The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

By: Stieg Larsson

Narrated by: Saul Reichlin

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family.

He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from 40 years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history.

But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

(P)2009 WF Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"I doubt you will read a better book this year." (Val McDermid)

"Intelligent, complex, with a gripping plot and deeply intriguing characters. The author's early death is a great loss." (Philip Pullman)

"What a cracking novel! I haven't read such a stunning thriller debut for years. Brilliantly written and totally gripping." (Minette Walters)

Much better than it initially seems

A couple of hours into this book, I would have given it 1 star, and wondered if I could actually be bothered trying to finish it. The central character hadn't even been introduced, and the main premise of the novel hadn't even started. I certainly wouldn't have considered going on to the other 2 equally long installments in the trilogy. However, the detailed description of the Swedish setting of the story was interesting, so I persisted.

The book does become more engaging, the characters are introduced and developed, and it even becomes quite fast-paced in places, with some rather unexpected plot turns.

So, this is a worthwhile listening experience if you're willing to immerse yourself in it, and be carried along at its pace, be that fast or slow. I think I'll try at least the second novel as well, as I'm now interested to see what becomes of Lisbeth. She is an interesting character, although I must admit I found Larsson's portrayal of her as a 'super-hacker' to be fairly unconvincing in this book.

My biggest criticism is that the book is far too long. I think that when this book was submitted to the publishers, they should have sent it back with the comment "this has great possibilities, now cut it in half". The book would have benefited greatly from this. I really think a lot of the Venestrom affair could have been severely curtailed with only good effects on the main story.

On a positive note, I must complement Saul Reichlin on his performance of the work. He is a great narrator and very easy to listen to for such a long story.

Good Read!

This novel is EXTREMELY slow to start, but if you can push through the beginning it is WELL WORTH THE READ!

After the boring beginning this is a THRILLING and ADDICTIVE detective-like story with greatly endearing characters.

A total bore

this book has been hyped to the max and I found it totally uninteresting. It goes on for hours about nothing worthy of listening to. It comes in three download sections, I listened to each one for about an hour, and found it unbelievably BORING BORING BORING. For me, not worth the money OR the time.

Expected much more. Series closed.

The narrator was great. I was surprised by the shalowness of the story. Any gap in the logic or smoothness is filled with one more photo discovered or with godlike
hacking abilities.

It was Ok

This book was not all that it was media hyped up to be. It was irritating that the protagonists were repeatedly referred to by their surnames. The plot was incredulous at times and some of the complex unravelling hard to follow. Not for me, I won't be getting the rest in the series. Although the narration was good.