5 comments about The Girl Who Played with Fire.

1. Wow - this really is incredible stuff, I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, not only is this more of the same it gets better! I dont think I can wait for the third book to get a paperback release, what a great author the late Stieg Larsson was.



2. As someone who doesn't read a lot of fiction, I highly enjoyed Larsson's tale of the convoluted life that is Lisbeth Salander. The author does an excellent job at building a noir atmosphere that fits the plot, and Larsson's habit of quickly switching the third-person narration from character to character is manageable by the reader. While the plot includes some dead ends and some false information, it's still easy to find a rooting interest in the story, and the last 100 pages or so are impossible to put down.
   
   That being said, there are a couple of flaws that keep the text from being fantastic. Larsson apparently attended the Stephenie Meyer school of exposition, which means that the center of the book tends to be dragged down by its own minutia. Similarly, the heroine (Lisbeth Salander) is such an engaging person that, when she disappears, the plot also slows to a crawl.
   
   Overall, Larsson produced an entertaining, if long, read that keeps your attention and draws you in to a world where you're not going to be able to wait for the final book of the trilogy.



3. To follow the style of the original title of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," I think this book should have been named "A Woman Who Hates Men Who Hate Women." Too convoluted? Yes, but oh so true to the story!
   
   On the surface, "The Girl Who Played with Fire" is about sex trafficking and prostitution in Sweden and high-ranking men who abuse underage girls. But, just like the first novel, it's not quite that simple - the story gradually morphs into a tale of sexual prejudice, abuse of power, and governmental conspiracy. And even more, this book is about Lisbeth Salander, her past, her roots and the events in her life that made her who she is - a violent vigilante who hates men who hate women.
   
   It is a great book, much more so in the second half than in the first. We get to know and understand Salander much better, her personal story is painful and at the same time inspiring, her violent crusade against abusers is compelling.
   
   However, as much as this book is a page-turner, the flaws can't be overlooked. The novel has a slow start - too many pages are dedicated to exploring everyone's sexual preferences/histories/partners/encounters, "testing" of Salander's newly acquired breast implants, etc. This part should have been trimmed down. Do I really need to know that Erika prefers doing IT with two men? Don't think so. The other thing that is even more apparent in this book is that Larsson has a habit of repeating himself, narrating the same events several times by multiple characters. Editing should have taken care of it. And my final qualm, this novel just seems a little incomplete, there are some loose ends left and it definitely lacks an epilogue that would tie the story together.
   
   Regardless of the flaws, "The Girl Who Played with Fire" is a worthy sequel and I think fans of the first book will enjoy the second just the same. I did and am now anxiously awaiting the release of "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest."



4. So I purchased this book after reading the "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo", which I loved. It's such a great page turner. I don't read mystry novels, but after reading these two I might get in to more. Can't wait for the third book to come out already pre-ordered it. If you're not sure you want to buy this one don't think any further and just purchase the book. ENJOY!



5. Cannot wait for the third book of this triology to come out in May. Very interesting type of mystery that you really don't want to end! This is the second book. First is "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo".

5 comments about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

1. I'm a reader, not a writer, so I'm not going to write a tome of analysis here. The main thing is while I was able to relate to the concept of an introverted, anti-social 90-lb female borderline-autistic genius becoming a professional hacker and investigative researcher, I was not able to extend that to a person who submits herself willingly to abuse.
   
   The book is almost pat in its Corporate Evil vs Independent Righteousness.



2. i got a lot of casual sex, casual cheating, casual adultery. sexual amorality.
   i'll cheat on my wife with you while you cheat on your husband with me.
   and they'll just have to accept it.
   sex with a girl half his age who "looks 15".
   and this is the hero. repugnant.
   it reads like a 14 year old boy's bad sexual fantasy. juvenile.
   
   not my cup of tea.



3. I did not like this book. VERY hard to comprehend with the $, business and twisted lingo weaved throughout the entire book. Very scary if this brutality against women was the author's reality. Liked nothing about this book. Pick up something else for a good read.



4. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is part missing girl mystery, part financial shenanigans investigative journalism expose, part serial killer thriller, part computer geekery and hacker insider dope, and part exploration of the way a dysfunctional woman can function highly efficiently when focused. Take an absorbing, magnetic story and mix in a lot of intrigue with engrossing characters and you've got a 590 page novel that clips along without boring its readers.
   Mikael is an investigative financial reporter who is part owner of the magazine Millennium. He writes and prints an exegesis about the crooked dealings of a money titan named Wennerstrom. Unfortunately the titan sues him for libel, Mikael loses, and gets a ninety-day jail sentence and a fine. Fortunately he gets hired by eighty-two-year-old Henrik Vanger to write a family history but especially to look into the disappearance of his grandniece Harriet Vanger some forty years before. Henrik wants to know why the family murdered her and why they have been trying to drive him insane with a yearly gift of a single flower on his birthday.
   Lisbeth Salander, the fascinating title character, is a misfit, a loner, a hippie, an avenger, and a hacker who joins Blomkvist in an investigation that puts both of them in great physical danger. She wouldn't want you to feel sorry for her (she could care less what other people thimk of her), but you do develop an affinity for her.
   This is the third book the Millennium trilogy by the late Stieg Larsson who died at the age of fifty in 2004. Parts of the book are very suspenseful, melodramatic and action-packed, but it is the story itself, the author's way of telling you the story, and the pull of the characters that will hold your interest. The book has an excellent plot, well-narrated with vivid hypnotic characters. It gets more exciting as it rolls along and pulls you in. It's better when it's dealing with the machinations of the dysfunctional Vanger family on their own island, than it is when dealing with the Wennerstrom financial hoopla in the last section.
   It's a long slog but well worth it with graphic serial killer stuff in addition to the missing girl story. I don't think I'm ready for the other two books in the series yet but will read them eventually.



5. I enjoyed this book from start to finish due to the use of rich characterization, simple problems with not so simple answers, and fantastic pacing. It has a very intelligent tone with enough polar sexuality woven in to illustrate several variations of what sex can be (good, bad, evil, etc.), and I found that intriguing. If you have already read the book, the movie is already out on DVD and can be imported. Also, I was very much into the movie "Randomocity", which has some similar tones to Stieg Larsson's novel dealing with female abuse and the evils of it. Check that out on Amazon if you haven't already too!

No comments about The 9th Judgment (The Women's Murder Club).

5 comments about The Lost Symbol.

1. It has to be absolutely one of the worst books I have ever read. The plot twists you can see them coming a mile away. The ending is so weak and stupid that it just doesn't make any sense. If you still want to know what happens in Robert Langdon latest adventure I would suggest you wait for the movie; that way you will still waste some hours, but at least no more than two (hopefully)



2. I loved The DaVinci Code (read it first), and really enjoyed Angels and Demons. Liked everything else until now. I plodded through it because it COULD have worked. Good idea. Good plot (generally). Just did NOT pull together.



3. I checked this book out from the library (actually, I got it on audio and downloaded it into my itunes) and am very glad I paid not a cent for it. The best part about the time I spent with this book was the narrator, who has an eveness of expression and a versitile vocal range that was also fantastic in the audio of DaVinci Code. But as I listened to this book, Lost Symbol, while at work, I became so irritated with hearing the same words over and over again - Dan Brown's signature words - that I began to take note of how bloody often they came up, both from character's mouths and in the story's descriptions; indeed these words are staggerinly overused in this book. It would not be a stretch to postulate, in fact, that the following words were mentioned six times on each page; I simply kept a notepad document open and added a word if I heard it more than a dozen times:
   
   brotherhoods, wisdom, mysteries, secret, guardians, history, myth, centuries, religious, masons, masonic, custodians, feared, ancient, protecting, impenetrable, perfect, precise, empowering, impenetrable, portal, symbol, engraved, unveil, dangerous, precision, decipher, encoded, secret language, mysterious, encrypted, obscured, mankind, imbued, unveils, sacred, decipher, scholar, well known, early philosophers and artists, instant, in accordance, modern, meticulous, art, cataclysmic, unleash, dire, destroyed, crimson, ordained, key, map, mystical traditions, alchemist...
   
   I apologize if my list repeats itself; I must've spent too much time with this novel (bada bing!).
   
   So what I recommend for those considering reading this book, is that you simply read the above words, weave a ridiculous and anticlimactic story between them, and save yourself the two weeks I wasted by simply making up your own plot. I bet you'll come up with something better/more interesting/more plausible. And if you still must read this book, only read every OTHER chapter and you won't miss a beat, since there are no less than 175 throw-away pages in this tired, sad, past-its-prime, beating a dead horse, little book.



