The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.

[magimedi]

All three on kindle for 99p each!

If you haven't read them they would make perfect holiday reading.

[MrsWeasley]

Oh will look into this. Thanks

[CoteDAzur]

Ooh. Nice, thanks for the heads up. I read all three in print but wouldn't mind reading them all again.

[TooTabooToBoo]

I don't have a Kindle or e-reader, but I loved these books.

I would read again in a heartbeat!

[MerlinFromCamelot]

Thanks, love these books. Looking forward to reading them again on kindle.

[KittenofDoom]

I read the first one and hated it. I kept going because people assured me that it got really good later on and would be worth it. It didn't and it wasn't.

[CoteDAzur]

What was it that you hated so much?

[KittenofDoom]

It was tremendously dull, full of unnecessary detail and background that was not germane to the story. The characters were all unlikeable and the central character did not come over as being attractive in any way whatsoever, yet virtually every woman he met had sex with him. I could go on, but that's a start.

It came over to me as a first draft. There is a readable story in there, but it needed a lot of fearless editing, which it plainly did not get.

[GetStuffezd]

They're my absolute favourite series of books. I got so involved and (rarely for me recently) I really, really believed and cared about the characters.
The final courtroom bit is one of my favourite bits of reading ever!

Kitten I can totally see why people wouldn't like them but if you ever get the chance to see the original Swedish version of the films, give them a go!

[CoteDAzur]

I didn't think it was dull, at all. I read the first one in the week before DS' birth. 2nd one in the 5 days in the hospital after his birth (Yes, breastfeeding newborn DS with the book in my other hand. My mum was ). And 3rd in the series didn't last long, either.

Yes, there is lots of detail but I imagine that is how real investigations are - you have to look at everyone and learn about them to some degree before you can eliminate them.

In Sweden, attitudes towards sex are not the same as in the UK. It is not at all unreasonable for that guy to be having sex with his long-term colleague and then with Lisbeth Salander who clearly has a liberal sexual attitude. None of this felt incredible to me.

Oh and I don't know what you mean by "unlikeable", but I loved Lisbeth Salander The strongest female character to hit the shelves in years. By far.

[Treaguez]

I thought they were written to be rather titillating in places, which was totally at odds with the subject matter over the three books. I felt quite ashamed that I'd read them in one way. The final part of book 3 is great, though.

[perplexedpirate]

I agree 100% with kitten. I only got through the first book as I had to read it for work and it was too long by at least half.
99p is 98p too expensive IMO.

[KittenofDoom]

In Sweden, attitudes towards sex are not the same as in the UK

Please don't patronise me. You have no clue about my background, still less my sexual mores.

[lljkk]

Book 1 is good, decent enough. Glad I read it.
The other books are just ridiculous far-fetched fantasy, I couldn't read them fully.
I could write a very long rant on the ridiculous "romance" and characters. I hate fantasy crime fiction. Give me humour or subtle psychology.

[hackmum]

I enjoyed them immensely. Great page turners. I don't expect crime fiction to be very realistic.

[BrianTheMole]

I loved them, they were long winded, but still excellent. I'm sad that there will be no more.

[CoteDAzur]

Kitten - I said nothing about your "sexual mores" and was not patronising you when I said that attitudes in Sweden towards sex are not the same as the UK. Which is a correct and relevant statement, by the way.

My point which you have spectacularly and self-consciously missed was that it is not unrealistic in Sweden for a man who is not a sex God to have more than 1 sexual partner, and Blomkvist had sex with a grand total of two women in the book - his long-term lover and Lisbeth. Not "virtually every woman he met had sex with him", as you said.

Anyway, none of this is about you and it is just a book, so not worth having a hissy fit imho.

[KittenofDoom]

It must feel wonderful to think yourself so much more intelligent and knowledgeable about absolutely everything than anyone else.

You're wrong about the "grand total of two women" anyway.

[TheFallenNinja]

You don't need a Kindle, you can view ebooks on your PC/Laptop here

[BrianTheMole]

please don't patronise me. You have no clue about my background, still less my sexual mores.

i dont think she/he was patronising you. Just giving an opinion. Having a bad day or something?

[GetStuffezd]

It must feel wonderful to think yourself so much more intelligent and knowledgeable about absolutely everything than anyone else

Wow - what an overreaction!

[CoteDAzur]

Whatever you say, Kitten

Anyway, does anyone know what she means re Blomkvirst's sexual partners? I still can't think of anyone other than Lisbeth & Erika (his long-term lover & business partner).

[GetStuffezd]

Yeah there was Sonia Modig, the police officer

[lljkk]

WARNING SPOILERS FOLLOW

But isn't Lisbeth like the ultimate I dunno... some kind of cross between perfect heroine & ridiculous female expectations?

Ultra skinny (doesn't need to eat)
Yet amazingly fit and strong (yeah... right)
Astoundingly clever. Super-human clever and talented even
(in spite of all that malnutrition )
Horrifically abused
Just like a comic book character

In mean time the hero has ultra high ideals, seems to be rather grandly sexy including to women less than half his age, becomes target of ultra-coordinated international financial conspiracies to discredit him. Where of course everyone else is weirdly sexually deviant & abused or abuser or colluder. Repeatedly.

And then how Lisbeth ties all into that, as sheer coincidence (or maybe these things happen in countries of 9 million people).

Just yawn.
Yes I grew up reading Agatha Christie, which had its own fantasy elements, but not a patch on this modern stuff.

[CoteDAzur]

Maybe I should read it again. I don't remember a sex scene with a police officer. (Good thing I got all three books on Kindle in the Summer Sale )

[FruitSaladIsNotPudding]

He had sex with an older woman when he was at the island doing the investigation - a member of the Vanger family, I can't remember which one exactly. The police officer was in the third book, wasn't she?