The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
by Stieg Larsson

Lisbeth Salander—the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels—lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge—against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

--The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
by Stieg Larsson (translated by Reg Keeland)
Copyright © Stieg Larsson

My Review

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest picks up at the precise moment The Girl Who Played with Fire left off. Mikael Blomkvist finds a severely wounded Lisbeth Salander at her father’s farm house and alerts the authorities.

At the hospital, she’s in a guarded room while she recovers. Once she’s discharged, she’s going to jail to await her murder trial. Cut off from the world, her only contact is with her doctor and her lawyer, Annika Janini, Blomkvist’s sister. She needs to actively participate in preparing her defense…that means she needs her computer. But she’s not allowed to have it in the hospital.

Blomkvist finds a way.

So while the hunt is on for the real killer, and Salander prepares her defense, Blomkvist has his own problems. He’s convinced someone is following him, keeping tabs on his every movement. So no only does he need to work on the most explosive story of his career, he needs to help Lisbeth win her case, all while staying alive.

I give this story FIVE STARS.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

The Girl Who Played with Fire
by Stieg Larsson

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled genius hacker Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past.

--The Girl Who Played with Fire
by Stieg Larsson (translated by Reg Keeland)
Copyright © Stieg Larsson

My Review

The Girl Who Played with Fire finds Lisbeth Salander living nicely in a hotel in the Caribbean. After leaving Sweden, she’s spent the year traveling the world on the money she stole from Wennerström. But the arrival of an off-season hurricane convinces her it’s time to go home. Once back in Stockholm, she sets herself up in a new apartment, and wonders what she’ll do with her life now that things are so different. One thing she knows for certain, she won’t be getting in touch with Mikael Blomkvist, no matter how many times he calls her.

Blomkvist has just about given up on Salander ever getting in touch with him and besides, he has his own life to deal with. He’s looking at publishing a series of exposé articles on the sex trade along with a book that will go into much deeper detail when the author and his partner are killed. And Lisbeth Salander’s fingerprints are on the murder weapon.

Convinced of her innocence, he begins looking for a connection between the sex trade articles and Salander. At the same time, Lisbeth is forced to confront some of the demons of her past, dating back to the time when “all the evil” occurred and her life was torn apart. Can she survive—literally—long enough to put those demons to rest?

I give this story FOUR and a HALF STARS.

Don't Look Back

Don’t Look Back
by Karin Fossum

In an idyllic Norwegian village, neighbors know neighbors and children play happily in the streets. But then the naked body of a teenage girl is found. Annie was strong, intelligent, and loved by everyone. What went wrong? Called to investigate, Inspector Sejer uncovers layer upon later of distrust and lies beneath the town’s seemingly perfect façade.

--Don’t Look Back
by Karin Fossum
Copyright © 2002 Karin Fossum, translated by Felicity David

My Review

I’ve begun developing an affinity for Scandinavian authors--Jussi Adler-Olsen and Stieg Larsson so far are the only two on the list, but there should soon be more. Karin Fossum, however, may not join that list. A quarter of the way through this book, I found I really didn’t care much for the main character, Inspector Sejer, or for the murdered girl who was the subject of the mystery. Rather than forcing myself to read the rest of the story, I just skimmed the remainder to find out “whodunit” so I could put it aside.

I do have a couple more books in the Inspector Sejer series that I purchased at the Green Valley Book Fair and I may try reading another one later on this year, but it will be a while before I do that. I have a lot of other books that I want to read and Inspector Sejer will have to wait.

I give this story TWO STARS.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Stieg Larsson

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues.

--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Stieg Larsson (translated by Reg Keeland)
Copyright © 2008 Stieg Larsson

My Review

Okay, what can I tell you about this book that you haven’t already heard, read about or seen in the movie (either version)?

Mikael Blomkvist has just been convicted of libel and his career as a financial journalist and magazine owner appear to be over, or at least severely decimated. After convincing his business partner that he needs time away, he accepts an offer from Henrik Vanger. Several decades ago, Vanger’s niece, Harriet, disappeared without a trace. He wants to hire Blomkvist to find out what happened to Harriet. He has a year and he’ll receive a hefty salary, no matter the outcome of his investigation. Since Vanger wants the investigation kept secret, Blomkvist’s cover story is that he’s writing a biography of the family.

Lisbeth Salander is getting-by-just-fine-thank-you on the fringes of society. Overly, she works for Milton Securities as an office junior but in reality, she conducts investigations for the firm. She did one on Mikael Blomkvist for Vanger’s lawyer prior to him being hired and she got to know him quite well through her investigation. Her mother lives in a nursing home and she’s under the guardianship of the state because she has been declared mentally incompetent. She’s not insane, just different, and if people would just leave her alone, she could do just fine for herself. But when her guardian suffers a stroke and she’s assigned to a new guardian, things go from okay to worse.

