The Girl that Kicked the Hornet's Nest: Book 3 of the Millennium trilogy (Stieg Larsson)

I realise it's a bit strange to be reviewing book 3 of the Millennium trilogy without having reviewed the first two, but I do hope you'll forgive me since I only started this blog a while after reading the first two installments. I can tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed all the books in the series.

For me this book kept me waiting with bated breath to find out what the fate of Lisbeth Salander was to be. If you have not been following the series, I suggest you start from the beginning.

Lisbeth first worked with Mikael Blomkvist when she assisted him in investigating the disappearance of a young girl by the name of Harriet Vanger which occurred a long time back. In exchange for solving this mystery, Mikael would be given information regarding Wennerstrom by the girl's uncle Henrik Vanger which would enable him to clear his name with respect to a libel case which he had lost. Needless to say, they solved the case and went on to bury Wennerstrom with the information they gathered.

Lisbeth and Mikael part ways when Lisbeth abruptly ends all contact with Mikael. However their paths cross when Mikael starts working on a new story for the magazine, Millennium, on sex trafficking. When Mikael discovers the bodies of the key reporter and his girlfriend in their apartment, he hardly imagined that Lisbeth would end up being the prime suspect for their murders. Mikael refuses to believe that she's guilty despite all the evidence pointing to her. In his attempt to prove her innocence and discover the truth behind the elusive Zala, the central figure of the story, he uncovers some unexpected information on Lisbeth herself. Lisbeth tracks down Zala and his associate, Ronald Niedermann, and barely escapes alive.

Now both Lisbeth and Zala are in hospital, with Zala claiming that Lisbeth in fact tried to kill him. So Lisbeth is to be arrested and must stand trial for attempted murder, together with a few other charges. But before they can handcuff Lisbeth and drag her off to a prison cell, she must be cleared by her doctor. Given that Lisbeth had a bullet and its fragments removed from her brain, it would be awhile before she would see that prison cell. In the meantime, Mikael together with the "Knights of the Idiotic Table" get to work trying to uncover a secret organisation within the Security Police which will not only clear Lisbeth's name, but will also give her back her life. But in order to succeed they must the dangerous path that they're on.

I rate this book 4.5/5 stars. Although parts of the book drag on for a bit, it's still very hard to put down. Lisbeth Salander is a character who creates conflicting feelings for the reader. On the one hand she isn't exactly a stellar citizen, yet you still wish to see her free. I would highly recommend this book to avid (adult) readers.
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