This book, the second in the Millenium trilogy, was not as good as the first (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). The faults in the first book are there in the second, only amplified. Again the build up is very slow, but in TGWPWF it wasn’t until half way that I got hooked. Furthermore much of the first half of the book isn’t really relevant to the story and could have been cut to a few pages. Many of the descriptions throughout the book are just too verbose; the Apple computers and IKEA furniture for example.
The TGWPWF is more of a thriller rather than a mystery and we learn a lot about Lizbeth Salander’s past and how that accounts for her personality. Salander is by far the most interesting character in the book. However while I found her hacking skills and attitudes to authority believable, her superhuman fighting skills just weren’t credible. There is a vulnerable side to Salander and I found the superwoman aspect at odds with that. Still a good read if you can hang in for the first half. 3 stars.
Michael Drysdale 