Publisher's Weekly Review
Swedish journalist Mikael Blomkvist takes center stage in Lagercrantz's exciting third addition to Stieg Larsson's Millennium series (after 2017's The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye). Lisbeth Salandar, the girl with the famous dragon tattoo, has been off traveling around Europe and not responding to Blomkvist's emails, which has left him working halfheartedly on a story about Russian computer trolls. Then he receives a phone call from a medical examiner who tells him a dwarf has been found dead on a Stockholm street with Blomkvist's phone number in his pocket. This is far more interesting than Russian trolls, and after Blomkvist enlists Lisbeth's help, she figures out that the man was not a dwarf, but a Sherpa, which leads them to a deadly Everest expedition involving the Swedish defense minister. When Blomkvist gets into trouble, Lisbeth comes to his rescue. Lisbeth's plan to kill her evil twin sister, Camilla, provides a diverting subplot. A tantalizing ending hints at important changes for Blomkvist and Lisbeth ahead. Series fans will be pleased with the thoughtful way Lagercrantz develops the character of their beloved action heroine in this worthy outing. Agents: Magdalena Hedlund and Jessica Babs Bonde, Norstedts Agency (Sweden). (Aug.)
Kirkus Review
Lisbeth Salander is back for her sixth adventure (The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye, 2017, etc.), and she's got vengeance on her mind.A small man, not 5 feet tall, sweats his way through a Stockholm heat wave wearing an expensive parka, an unusual accoutrement given his otherwise ragtag appearance. He dies. In his pocket the authorities find a scrap of paper bearing crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist's phone number. Why? Blomkvist has been busy taking down a Russian troll factory that has been seeding the media with propaganda and lies. Not coincidentally, Salander is in Moscow. She's cleaned up nicely for the occasion: "Her piercings were gone and she was wearing a white shirt and her black suitbecause it had become habit and she wanted to blend in better." There's nothing like launching a full-bore assault on a crime-lord sister and her nasty entourage to call attention to yourself, however conservative the appearance. This being Stieg Larsson by way of Lagercrantz, there's a deeply tangled plot underneath all this, involving politicians with questionable records, hackers, motorcycle gangs, and cops who are lucky to be able to tie their shoes in the morning. More, Lagercrantz stirs in improbable elements, including superhuman DNAnot just Salander and her family, with their "extreme genetic features," but also our poor dead beggar, whose story ties in with Sherpas on Everest, a murder plot, and a high-up member of Sweden's seemingly orderly government. Toss in small subplotsa fling Salander has with an abused woman whose ill-behaved husband requires serious correction as only the tattooed genius can deliver it, for instance ("Then she put tape over his mouth and eyed him the way a wild beast eyes its prey"). If Lagercrantz strays into Smilla's Sense of Snow levels of unlikelihood in weaving all these threads, he writes economically, and though he works ground he's covered in his two earlier contributions to the series, disbelief suitably suspended, it all makes for good bloody fun.Formulaic, but it's a formula that still works, as Salander and assorted bad guys spread righteous mayhem wherever they go. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Lagercrantz repeats the three-peat with his third Millennium novel starring Lisbeth Salander, following the original trio by the late Stieg Larsson. If this turns out to be, as Lagercrantz has suggested, the final installment in the series, it's going out on a resounding tonic chord. As usual, there are two stories in play here, the first involving Stockholm investigative reporter Mikael Blomkvist's attempt to identify a homeless man, and the second, of course, featuring Salander, who is on the trail of her sworn enemy, twin sister Camilla. If this installment has a weakness, it's that Blomkvist's search, which leads to a tragedy that happened years before on Mt. Everest, seems unnecessarily complex. That might be fine in another novel, but here the reader wants more of Salander and less of mountain climbing. Fortunately, Lagercrantz, when he can get himself down the mountain, delivers in high style. The final chapter in Salander's ongoing quest to close the book on her malignant past, we learn, involves settling scores with Camilla, who is equally determined to rid the world of Salander, which Camilla plans to do by exploiting her sister's fondness for Blomkvist. Bad move, Camilla. Alternately playing her laptop's keyboard like a Stradivarius and gunning her motorcycle like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape, Salander is what she's always been: a force to be reckoned with and one of the most memorable series leads in the history of crime fiction. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Salander fans, who long ago put aside any misgivings about Lagercrantz taking over the Millennium series, will be eager to follow the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as she attempts to sweep clean her family closet.--Bill Ott Copyright 2010 Booklist
