The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

In 22 days, I ready 655 pages - about 30 pages a day.  But in reality, when I did read it, I would read 40 or 50 pages at a time, so I read this book over about two actual weeks.

The first two books were suspenseful and enthralling.  This one had all the suspense and thrill too.  But as I was reading it, I wondered if it really was going to be predictable or not.  I had this feeling about how I knew the book was going to end, but at the same time, I wondered if that is what the author intended and therefore was going to throw a major curve-ball at the end of the book.  It was that way for about the first 3/4ths of the book.

But by the time Blomkvist is rescued from the Yugoslav hit-men, I knew how the book was going to end.  Up the that point, I was teetering between "predictable ending" vs. "curve-ball".  After Blomkvist survived and the trial started, I wasn't in suspense as much.  The best way I can describe it is how I feel playing a long chess game.  Who is going to win remains in doubt for about the first 20 to 30 moves.  But then one player begins to gain small advantages and then reaches a tipping point when you know what the outcome is going to be.  From that point on, it's just a matter of finishing the game.  That's how this book read for me.

Now, the last part of the book was a bit unexpected.  I had completely forgotten about Niedermann until he entered the scene again at the very end of the book.  The last 30 or so pages were like the last big firework in a 4th of July fireworks display.

I'm selling all three books to Half Price Books tonight - I don't really want these books sitting around collecting dust and I don't think my wife will want to read them.  Also, I found all three movies (Swedish versions) on Netflix.  Not sure I'll watch them, but I'm tempted.

If I can find them at HPB tonight, I plan on getting Tipping Point, Outliers & Blink - all three by Malcolm Gladwell.  I keep running into articles citing one of these books - it must be a sign.

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

The first quarter of this book read much like Dragon Tattoo.  It did a lot of setting up, but it wasn't really exciting or gripping.  The foreshadowing parts where you enter the world of Zala and his ilk gets you interested, but when the scene shifts back to Blomkvist or Lisbeth, it just moves slow.

Until just now, I had forgotten that Lisbeth spent the first quarter of the book travelling around the world.  Again, other than just setting up the background, the first part of the book just didn't hum along very fast.

But once you get past that, the book accelerates and is hard to put down.  This one was much better than the first.  The theme is still gritty, but there is much more intrigue and suspense than the first - at least that how it felt to me.

Also unlike the first one, this one ends quite abrubtly.  I remember reading the last few chapters of Dragon Tattoo and thinking that it was taking forever to finish.  This one, however, came to a halting stop.  Thankfully, Larsson publishes the first few pages of Hornet's Nest to somewhat alleviate the shock at the end of the book.

I bought the first two books in paperback.  Hornet's Nest comes out in paperback on February 21.  So I plan on reading King's Gambit until the 3rd book comes out in paperback.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I got sucked into this one with everyone else.  Several months ago, I heard Rush Limbaugh talk about these books.  I didn't think much of it at the time ... he piqued my interest, but at the time, I was just starting to get into Patrick O'Brian.

So when I saw that Daniel Craig was starring in the English re-make of the movie, I decided I needed to read the books (I like the James Bond movie and I think Craig is the best Bond ever).

It started out really interesting.  In between sections and chapters were little stats about abuse of women in Sweden.  I began to realize the author was going to make a point.  Now - I dove into this book cold-turkey.  I didn't really do any research on it before I began reading ... I just picked it up.  So I wasn't really prepared when a few parts got quite graphic.

After I finished the book, I read on wikipedia that Larsson wrote these books because he felt bad for not stopping a rape of a girl when he could have.

Other than the graphic parts, the book was quite good and entertaining.  Larsson does a good job painting a picture of the story.  However, the one thing I was somewhat expecting, was a complex plot-line with lots of twists and turns.  This didn't meet that expectation.  In fact, one of the first thoughts that popped into my mind was that Harriet was still alive and was, indeed, the person sending the flowers.  The details of how that story fits, of course, meandered and was the "meat" of the story, but I was somewhat expecting something different - more complex.

Anyway - overall, it was a good book.  Mentally, I file this book in the same folder as Dan Brown's books.  I plan to finish the trilogy ... I'm reading Played with Fire now.

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Like Where Eagles Dare, I ended up reading No Country for Old Men after watching the movie. I enjoy the Coen brothers' movies and as such decided to watch the movie. After watching and enjoying (if that is the right word) the movie, I found the Cormac McCarthy section at the local library and checked out the book.

The Summary

A hunter named Moss finds a stash of cash from a drug sale out in the middle of nowhere Texas. The drug sale apparently went bad as there are dead bodies all around. Moss finds one survivor who begs for agua. Moss goes home, hides the money and as unbelievable as it sounds, decides to go back to the place to give the dying Mexican his last wish. Moss becomes the hunted when a bounty hitman named Chigurh spots him. The rest of the book is how the Chigurh hunts down Moss.

The local sheriff Ed Tom Bell investigates the failed drug sale and subsequently the stolen cash. He tries to hunt down Chigurh and to help Moss, but as the title of the book suggests, this line of work is not suitable for old men. The old sheriff decides to call it quits before he too becomes a casuality.

Opinion

The movie remains pretty faithful to the book. The plot and the storytelling in the book and movie are deep. Ed Tom Bell's monologues really make you think about good and evil in the world. I couldn't help but put myself in the sheriff's shoes and ask myself what I would do.

Moss is an interesting character. I was really pulling for him in both the book and the movie. But the reality of evil has a firm grip in the story.

Chigurh is pure evil. I've never seen a more villinous character in all my readings of books and watchings of movies. He is cold, calculating and wholly evil.

McCarthy's writing is very different. He doesn't use quotations or punctuation. I liked his style. That is why I can't wait to read The Road.

This is one of those books that I may go back and read again at some point.