Like most of world, it seems, I've spent the better part of the last few months plowing through Steig Larsson's Millennium trilogy (better known as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Kicked the Hornet's Nest). Unlike a lot of readers, however, I was a little late to the party. I'd seen the books reviewed several times and vaguely recognized them when I passed them in the bookstore, but being a college student and a bit of a girly-girl, they just seemed a little too far out of my comfort zone.
Fast forward to last month's release of the long-awaited third book. After reading approximately 38,576,840,093 reviews of the third book and at least that many essays about Larrson himself, I couldn't resist the temptation any longer. I bought the first book and dove in. Or tried to. One of the characteristics of all three books in this series seems to be a slow start. Although I found the premise of the book intriguing, I wasn't hooked until almost 100 pages in; then, I couldn't put it down. Maybe it was something about the way the plot suddenly veered off the tracks of predictable corporate mystery and became a heck of a lot more like Ten Little Indians. And really, who can resist a classic whodoneit? Especially one that takes place in Sweden's seedy underworld and somehow still manages to incorporate computer hackers, a government conspiracy born during the Cold War, and a lowly journalist seeking the truth?
At the risk of adding my opinion to a swarm of other reviews and such, I'm going to focus on yet another key component of Larsson's novel: the sandwiches. Unsuspecting readers might think I'm trying to be funny, and I am, to a certain extent, but sandwhiches are such a presence in this series that they could have been included in the title. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and Ate a Sandwich, if you will. Between reclusive Lisbeth Salander's penchant of polishing off six sandwiches in a single sitting and journalist Mickael Blumquest's chain-coffee drinking habit, the series is almost as much of a love letter to food as it is to crime noir as a genre. And it left me wondering if Larsson missed a good turn as a food journalist somewhere along the line.
I'd highly recommend these books to anyone who likes a solid mystery series with a little bit of intrigue around it. Just one warning: you might want to arm yourself against temptation with a loaf of bread, your sandwich filling of choice, and a pot of coffee.
P.S. Interesting article about a possible 4th book in the series for those who are interested :): http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gMZYwgW9yi-Pm9BkhjBZLTTDEMxw
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