Friday Reads: The Girl in the Spider’s Web, by David Lagercrantz

As a fan of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series I was curious to find whether David Lagercrantz’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web would be a worthy continuation of Larsson’s work. Labeled as the fourth book in the series, Lagercrantz, in my view, extended the series with notable success. While a number of readers have posted comments that the book doesn’t have the suspense of Larsson’s books, among other things, I wasn’t disappointed in this one. The Girl in the Spider’s Web includes a mix of high level intellectual property theft, corruption, Lisbeth Salander’s evil twin sister, a Mikael Blomkvist perceived as a no longer revered investigative reporter, a rogue National Security Agency security chief, the usual police suspects, and an autistic child with a genius for math and drawing. Add in a number of familiar characters from Larsson’s earlier works plus several new ones, and plenty of bad guys. Most interesting is always the girl – Lisbeth Salander – a legend among hackers, fearless, clever, fiercely independent, and unhinged. I borrowed both hard copy and the audiobook from Lincoln City Libraries. Now I’m ready for the movie. Noomi Rapace or Rooney Mara? Lagercrantz, David, and George Goulding. The girl in the spider’s web. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf). 2015.