4. I'm not going to write an A-Z review--it is too well covered by everyone else. I would like to focus just on one point, as I've recently read Steve Berry's Templar Legacy as well as this in quick succession---I'm weary of these inane endings where some stunning revelation is (or is not) made and then no one ever finds out about it. It is beyond belief that so many important things can happen--and then they are just covered up. If you can live with the inevitable "HUH? You gotta be kidding..." which is particularly going to happen with this book, which ends with a whimper not a bang, it is a fun read. But authors who bite off more than they can chew inevitably wind up disappointing in the end. Brown had nowhere to go with this.



5. Dan Brown sticks to a winning formula. In the timespan of one day, Robert Langdon goes through a dramatic thrilling adventure. Similar to 'The Da Vinci Code', Dan Brown is excellent in mixing history, religion, philosophy, science and legends to make the story even more compelling. I could not rest until I finished the book - highly entertaining, frantic and breathtaking!

5 comments about Shutter Island Low Price MTI CD.

1. This was an extremely nice distraction from all the thought-provoking literature I've been reading nowadays.
   
   I think one of the HUGE differences between "literature" and "popular fiction" is the reading level the book is written on. No, I don't think one is better than the other-they both have their place in life. Honestly, popular fiction is usually a much quicker read for me and I'm riveted to my seat to discover what happens next.
   
   But that's the subject of a different (and upcoming) post :)
   
   Set in the 1950's, Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane is about a U.S. Marshal, Teddy Daniels, who is called to a criminal psychiatric hospital to search for an escaped patient, a woman who murdered her children.
   
   This is my first introduction to Lehane's work-I've not read or seen his best known work, Mystic River-and I enjoyed it.
   
   In Shutter Island, the point of view placed you over Teddy's shoulder. This is probably my favorite point-of-view for a story-it's also one of the most used for the advantages it gives. For this novel, it was key-you see the story's reality through the eyes of the character. Any other character's point of view would have given you a completely different story and not had the effect that Lehane was looking for.
   
   If I was going to suggest a few of the best examples of the use of this particular point-of-view, this novel would definitely be on the list.
   
   The story works and works well, however I will admit that the ending wasn't a huge surprise. No, I didn't see it coming, but I also didn't try to figure out (most of) the clues when they were given.
   
   That's fine with me-when the ending was finally revealed, I was definitely engaged with the characters and, by that time, surprise wasn't an issue. I could swear that I've seen this entire story done before in a different way-ending and all-so, for me, it doesn't have that completely "unique" feel to it. And that's ok too.
   
   Sometimes it's nice to sit back and just be led down the story by the author rather than to try to figure out what the author was doing. Suspense is nice-the reader should always WANT to know what's going on. Adding clues the reader can figure out is fun as well, but you want to be careful about revealing too much through those clues. I've read a few reviews of this novel that say the ending was obvious-I think those readers figured out the clues before the author actually wanted them to.
   
   So, for a quick and fun read, this was a really good book. I've heard there's a movie out based on the book with Leonardo DiCaprio and a few other stars directed by Martin Scoresce. I think I'll pass on the movie. While yeah, it might be entertaining, I don't feel the need to see it performed on the screen.



2. I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie... and I am so glad I did. I love this style of writing, and this was my first Lehane book. I am hooked. Wow. Some were disappointed in the ending, but I thought it was perfect. Kept me turning page after page. Ready for my next one...



3. The worst thing I did was start reading Shutter Island. It was supposed to be a weekend of intense work, instead it became an Lehane obsession. I couldn't put the book down. I read it cover to cover in one day. It had a mix of everything I loved in suspense novels. I suspected the ending earlier as he dropped one or two clues, but when it hit I was like "no! no! no!". I still think about that book and shake my head. Loved it!



4. Thankfully I decided to read this book before I watched the movie that had been somewhat recently released. Shutter Island by in far reminds me very much of another book I'd read a long while back, called The Magus by Fowles, which is another excellent book that should be read by pretty much everyone.
   I finished Shutter Isl in just about two days and it was a fantastic page turner, as usual the movie is a sickly phantom of the book, a crib note to the story proper. This has been my first Lehane book but certainly not my last, and if you still can, read this book before you see the movie, you'll thank yourself later.
   imo a fun and visceral must read.
   (reviewed on Kindle)



5. Product received promptly and in good condition. Very good seller. Would do business with again.

No comments about Deliver Us from Evil.

