The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

This was a great book. The beginning was a little slow at first, but got better and better as the story progressed. I really enjoyed the references to classic detective writers such as Agatha Christie and Astrid Lindgren.

Surprisingly my favorite character was the genius hacker Lisbeth Salander. When she first appeared in the story I felt she was a pretty one dimensional character. But as the mystery progresses you get to see how her past experiences have shaped her life and made her the strong willed woman she is.

It's tempting to go into more detail about the story, but then I would be giving away some plot points.

However I need to briefly discuss one aspect of the novel that was chilling and hard for me to read. One of the underlying themes in Larsson's work is violence against women. Some of situations presented in the book were uncomfortable to read - but violence against women shouldn't be comfortable to read about. So if you're a bit squeamish maybe you should pass on this book.

I do recommend this book, it is edgy, contemporary, and full of original characters. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is the first in a trilogy written by Stieg Larsson. Unfortunately the author died after completing the novels. The second in the trilogy "The Girl Who Played with Fire" will be available July 28, 2009.