I had been thinking about reading this for a couple years now but never got around to it until now. I was a little hesitant to read it because it had been translated from Swedish and I didn't know if that would affect the quality of the writing. I was happy to learn that that was not the case and it was not choppy or hard to understand like I thought it would be.The first part was a little slow for me, it was just basically introducing the reader to the major players of the story. The action picked up a lot in the second part and my interest in the story kept growing throughout that part and into the third. The fourth part had a major climax that left me on the edge of my seat.There are basically two for lack of a better word plotlines in the story, one involves Mikael Blomkvist's thirst for revenge when he is convicted of libel against Hans-Erik Wennerstrom, and his search to solve the mystery of Harriet Vanger's disappearance and what her uncle calls Harriet's murder.From reading the description of the book I was under the impression that Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, and eccentric investigator working for Milton Security, would be working together throughout the whole book on the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, but that isn't the case. Blomkvist starts off on his own and eventually he finds out about Lisbeth and persuades her to help him.This book kept me on the edge of my seat when the action started after the first part. At times it was a little gruesome, and I would warn anyone who is squeamish that some parts are very violent. Overall I would definitely recommend this book to family and friends, however this is an adult book meant for adult and I would discourage teens from reading this.The reason I am giving it four stars and not five is because of the slowness of the first part.
