The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz
I am still on my trek through the Millennium Series. The Girl in the Spider’s Web is the first of David Lagercrantz’s continuation of Stieg Larsson’s novels. It published in September 2015, almost five and a half years after The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.
The Girl in the Spider’s Web
She is the girl with the dragon tattoo—a genius hacker and uncompromising misfit. He is a crusading journalist whose championing of the truth often brings him to the brink of prosecution.
Late one night, Blomkvist receives a phone call from a source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female superhacker—a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering. Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Salander for help. She, as usual, has her own agenda. The secret they are both chasing is at the center of a tangled web of spies, cybercriminals, and governments around the world, and someone is prepared to kill to protect it . . .
My Thoughts
For starters, I believe Mr. Lagercrantz did a fairly decent job continuing on with the characters. I think the writing style was also almost similar enough. However, with how I’m reading the series (as close in a row as I am), it was clear that this was another author.
I had a few issues. Toward the beginning of the book, a story of Lisbeth is told that is just so far outside the character we came to know. She attacked a surgeon in the middle of a busy hospital in front of a lot of witnesses. That just wasn’t the Lisbeth from the first three books.
I had trouble understanding the timeline. There were minimal references back to the original three books, but there were a couple and not enough mention to help me get a grasp of a time difference. Sometimes, it felt like it could have been years (maybe the five between publishing dates) or maybe only a few months.
My other issue is that I felt there was way too much going on in this book. These books are known for being intricate with multiple lines all leading back to a singular source. However, I really do feel that The Girl in the Spider’s Web had just one complexity too many, and a few too many characters. Basically, I could have done without the whole NSA angle. Granted, I will see if it comes into play in the next couple of books. If not, definitely too much going on.
Also, it took me until I was writing this blog to get the significance of the book title. I will definitely give some serious props to the author and his creative team for that one. Now, I can’t say much more than this without giving some pretty integral plot twists away.
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