The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

This continues directly where the previous book left off. The books follow the typical "trilogy" outline: the first book is fairly self contained, while the second leaves people hanging for the third book. This novel keeps the action going from the start. However, now it is more political and government intrigue than underworld drama. The centerpiece is a courtroom cross-examination where the bad guys get exposed for lying and the good guys get set free.

Unlike the other Larsson novels, there are very few surprises in this one. And the few surprises that do pop up are quickly squashed away. (Only one really advanced the plot.) The novel also seems to go on for a while after it reaches its conclusion. It is intent on tying up all the loose ends of Salander's life. While the second book left plenty of open plot points waiting, this book leaves almost none. The 'hero' is a free billionaire with all of her enemies quashed or dead.

During the book, I felt obvious sympathy towards the main characters. However, they are pretty scummy themselves. Had the story been told from the point of view of the 'villains', it would have been just as easy to feel sympathy towards them at the expense of the "heros". They are all very flawed characters. The "heros" would probably not be the type of people you would want to be friends with. The author feels willing to brush of their defects, while being critical of the defects of the others. (Well, hey, that's why he wrote the book.)

Another defect is that the good guys also manage to anticipate the bad guys' moves just in time. It helps play towards my sympathies as a reader. However, it becomes more and more improbable as it goes on. It became more and more unbelievable as it went on. It seems that the author got tired, and started inserting cliches to bulk up his book.