5 comments about Fantasy in Death.

1. J. D. Robb has done it. Great mystery staged in 2060. Eve Dallas and her husband, Roark interacting with her NYPD team to solve this murder mystery. Best one yet in the series.



2. I have been reading JD Robb books for several years now. Each and every one of them has been excellent and better than the one before.



3. The very first book in this series had some plot weaknesses but well defined characters and an interesting World. I've read all the rest since then and I've become a fan. This book, unfortunately, is the weakest since the very first. I find it strange that J. D. Robb, in her alter ego as Nora Roberts is one of the World's most highly read romance authors, because relationships, frankly (at least in this book) are not her strong point. The dialogue is witty and dead on, except when her characters talk of their emotions, when it becomes sappy, over-wrought and generally unbelievable. Roarke and Eve's frequent, passionate declarations of love make me wince, and their several obligatory sex scenes were boring. In addition, the plot in this one depends upon a deus ex machina device that was predictable early on but not at all believable. I get the feeling that the author was working on a deadline and rushed this one through. Let's hope that she works a little harder on the next one.



4. I enjoy this series of books that JD Robb writes and look forward to the next one that will be issued.



5. I love J.D. Robb's books for the most part. But every now and again she writes a real dud and this was one of those times. It was boring, the murder merely rehashed over and over. And never mind having to suspend belief ~ no matter how hard I tried to swallow the fuzzy explanation for what had happened I just couldn't do it. And Eve as an electronics whiz? I don't think so. Read it if you must, but don't pay hardcover.

5 comments about The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity.

1. I am sorry - other reviews are so glowing - but I hated this book - and cannot believe I finished reading it - I should have stopped midway throught when it started to annoy me.
   Annoying - is the best thing I can say about it - I thought most of it was drivel - and I was thoroughly and most definitely depressed when i turned the final pages.



2. This book is amazing! So insightful...really makes you think. Although some of the chapters, events, statements may not totally agree with your religious doctrines, the goal of the book is this: GOD IS LOVE. What better message? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will read it again and again for inspiration, hope and faith. I recommned it to every one I know.



3. This is such a well written and thought provoking novel. I enjoyed every second of it and it made me think long and hard about God and what kind of man made rituals and concepts are just installed in us while growing up. I think everyone should read this book once.



4. I received this book as a Christmas gift in 2008. The guy who gave it to me was moved deeply by it. It sat on my bookshelf for quite a while until I picked it up. It took me a while to do so because I thought it would be just an ordinary fictionalized account of a christian guy's struggle with tragedy. While it was just that, the writer does a good job conveying the message that God truly does work in "mysterious ways." Is that a convenient way to deal with tragedy and to seek false comfort? Maybe, maybe not. But what's for sure is that faith in a higher power surely provides a perspective that helps ease the pains of life. Why did the daughter have to die, and so tragically?? Why does anyone have to die? At the end of our questions, we find God in whom/which we can place our questions and look to for hope and strength. That's what this book is about. Finding hope and transformation/restoration through tragedy.



5. After reading The Shack, I certainly had alot to think about. This book gives the reader another view on forgiving one self for past mistakes, and forgiving other. The book drew me in from the very beginning, I even read the preface , which I rarely do, and I glad I did, because I would have missed some very important points of the book. I enjoyed it so much I purchased several other copies for family and friends to read.

5 comments about Split Image (Jesse Stone).

1. I read this book after inquiring what to read after finishing Robin Hobb's trilogies (Farseer, Liveship Traders, and the Tawny Man.)
   
   This is a different style of book, which may be why I did not like it, but I was told that the relationship between the main characters was delightful and worth it.
   
   Well, most of the book consisted of dialogue, the characters were slightly interesting, I felt no connection between Jesse and Sunny, and the ending was unsurprising and elicited absolutely no emotion in me whatsoever. I was glad when the book was over and glad that I did not purchase the book but borrowed it from the library.
   
   On the good side: it was a very quick read, so it didn't waste too much of my time.
   
   Still trying to find books as good as Robin Hobb's.



