The Girl in the Spider’s Web – Book Review

I just finished reading the fourth book in the Millennium series (which sounds better than admitting that this is book four of the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy). So, let me start with some background and then I’ll tell you what I thought about the book.

The original trilogy (by Stieg Larsson) which began with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was published, first in Sweden, after the author’s death in 2004. It became an international bestseller and eventually spawned four motion pictures. (Just my opinion, but the Swedish movies are the best. Subtitled or in dubbed English, they are excellent! The American version of the first book directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig was underwhelming enough that nobody bothered to make the next two. And the newest movie, based on the fourth book, recently appeared on a list of the year’s worst movies. I haven’t seen it yet, but maybe I’ll review it once I’ve seen it.)

The publisher, with the cooperation of the author’s family, enlisted another Swedish author, David Lagercrantz, to continue the series. This book is his first attempt at recreating the magic of the series. (Supposedly, the partner of the original author claims to have a laptop containing an almost completed original fourth book along with outlines and notes for additional books to comprise a ten book series. Interesting!)

So, here’s my take on the new book. I liked it, but honestly, I wasn’t blown away or anything. On the positive side, the book does a good job of staying true to the characters, in particular the two main ones, Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. (It’s been a while since I read the original, but I do think Lisbeth is a bit too talkative in this one. I seem to remember her being a lot less loquacious.) And the story is decent, although mainly an action/adventure and less a psychological thriller. Overall, it’s an okay crime novel, and it’s good to see the character of Lisbeth Salander live on!

Now for the negatives. Spoiler alert – the two main characters don’t appear together for 99.9% of the novel. They spend practically the entire book communicating, infrequently, by email or phone! So much for continuing the obvious chemistry between the two of them.

Secondly, the main villain, Camilla Salander is also a disappointment in many ways. Based on her description, the evil twin sister of Lisbeth, a mysterious and shadowy underworld crime boss, I was intrigued, but then she basically shows up for about five or six pages and is pretty much invisible for the rest of the book. And again, spoiler alert – she and Lisbeth never appear together! So, no big sister showdown.

Finally, the ending of the book is somewhat blah. The villain and her main henchman get away and I couldn’t help feel like the whole thing was deliberately set up to produce a sequel, which apparently has already been published. Because I do love the main characters, I will probably read it as well, and when I do, perhaps I will write another review. Until then, keep reading! It’s good for you!