The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson

Contains spoilers if you haven't read the first two books.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest

by Stieg Larsson

Publisher: Maclehose Press

Hardcover, 599 Pages

From Goodreads:

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…) --Barry Forshaw

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The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest is the third and last book in the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, it is less action packed but just as good as the previous two. This final book in the trilogy is the winding down and wrapping up of the story of Lizbeth, and Blomqvist.

I’m a huge fan of these books, and I’m sad that this is the last book in the trilogy, and the last book by author Stieg Larsson. Mr. Larsson died soon after turning in all three books to his editor. As I’ve mentioned before the characters in this book are superb, especially Lizbeth. She is complex, unique, and well done. She really fascinates me. As usual Stieg Larsson brings back many of the previous character from the first two books, but also introduces many more. Sometimes in the beginning of the books, you get boggled down by names, and trying to remember who’s who, but I usually get everything sorted out in my head by .a fourth of the way in. In The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest we find out about the ‘agency’ that started the whole mess that became Lizbeth’s life. The corruption of course is deep and masked and Blomqvist is the only one who can open pandora’s box. Also, the book covers the fallout of Lizbeth nearly dying and her trial for attempted murder of her father.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest is a political, thrilling, unique edge of your pants read. It’s not as adrenaline pumping as the previous two, so if your expecting a wild ride, it’s not quite that. It is a ride, but of the conspiracy unraveling kind. I truly, truly love these books.

Rating:  5/5

On a side note, I've seen the trailer for the movie The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and I was wondering if anyone has seen it?  I know there are plans for an U.S. release, so far they have a director and Brad Pitt, George Clooney, or Johnny Depp are up for one of the main roles (assuming it's for Blomqvist).  Also, they already have the role of Lizbeth casted, Carey Mulligan.