2. Typical Parker with his quick wit. Not his greatest but hardly a throwaway !



3. 
   The Jesse Stone novels are always a good read. This one isn't as good as most but is still a good story. At last he seems to be rid of that irritating relationship with his ex-wife.



4. Robert Parker was one of my favorite authors. Split Image was another great read.
   I will miss Robert Parkers books, hope Tom Sellek will make a tv movie out of this.



5. Heard Robert Parker was a good mystery writer. This was my first book of his. He may have been skilled earlier in his career but this one was done strictly for the bucks. Thin plot, weak characters, lots of white space, large font size. My first and last Parker novel. Sorry he passed away but this was a big zero.

5 comments about The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

1. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is the last of the series. Because of the author's death, we will not see any more books, and it is impossible to read this novel and not feel that there was more left to say about these characters, and this spectacular heroine. However, I will say that he wraps up all the major plot threads. I was less than compelled by a couple of the subplots in this book, and I became a little weary of how sexually irresistible the male protagonist supposedly is. However, the courtroom climax is tremendous. While my least favorite of the three, I read this conclusion as compulsively as I read the other two. Truly, a compelling series. And, atypically for most thrillers of this type, quite feminist!



2. I just finished the 3rd book of the trilogy and wish there were more but unfortunately I will just have to wait a while and the read the books again. My dear husband picked it up at the English bookstore in Paris for me. Nice surprise. Friends and family are arguing over who gets it next!!!



3. I thought that the first book in this series the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" was a mediocre serial killer mystery, the second book "the Girl who played with Fire" a heart stopping/edge of your chair action thriller, and "The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" a better written version of The Firm". Together all three parts add up to make a top-notch trilogy. Stieg Larsson stays true to his character. At this time there is no cure for autism, and Salander, the central female character remains a unique blend of brain, brawn and social ineptitude. In the Girl Who kicked the Hornest Nest we find Salander in the hospital recovering from the severe injuries she received at the end of book two. Certainly down but never to be counted out, she fights back this time with more brain-power, then brawn. Until the last few pages......
   
   Mikael Blomkvist is an excellent journalist who will follow a story with the tenacity of a dog with a bone, he is oblivious to the impact he has on the opposite sex, and makes a better friend than lover.
   
   Many of the wonderful character from book two such as Detectives Bublanski and Modig are back. Berger takes a job as an administrator at a large newspaper and finds she has a stalker on her trail. We are also introduced to a secret organization within the security branch who will do anything to make sure that their illegal actions are not revealed.
   
   During the last 100 we are taken to court, where Salander with the help of her friends will try and defend herself against the trumped up charges against her, and try to keep herself out of a psychiatric ward.
   
   I had been a little concerned that perhaps this third book would have a lot of loose ends which obviously now cannot be tied up. Not the case. Not to give anything away, but those looking for poetic justice will not be disappointed. The last page actually brought tears to my eyes, as in my opinion the author got it so right. Even though I thought book one the weak link, I suggest reading them as close together as you can, so that you do not forget any of the characters. Highly recommended



4. The final installment in Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy is a book I wanted so badly I ordered it from amazon.uk, and wanted to prolong so badly I read it slowly, savoring each page. The compelling story of Mikael Blomquist and Lisbeth Salander concludes with this satisfactory resolution, but the knowledge that Larsson's premature death precluded further examination into corruption in high places makes reading the final page a bitter/sweet experience. The three hefty novels really tell one story, but the focus is weighted more heavily on different characters in each instance. This final one does make for a bit more technical and political investigation than the previous two, but the fact that Larsson was himself an investigative reporter only adds to the immediacy of the material. Highly recommended (but be sure to read the first two if you haven't already done so).



5. The Millennium Trilogy is an incredibly good read - the type you can't put down for any reason - to eat dinner, to go to sleep, to get off the bus... trust me. It's like literary crack cocaine. Totally addictive.
   
   In the final part of the trilogy, the cover up of Lisbeth Salander's past knows no bounds - it goes up into the Swedish secret police and beyond, and the powers that be want her locked away for good. Her friend and one-time lover Mikael Blomqvist must do what he does best, which is to ferret out the truth, in order to save her from the fate of her ongoing victimisation.
   
   It's been said before that Lisbeth is an original heroine, and it's completely true. She's unique and fascinating and it makes the story unpredictable and enthralling. It's a great read, and one of the best I've had in a long time.
   
   For more:(...)