By: Kelsey Murray
Posted In: Opinion
Photo credit: randomhouse.com
Have you ever thought that someone could hack into your computer and watch your every move? It’s a scary thought, and yet very possible.
Lisbeth Salander is that someone. She is one of the main protagonists in Stieg Larsson’s spell binding, crime mystery trilogy novel series. The trio starts with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; a twisted mystery, full of perspectives, cliffhangers and family drama. The story starts with the lense focused on a journalist, Michael Blomvkist, the editor-in-chief of Millennium magazine. Blomvkist has just committed slander and libel against Hens-Erik Wennerstrom, an industrialist from Sweden. While facing jail time, Blomvkist leaves the board of directors of his magazine. Unbeknownst to him, a young girl, an abnormally skinny and computer savvy private investigator, is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the personal life of Blomvkist. Vanger, CEO of the industrial company Vanger Enterprises, needs Blomvkist in more way than one. Blomvkist is sent for and comes to Hedeby Island to meet with Vanger. Blomvkist arrives to find, to his surprise, two requests of him; to write the Vanger family history and to find Henrik Vanger’s missing niece. Harriet Vanger’s disappearance has been a mystery for 40 years. Needless to say, the day by day encounters between Henrik Vanger, Blomvkist and Salander create a rhythmic, crime-solving, sexual scandal that eventually breaks the boundaries of journalism in Sweden. This three novel series sets forth to uncover people’s darkest secrets and get down to the real reason why the novel is named after its quirkiest characters. Stieg Larsson was born in northern Sweden in 1954 and was raised by his grandparents, who became central role models in his life. His grandfather was chastised for his anti-Nazi outbursts, provoking Larsson’s fight to protect equal rights and free speech. Larsson became a journalist and wrote the novel series before he died in 2004. He became editor of the magazine Expo in Sweden and made a difference in the fight against Neo-Nazi activity. Larrson never married, but had a girlfriend named Eva Gabrielsson who lived with him. Throughout the end of his life, Larsson was threatened and kept a low profile due to the presence of Nazi extremists in Sweden. Larsson worked at the magazine during the day and wrote his novels at night. Larsson died of a heart attack at 50 years old and his estate went to his estranged father and brother. The trilogy is full of suspense with never ending twists and turns. This book would delight any reader and is a must read! The novel was published by Random House and is translated from Swedish by Reg Keeland.
