If you haven't heard of these books, you are seriously missing out. Stieg Larsson is a Swedish author and journalist who became most famous outside his native Sweden via the posthumous publication of his Millennium Trilogy. The trilogy introduces us to Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist with a passion for exposes and Lisbeth Salander, punk hacker extraordinaire with a chip on her shoulder. In the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the two team up to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, who vanished from her island home 40 years ago. I don't want to give too much away so let's just say that this odd couple teams up to solve the case and we discover a lot about the Vanger's and about these two characters throughout the course of the novel. The second novel, The Girl Who Played with Fire, delves more deeply into Salander's history and we learn more about her. This novel involves Blomkvist teaming up with investigative journalists to bring to light a sex trafficking ring involving high ranking Swedish politicians. Salander has, meanwhile, cut off all contact with Mikael after the completion of their previous case, the Harriet Vanger disappearance. The final book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, picks up right where the last one left off. Because of that, I'm not going to give any details, I do not want to spoil the books for anyone. But know this, these novels are amazing - the depth that Larsson gives to his characters makes them real, you feel their every emotion. I cannot more highly recommend these and have done so to anyone and everyone looking for a book. And without a doubt, all have agreed that they're phenomenal. The real tragedy is Larsson's premature death; apparently his original goal was to publish 10 novels. We can at least be glad he finished three before he died.
Oh and if you're interested, these books have been made into movies in Sweden and are making the rounds in the US (subtitled in English of course). Please see them if they come to your city!
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