Barbara S. (barbsis) - , reviewed on 9/11/2011 + 1076 more book reviews

As you know if you've read [book:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo|2429135], Lisbeth Salander has had a very tough life. The details weren't important in the first book but are the main focus of the second. From an early age, she has been a victim of her father, the doctors and even the police, but she has adapted her life to accommodate the injustices done to her with terrible consequences. Even at the age of 26, she is a ward of the state and has to report to a guardian who controls her money and basically her freedom. When it was Holger Palmgren, everything was fine because he realized that Lisbeth was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and doesn't deserve to have her life controlled. However when Palmgren gets ill and Nils Bjurman takes over, Lisbeth is once again in real danger. Amazingly enough, after Bjurman brutally rapes her and Lisbeth retaliates (gotta love her revenge), Bjurman gets pissed off at her nerve and puts a hit out on her. This snowballs into a triple murder which Salander is the prime suspect. A massive manhunt is started which forces Salander to investigate on her own.

Mikael Blomkvist gets involved since one of the murder victims worked for Millennium and of course, Salander is a friend, or something. Mikael is convinced of Salander's innocence and starts an investigation of his own. So now we have three separate investigations on going and the surprises keep coming.

FABULOUS! I totally loved this book which is much more exciting than the first one. I love the inter-connectivity between Mikael's life and Lisbeth's. As improbable as it seems, the connections keep popping up. They live two totally different lives in two totally different sectors, yet A connects to B, and then to C and D with no explanation. I really liked the incompetence of the Swedish police department. The fact that they went strictly on the fingerprints on the weapon even though there was absolutely nothing else to tie Salander to the murders, just mind-boggling. The fact that it took outsiders to solve the case for them is amazing. And the fact that it was Salander is doubly amazing. The cliff hanger ending really has me jonesing for the next installment. I can hardly wait until the library has it available on audio.

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