Journal Entry 1 by AliceF from Coventry, Warwickshire United Kingdom on Saturday, September 24, 2011

A young girl lies in a hospital room, her tattooed body very close to death -- there is a bullet lodged in her brain. Several rooms away is the man who tried to kill her, his own body grievously wounded from axe blows inflicted by the girl he has tried to kill. She is Lisbeth Salander, computer hacker and investigator, and the man is her father, a murderous Russian gangster. If Salander recovers from her injuries, she is more than likely to be put on trial for three murders -- the authorities regard her as a dangerous individual. But she won't see the inside of a courtroom if her father manages to kill her first.

This is the high-tension opening premise of the third book in Stieg Larsson’s phenomenally successful trilogy of crime novels which the late author (a crusading journalist) delivered to his publisher just before his death. But does it match up to its two electrifying predecessors, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire? The success of Larsson’s remarkable sequence of books is, to some degree, unprecedented. Crime fiction in translation has, of course, made a mark before (notably with Peter Hoeg’s Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, published, in fact, by Larsson's British publisher, Christopher MacLehose). But even the success of that book gave no hint of the juggernauts that the Salander books would be (the late author's secondary hero is the journalist Blomqvist -- who bears more than a passing resemblance to Stieg Larsson himself).

There are two overriding reasons for the hold that this massive trilogy has attained on the public: machine-tooled plotting which juggles the various narrative elements with a master's touch and (above all) the vividly realised character of Lisbeth Salander herself. She is something of a unique creation in the field of crime and thriller fiction: emotionally damaged, vulnerable and sociopathic (all of this concealed behind a forbidding Goth appearance), but she is also the ultimate survivor, somehow managing to stay alive despite the machinations of some deeply unpleasant villains (and the new book has a slew of those) as well as the hostility of often stupid establishment figures, who want her out of the picture quite as passionately as the bad guys. She is, of course, aided by the protective journalist Blomqvist, despite the fact that she had dumped him as a lover. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest brings together all the elements that have made the previous books of the sequence so successful. Its relentless pace may be a bit exhausting for some readers, but most will be happy to strap themselves in for the ride. It's just a shame that this will be the final book in the sequence (though conspiracy theorists are hinting that Larsson began another manuscript before his untimely death…)  

Journal Entry 2 by AliceF at BCUK UnConvention 2011, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Sunday, September 25, 2011

Released 8 mos ago (9/24/2011 UTC) at BCUK UnConvention 2011, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Released at the 2011 UnConvention. 

Journal Entry 3 by ekranda at Northampton, Northamptonshire United Kingdom on Saturday, October 01, 2011

picked up from the table at Nottingham Uncon. (sorry it's taken me so long to journal). Was very pleased to spot this one as it is on my wishlist :0) 

Journal Entry 4 by ekranda at Northampton, Northamptonshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Yet again I became gripped by the unfolding story surrounding Salander and Blomkvist. My only criticism of this story however is that there was so much detail involved. The back of the book contains notes providing further explanation to issues arising within the storyline and I found this amount of depth just slowed me down whilst trying to follow the story line.

This 3rd book swiftly followed book 2 - I had to pick it up as soon as possible as book 2 left me with some massive questions that i just needed to get answered as soon as possible!! I found it gripping and interesting and enjoyed the expansion of characters both old and new from the other books. I am currently looking forward to obtaining the films of the last two books of this series and would recommend it to others to read and enjoy.