THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST (Stieg Larsson) - November 15/10

As was the case with its two predecessors, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is overlong by about 200 pages - with the first 200 pages jam-packed with names and references that are often impossible to easily follow. But there reaches a point at which the narrative picks up and takes off and doesn't stop until the very end. (The cinematic sequence in which a dozen rogue Sapo agents are simultaneously arrested is nothing short of thrilling, while the court case of Lisbeth Salander is equally captivating.) I'm also happy that the book ended with a fair amount of finality, as Blomkvist apparently finds happiness with that cop... As for Lisbeth, well, at least she forgave Blomkvist and let him back into her life. A special, once-in-a-decade trilogy. ***1/2 out of ****