It takes him some time, but Blomkvist finally uncovers a lead that may answer Henrik’s question. He goes so far with the lead, but then come up short. When he asks Henrik’s lawyer if he knows a good investigator, he reluctant admits that a woman for Milton Securities is the best he’s seen. Her name? Lisbeth Salander. She did his background check. Blomkvist demands to see her report. In reading it, he finds one tiny tidbit of information that could only have come from one place…his own personal computer.

Incensed and intrigued, he arranges to meet and hire Salander to be his research assistant. Together, they uncover the mystery of Harriet’s disappearance, which is part of a conspiracy neither could ever have imagined.

Huh…looks like I managed to say something after all!

I have no choice but to join the legions of people who have read the books and seen the movies and loved the story. Yes, it’s hard to read in some spots due to the graphic nature of the crime involved in Harriet’s disappearance, not to mention all those Swedish names, but it’s worth the time and trouble. If you haven’t read the story yet, I strongly recommend it.

I give this story FOUR and a HALF STARS.

The Keeper of Lost Causes

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Carl Mørck used to be a good homicide detective—one of Copenhagen's best. Then a bullet almost took his life. Two of his colleagues weren't so lucky, and Carl, who didn't draw his weapon, blames himself.

So a promotion is the last thing Carl expects.

But it all becomes clear when he sees his new office in the basement. Carl's been selected to run Department Q, a new special investigations division that turns out to be a department of one. With a stack of Copenhagen's coldest cases to keep him company, Carl's been put out to pasture. So he's as surprised as anyone when a case actually captures his interest. A missing politician vanished without a trace five years earlier. The world assumes she's dead. His colleagues snicker about the time he's wasting. But Carl may have the last laugh, and redeem himself in the process.

Because she isn't dead . . . yet.

--The Keeper of Lost Causes
by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Translated by Tiina Nunnally
Copyright ©August 23, 2011 by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Published Penguin Group (USA)

My Review

Carl Mørck, criminal investigator for the Copenhagen police is returning to work after surviving an ambush that killed one member of his team and paralyzed the other. He’s a gruff man and not popular with his co-workers, to the extent that no one wants to partner up with him. Desiring to get rid of him, or at least put him somewhere where he won’t have much interaction with anyone else, his bosses make him the new head of “Department Q,” a cold-case squad with emphasis on cases that are of “particular interest to the public welfare.” Carl is not happy with his new position, but settles into the offices of Department Q…located in the basement…with his new assistant, Hafez el-Assad.

Sorting through the stack of cases, Carl’s not much interested in any of them, but he keeps coming back to one. Merete Lynggard, vice-chairperson for the Social Democrats in the Folketing (the Danish Parliament), disappeared five years ago while riding the ferry from Rødby, Denmark to Puttgarden, Germany. It was assumed she either fell or jumped overboard as her body had never been found. She was declared legally dead and her handicapped brother was made a ward of the state. It seems pretty cut-and-dried, and he knew he should move on to a different case, but there’s something about this one that keeps nagging at him.

So he starts digging. Assad, though not trained in police investigation, proves to have valuable insight and asks just the right questions to keep Carl moving forward. Everyone believes Merete is dead. So does Carl. But as he digs into a plot of revenge rooted deeply in a disturb mind, he begins to wonder if Merete is still alive. And if she is, can he find her before the ones responsible for her disappearance extract their final revenge?

You know a story’s got you when you’re about three-fourths of the way through and you find yourself dreaming of possible endings and losing sleep over them. Yeah, I did that.

The story moves back and forth between Carl’s investigation in the present and Merete’s life starting shortly before her abduction in 2002. As Carl’s investigation moves forward, Merete’s life in her prison is fast-forwarded until the two timelines converge.

Carl Mønck is a wonderful character, full of flaws and angst and yet you can’t help but pull for him as he works his way through this mystery and tries to sort out his life. He’s separated from his wife, Vigga, and lives with his step-son and a tenant. He has unresolved emotions regarding the ambush that resulted in the death of one member of his team and the paralyzing of another and his own inability to react the way he feels he should have in the situation. Plus he’s dealing with the political games his department heads are playing and trying to figure out how he can best benefit from their maneuvers. And then there’s Carl’s mysterious assistant, Assad. The man definitely has a past, something Carl attempts to get out of Assad without success. But for a man who’s able to solve a five-year-old cold case, finding out exactly why Assad had to leave Syria for Denmark should be no trouble...but that's a story line for another book (I hope).

This is the American release of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s 2007 best-selling novel, Kvinden i buret (Woman in a Cage). It was released in the UK as Mercy and will be released here in the US as The Keeper of Lost Causes.

(Can someone in the publishing industry please clue me in as to why foreign author’s books are constantly being renamed whenever they’re released to a new market?)

This is the first book in the Department Q series. The second and third, Fasandræberne/The Pheasant Killers, and Flaskepost fra P/Message in a Bottle have been published in Denmark and, hopefully, will be available to the English-speaking market soon. I will definitely be looking for them.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.