Zusatztext Wildly suspenseful . . . an intelligent, ingeniously plotted, utterly engrossing thriller. The Washington Post Mesmerizing. . . . Imagine the movies of Ingmar Bergman crossed with Thomas Harris's novel The Silence of the Lambs . USA Today Unique and fascinating. . . . It's like a blast of cold, fresh air to read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo . Chicago Tribune A super-smart amalgam of the corporate corruption tale, legal thriller and dysfunctional-family psychological suspense story. Fresh Air (NPR) As vivid as bloodstains on snowand a perfect one-volume introduction to the unique strengths of Scandinavian crime fiction. Lee Child Combine the chilly Swedish backdrop and moody psychodrama of a Bergman movie with the grisly pyrotechnics of a serial-killer thriller, then add an angry punk heroine and a down-on-his-luck investigative journalist, and you have the ingredients of Stieg Larsson's first novel. Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times A whip-smart heroine and a hunky guy who needs her help? This sexy, addictive thriller is everything you never knew you could get from a crime novel. Glamour So much more than a thriller, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a dazzling novel of big ideas. It tackles issues of power, corruption, justice, and innocenceall the while drawing you into the twists and turns of a frighteningly suspenseful mystery. Harlan Coben An exceptional effort for a first-time crime novelist. In fact, a fine effort for any crime novelist . . . This book is meticulously plotted, beautifully paced, and features a cast of two indelible sleuths and many juicy suspects. Boston Globe The book lands in the United States as Wall Street sputters and global markets clench, a timely fit to Larsson's themes of corporate corruption. He tells his crime story cleverly, but the zing in Dragon Tattoo is inked in its two central characters. Cleveland Plain Dealer Larsson's novel could serve as the definition of page-turner . . . The worst part: We have to wait until summer '09 for the second installment. Time Out New York The biggest Swedish phenom since ABBA. People Larsson's debut thriller succeeds on so many levels it's hard to know where to begin. First off, it's an absolute page-turner. But the characters are so fascinating and the clear, understated writing so graceful, you are going to want to savor it . . . Electrifying. Portsmouth Herald (NH) Is the hype justified? Yes . . . This complex, multilayered tale grabs the reader from the first page. Library Journal (starred) The first U.S. appearance of another major Swedish crime writer is cause for celebration . . . The novel offers compelling chunks of investigative journalism, high-tech sleuthing, and psychosexual drama. What a shame that we only have three books in which to watch the charismatic Lisbeth Salander take on the world! Booklist The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a striking novel. Just when I was thinking there wasn't anything new on the horizon, along comes Stieg Larsson with this wonderfully unique story. I was completely absorbed. Michael Connelly I doubt you will read a better book this year. Val McDermid Dark, labyrinthine, smart, sexy, utterly original, and completely captivating, Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo delights at every level. Nuanced, sympathetic characters, caught in a tangle of unusual and compelling relationships, grapple with a baffling family mystery and with their own demons in the unique literary environment of modern-day Sweden. This book is artful and grand entertainment. I couldn't recommend it more highly. John L...

Autorentext

STEIG LARSSON, who lived in Sweden, was the editor in chief of the magazine Expo and a leading expert on antidemocratic, right-wing extremist and Nazi organizations. He died in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscripts for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

Klappentext

An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.
Harriet Vanger, scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

Zusammenfassung
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The thrilling first book in the Millennium series featuring Lisbeth Salander: “Combine the chilly Swedish backdrop and moody psychodrama of a Bergman movie with the grisly pyrotechnics of a serial-killer thriller, then add an angry punk heroine and a down-on-his-luck investigative journalist, and you have the ingredients of Stieg Larsson’s first novel” (The New York Times).

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

Leseprobe

Prologue
A Friday in November
 
It happened every year, was almost a ritual. And this was his eighty-second birthday. When, as usual, the flower was delivered, he took off the wrapping paper and then picked up the telephone to call Detective Superintendent Morell who, when he retired, had moved to Lake Siljan in Dalarna. They were not only the same age, they had been born on the same day–which was something of an irony under the circumstances. The old policeman was sitting with his coffee, waiting, expecting the call.
 
“It arrived.”
 
“What is it this year?”
 
“I don’t know what kind it is. I’ll have to get someone to tell me what it is. It’s white.”
 
“No letter, I suppose.”
 
“Just the flower. The frame is the same kind as last year. One of those do-it-yourself ones.”
 
“Postmark?”
 
“Stockholm.”
 
“Handwriting?”
 
“Same as always, all in capitals. Upright, neat lettering.”
 
With that, the subject was exhausted, and not another word was exchanged for almost a minute. The retired policeman leaned back in his kitchen chair and drew on his pipe. He knew he was no longer expected to come up with a pithy comment or any sharp question which would shed a new light on the case. Those days had long since passed, and the exchange between the two men seemed like a ritual attaching to a mystery which no-one else in the whole world had the least interest in unravelling.
 
 
The Latin name was Leptospermum (Myrtaceae) rubinette. It was a plant about ten centimetres high with small, heather-like foliage and a white flower with five petals about two centimetres across.
 
The plant was native to the Australian bush and uplands, where it was to be found among tussocks of grass. There it was called Desert Snow. Someone at the botanical gardens in Uppsala would later confirm that it was a plant seldom cultivated in Sweden. The botanist wrote in her report that it was related to the tea tree and that it was sometimes confused with its more common cousin *Leptospermum scoparium, *which grew in abundance in New Zealand. What distinguished them, she pointed out, was that *rubinette *had a smal…