The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

This is the final novel in Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who..." series. Larsson was found dead in his apartment  in 2004. I believe from the ending of this novel, he did not intend on stopping the series here, but sadly, that is what happened.

If you remember correctly, it took me a while to get into "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." With "The Girl Who Played With Fire," I was invested from the get-go.

"The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" required a lot more concentration and took a lot more out of me in the end.

It is, in essence, a spy story. I like those types of stories when I actually read them, but they're not my first choice. I've read three or four spy novels for my graduate classes in the past -- Graham Greene, John LeCarre, and James Clavell.

In all spy novels -- this one included -- I am completely befuddled until right before the big reveal happens in the book. I think that is the most amazing part of reading -- that an author whom you have never met before can manipulate your thoughts and bring you to where he or she is going.

This novel is tedious and takes its time getting to the point. But the end courtroom scenes are worth the trouble. I literally wanted to yell, "Hell, yeah!" when the climax of the scene happened.

The novel again involves Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. It picks up exactly where "The Girl Who Played with Fire" left off.

You need to have staying power if you're going to read these books. Larsson isn't going to hand you the story on a silver platter. He is going to parcel it out at an excruciatingly slow pace. I hated him for that, but in the end, I was smiling.

As a side note, this was the first novel that I pre-ordered from Amazon.com for my Kindle. Simply amazing. I ordered the novel about six weeks ago. It was due to come out on May 25. On May 25, I woke up around 2 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. I got up and checked my e-mail; Amazon had sent me a receipt for the novel. So I decided to turn on the wireless of my Kindle and sync it. Five minutes later, there it was!

Previously, if I wanted a new release, I'd have to give up my lunch hour to purchase it. I'd usually head to Target to see if I could get it for cheaper, and then end up having to go to Barnes & Noble to buy it anyway, THEN I'd have to run through the McDonald's drive-thru and end up eating at my desk. Because of my Kindle, I was able to take a leisurely lunch hour, something I really needed that day.