but real folks doing their own things

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

not sure what a tag line is but this is about real people doing real things in a real life situation doubt you could put the entire book into a movie better off with a tv once a week for a few weeks to get the job done right

Any additional comments?

a very satifing read

Sharp, Savvy and Saturated in rich story line

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

at first i downloaded this because, although I never saw the movie, i kept seeing the trailers and I kept wondering if this was something that i would enjoy. The characters in the novel grow on you, the story blooms and new story lines crop up for you to have a little side show. Very enjoyable!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Of course you love Lisbeth, she is amazingly smart, complex, and screwed up in the head.

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

in this novel, i would say that Simon did a grand job as Mikael. He made him into this likeable tragic hero, who doesnt give up.

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

stories like this are often times a mix of many things that have occurred in real life. we often only see the ripples of what happens and never beneath the surface. this book gives you all the angles.

Any additional comments?

you need to download this novel and its siblings...all 3 are intricately tied together...sort of what songwriters used to do with their albums.

Suspense, Intrigue, Danger, Sex, Character

I use the word Character in the headline to mean the book itself has great character. In addition, the characters in the story are very real and very unusual. The story has twists & turns & surprises.

The reader is exceptionally good. I think his performance enhances the enjoyment of the book over reading it on paper.

I would recommend this book and recording to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.