Lisbeth Salander is back again in this fifth book of the Millennium series. Yes, this is the fifth book in the series started by Stieg Larsson and continued by David Lagercrantz after Larsson’s untimely death in 2004.
I loved the first three books in the series that are authored by Stieg Larsson (reviews here, here, and here).
However, I was disappointed with The Girl in the Spider’s web and resolved to forget about this series.
And then The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye came out with a pretty interesting synopsis, and I was sucked back into Salander land again.
About the Book
Lisbeth Salander is an unstoppable force: Sentenced to two months in Flodberga women’s prison for saving a young boy’s life by any means necessary, Salander refuses to say anything in her own defence. She has more important things on her mind.
Mikael Blomkvist makes the long trip to visit every week – and receives a lead to follow for his pains. For him, it looks to be an important expose for Millennium. For her, it could unlock the facts of her childhood.
Even from a corrupt prison system run largely by the inmates, Salander will stand up for what she believes in, whatever the cost. And she will seek the truth that is somehow connected with her childhood memory, of a woman with a blazing birthmark on her neck – that looked as if it had been burned by a dragon’s fire.
~ Synopsis from goodreads
My Review
Two storylines are running throughout this novel. The first concerns Faria, a fellow inmate in Flodberga prison who is being bullied by another notorious prisoner. Salander intervenes using extreme violence and faces heavy consequences. The second and more interesting storyline concerns twins being raised separately.
I don’t want to give out too many details because Lagercrantz has skillfully built up the mystery. But this mystery goes deep into Salander’s past and relationship with her twin sister. It also finally explains Salander’s dragon tattoo.
There are philosophical discussions about nature vs. nurture—something expected when twins are reared differently—and I enjoyed these discussions. I also enjoyed the other characters introduced in this novel and, after a long time, felt satisfied with the character development in the series.
The villains are a bit cartoonish, though, or maybe James Bond-ish in style. There is a mad scientist who runs around with a doctor’s bag of syringes and lethal poisons. There is a ludicrously inept gang boss, and of course, there are the villains de jour – Islamists. Too much? I agree with you, but they were pretty amusing, and I didn’t mind the ridiculousness.
That’s because of the plot’s break-neck pace. I found myself reading and finishing this book in a couple of hours. And even though the plot had many incongruities, I didn’t mind it.
Pacey and mysterious, this book was a winner for me.
