Author: Stieg Larsson
This is officially the second book I've finished on the Kindle. I promise the novelty will wear off soon, but I love this thing a lot so bear with me.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is the final book in the Millenium trilogy by Stieg Larsson. This book picks up right where the second one leaves off and concludes with Lisbeth Salander finally getting her life and freedom back. The book resolves the whole trilogy perfectly and the ending closes the door on the whole saga really well, allowing Lisbeth to finally be at peace with herself and her new life.
Not much of a synopsis I know, but these books are hard to write any plot details about without giving away major spoilers.
The third book is a little less action-packed and we see a lot more plotting, scheming and actual criminal investigation work than we have before. But Larsson still has a way to keep you fully engaged throughout. The back-and-forth between what the bad guys are trying to do and how the good guys are catching on and figuring out how to stop them is really interesting. There's high-powered corrupt government officials, the FBI, regular blue-collar cops, and investigative journalists all asking questions, following leads, and putting the pieces together.
Which leads me to the same gripe you've heard before from me about these books: the entirely too large cast of characters. There are 13 "main" characters, most of which are investigators working for completely different police organizations, plus supporting characters everywhere. There are two magazine/newspaper staffs, officers of the Stockholm police force, officers in the Swedish version of the FBI, members of the secret police group that exists within the Swedish version of the FBI. I mean it's at least 20 other names to remember and sometimes they're referred to once, then not mentioned again for another few chapters.
Another issue I had with this book was that the author mixed in random subplots that I felt didn't need to be there. They took away from the overall storyline and, again, I never understood the purpose of them or what they were supposed to bring to the big picture.
The trilogy as a whole starts out pretty explosively with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the second book holds its own as well but now that I've had time to think about the books, there's definitely a steady decline in plot, character development and overall draw.
I'd still take the time to read these and enjoyed my overall experience.
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars (too many characters again and the unnecessary subplots)
Coming Up Next: For now, I'm sticking with a regular book but have the following downloaded onto the Kindle for whenever I need it next:
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
World Without End by Ken Follett
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
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