The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson, Review

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, the finale of Stieg Larsson’s groundbreaking Millennium Trilogy wholeheartedly deserves its place amongst the bestselling crime fiction of this decade.

The action begins swiftly, exactly where Larsson left readers in the cliffhanging ending of  The Girl Who Played With Fire. It is very hard to say too much about the storyline without providing spoilers given this is the third book in the series.

Related read: Our review of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Book 1).

Our favourite characters Lisbeth Salander, computer hacker extraordinaire and the investigative journalist who holds no punches, Mikael Blomkvist are back seeking to right a trail of wrongs.

Without actually uttering a single inappropriate word, they displayed towards her an attitude that was so antediluvian it was almost comical. You shouldn’t worry your pretty head over complex matters, little girl.

Larsson’s The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is one to make a crime fiction fan’s mouth water, oozing with corruption, double-cross and assassins around every corner.

Although this was not originally intended to be the last in the series featuring Salander and Blomkvist, with Larsson reportedly planning 7 more titles, this third novel wraps up the many loose ends quite nicely and does provide sufficient closure for readers. So much so that given the terrible fighting going on with respect to the royalties of Larsson’s legacy, I am not sure that I would even want to read a subsequent novel were someone to complete the unfinished manuscripts reportedly left behind.

Stieg Larsson’s clever and compelling Millennium Trilogy has reignited my love of crime fiction that had waned a little after reading one too many bestselling formulaic outings in the genre. There is nothing formulaic about ‘The Girl…’ series. I have recommended these books unreservedly to all that I know.

BOOK RATING: The Story 5 / 5 ; The Writing 5 / 5

Get your copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest from:

Amazon | Bookshop US | Book Depository | Booktopia AU

Genre: Crime Thriller, Action

• Read more about this bestselling author Stieg Larsson
• Watch a compelling interview with Larsson’s partner, Eva Gabrielsson.

This book counts towards my participation in the Chunkster Reading Challenge and the Finish That Series Challenge.