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| The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo | 
 enlarge | Author: Stieg Larsson
Creators: Martin Wenner, Reg Keeland
Publisher: Random House Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $15.75
You Save: $14.20 (47%)
New (27) Used (8) from $15.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  60 reviews
Sales Rank: 21739
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Abridged
Number Of Items: 6
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.9 x 5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0739370642
Dewey Decimal Number: 839.738
EAN: 9780739370643
ASIN: 0739370642
Publication Date: September 16, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: still factory sealed, pristine
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2008: Once you start The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, there's no turning back. This debut thriller--the first in a trilogy from the late Stieg Larsson--is a serious page-turner rivaling the best of Charlie Huston and Michael Connelly. 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. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo. --Dave Callanan
Product Description
It’s about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder.
It’s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet’s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism and an unexpected connection between themselves.
Contagiously exciting, it’s about society at its most hidden, and about the intimate lives of a brilliantly realized cast of characters, all of them forced to face the darker aspects of their world and of their own lives.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 55 more reviews...
 Excellent October 9, 2008
While it took close to one hundred pages to get into this book, I am so very glad that I stuck with it. Yes, translations can be clunky, yes, the cast of characters was huge, yes, it was long. It was worth every one of those minor faults and more. It took all those pages and all those characters to create such a marvelous mysterious drama. This author was obviously genius to keep all these plot lines and characters in check. I, too, regret he will not provide more than this trilogy.
 Too slow out of the gate October 9, 2008
The 100-page prologue almost did me in. Because the book had so much positive hype I slogged on, hoping the book would redeem itself. Since our main character is a journalist specializing in the world of finance, the reader is subjected to a very dull, painstaking description of the business world of Sweden. Yawn! Then the "cast of thousands" is introduced. Confusion!
But just when I was ready to pack it in at the end of the prologue, the storytelling improves dramatically. It is almost as if another author takes over the book. I think the prologue material would have been better served up in flashbacks.
The title features the most interesting character in the book: Lisbeth, the girl with the dragon tattoo. Her mind may work differently, but ultimately it is a gift that allows her to see more clearly than the conventional thinkers around her. Unfortunately the view she sees is the dirty underbelly of Swedish culture. I can't wait to read more about her in the rest of the trilogy.
I think the glimpse into Sweden, a milieu I have rarely encountered in novels, was the second most interesting thing about the book. The author skillfully transported me to Hedeby Island where the landscape is an integral part of the story.
In spite of the dreary prologue, the rest of the book was an unexpected romp, full of plot developments that were true surprises. For this reason I give it four stars.
A worthwhile read. October 9, 2008
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson is one of the best reads so far this year. Like the books I've read by other non-American authors it is wordy. Reading Larsson's work was for me similar to reading Umberto Eco. Translated works can take just a bit of commitment, but like Eco's work, Larsson's novel is worth it. Then, of course, there are the Scandinavian names and the constant reference to the Kronor, the Swedish unit of money. For me none of this was a problem, it's just something you deal with when you read a translated work. Trust me, in the end the story makes it all worthwhile.
I also have to admit that I had a real difficult time getting through the early stages of the novel. Until I reached page 100, or there-a-bouts, I really thought that perhaps I'd made a huge mistake and thrown away $24.95 (less the discount). Well, I needn't have worried.
The Girl delivers on every level. Well written, with an intelligent plot that will keep you coming back, wonderful pacing, and great writing style, Larsson treats the reader to a memorable experience that will linger even after you turn the last page. Then there are the memorable characters such as Mikael Blomkvist, a magazine reporter and editor who is on his way to jail for supposedly printing slanderous material on a wealthy industrialist, or Lisabeth Salander, a troubled, tattooed and pierced young woman who is much more resourceful that her guardians or the courts are aware. Only her part-time employer Dragon Armansky appreciates Salander's research talents.
A nearly forty year old disappearance (murder????) of Harriet Vanger, a sixteen year old member of a wealthy Swedish family serves as the center piece of The Girl. There are other plot elements including greed, abuse of women on the most personal levels possible, dysfunctional families, and the list goes on. I won't give a way the ending, don't want to be a spoiler here, but suffice it to say that you'll be glad that you stick with the book until the end.
The sad news is that Larsson died before The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was ever published. The really good news is that there are two additional books he finished before his death. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first in the Millennium series. The Girl Who Played with Fire which is due out in January, 2009, and Castles in the Sky will complete the set. An unfinished fourth part will remain unfinished.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a terrific read. You won't be sorry you picked it up.
This book is GREAT!!! October 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I survived jury duty because of this book! It is a wonderful murder mystery that pulls you in from the first chapter. The characters are extreemly interesting and you find yourself very easily involved with the story. I couldn't put it down! After jury duty I went home and read more, that night I stayed up until 2 AM because I couldn't put it down, the next 2 nights I did the same thing! That doesn't happen to me often.
I don't want to give any of the plot away, so I will say this:
- The plot in very engaging
- The characters are wonderfully fleshed-out
- The layers are complex without being confusing
- It has its dark moments, but doesn't over do it
- The twists in the book are VERY unexpected and greatly entertaining
- The big reveal makes you say "NO WAY!" out loud, much to the dismay of your sleeping husband
- The end is the only way the story could have closed
I highly recommend this book -- just make sure you start it on a Friday, not a Tuesday, or it will ruin your work week :)
Lives up to the hype October 7, 2008
With much trepidation I purchased this book. It seemed like with all the crazy raves it just couldn't be that good. It's that good. Surpassed all expectations and that is so rare. So much solid writing craft here and I think it will become a classic. Vegas Hustler
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