So, is this the climax to the sequence that fans will want? Larsson has produced a coup de foudre, a novel that is complex, satisfying, clever, moral. The theme of how words can be a force for justice permeates the narrative and the story of Millennium, for which Larsson's other protagonist, campaigning journalist Mikael Blomkvist, works, continues to develop. Throughout the novel, the covert workings of the Swedish secret service are laid bare, as are the cut-throat realities of the world of newspapers and the immorality of some in authority. Now comes The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, with Salander fighting for her life in intensive care, her father lying a few doors along the corridor as a result of wounds inflicted on him by Salander herself. The second book in the sequence, The Girl Who Played With Fire, develops these themes of the abuse of legal power, of retribution and debts being paid, rough justice all round, and finishes with an extraordinary shoot-out during which Salander is buried alive. At the age of 13, Salander is declared insane and locked away in a psychiatric unit in order to prevent her blowing her father's cover. She is the daughter of a brutal, psychopathic Russian defector, Zalachenko, whose perceived importance to the state and national security is deemed more significant than the fact that he is a wife-beater and abuser.
A brilliant computer hacker, she's a woman prepared to use violence to achieve her ends, a vigilante with no faith in the authorities, someone who – we gradually learn – has been the victim of a colossal miscarriage of justice. The first in the sequence, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, introduced readers to diminutive Lisbeth Salander. He also used his knowledge of SAPO, Sweden's secret police, and the jostling for position after the end of the cold war between Europe and Russia. He used this background to good effect in the creation of the campaigning fictional magazine, Millennium. Larsson was editor-in-chief of the anti-racist magazine Expo, and an expert on anti-democratic, right-wing extremist and Nazi organisations. He died suddenly in 2004, having delivered the text of the trilogy to his publisher. Now the story of the author is as well known as his characters. That was my introduction to Stieg Larsson's meaty trilogy of thrillers. I noticed that something called Millennium seemed to be numbers one, two and four on the bestseller list – yet I had never heard of it.
A couple of years ago I was in a supermarket in Carcassonne, looking for a book to read on holiday.
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