The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz ★★★ 1/2
The NSA is hacked and a man who knows secrets that a terrorist group based in Germany wants to get its hands on is in danger. When that man takes responsibility for his young son who is autistic and also extremely skilled at mathematics and drawing, the child becomes endangered as well. Lisbeth Salander steps in to aid the boy. In order to do so, she breaks her long silence with Mikhail and asks for his help. She helps Mikhail with information for his story. Lisbeth’s sister, who is also her lifelong nemesis, reappears and her intentions toward Lisbeth are deadly. Codes are cracked, children are saved, some sympathetic characters die, some fall into bed together. Many Swedish streets are named.
I think the first step to enjoying this book is to realize that Lagercrantz’s Lisbeth is not going to be the same as Larsson’s Lisbeth. Of course not; they are different writers. Once you come to grips with that, you can go ahead and immerse yourself in the story. I waited a good long while before picking up this book, but when I did, I enjoyed it. The writing feels a bit less dark and sparse. It was definitely suspenseful. I noticed that the author pretty much names every street that any character is ever on, traveling to, or looking at in the distance. I am not sure why all the street names - perhaps for locals, it would be interesting or grounding? I found it distracting. All in all, a good story. As always, I would have liked to see and hear more from Lisbeth.
★★★ 1/2
The NSA is hacked and a man who knows secrets that a terrorist group based in Germany wants to get its hands on is in danger. When that man takes responsibility for his young son who is autistic and also extremely skilled at mathematics and drawing, the child becomes endangered as well. Lisbeth Salander steps in to aid the boy. In order to do so, she breaks her long silence with Mikhail and asks for his help. She helps Mikhail with information for his story. Lisbeth’s sister, who is also her lifelong nemesis, reappears and her intentions toward Lisbeth are deadly. Codes are cracked, children are saved, some sympathetic characters die, some fall into bed together. Many Swedish streets are named.
I think the first step to enjoying this book is to realize that Lagercrantz’s Lisbeth is not going to be the same as Larsson’s Lisbeth. Of course not; they are different writers. Once you come to grips with that, you can go ahead and immerse yourself in the story. I waited a good long while before picking up this book, but when I did, I enjoyed it. The writing feels a bit less dark and sparse. It was definitely suspenseful. I noticed that the author pretty much names every street that any character is ever on, traveling to, or looking at in the distance. I am not sure why all the street names - perhaps for locals, it would be interesting or grounding? I found it distracting. All in all, a good story. As always, I would have liked to see and hear more from Lisbeth.