After quite a gap from the second book in the series I finally got round to completing Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy – The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest. This one starts with the series’s ‘heroine’ Salander critically ill in hospital and Mikael Blomkvist having to show huge resourcefulness to continue his investigation into the secret group within the Swedish Intelligence Service including finding a way to enable Salander to be connected to her network of computer hackers. The ruthlessness of those trying to silence Salander soon becomes apparent and it is a case of everyone having to make careful judgements about who can be trusted and how to communicate with perceived allies. Blomkvist’s investigation reaches its peak just as Salander stands trial and the whole secret organisation tumbles to the ground as all of the loose ends within the trilogy are neatly tied together.
I think I enjoyed the first two books in the series more than this one, perhaps because there was only really one possible finish to the overall story although there was one point in this book when I it seemed that events would take spectacular turn in a direction I was expecting. But in the end, the central characters avoided death and came out on top and all the ‘baddies’ got their come-uppance.
Tim O'Hare 