Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) was a Swedish writer and journalist.
Prior to his sudden death of a heart attack in November 2004 he finished three detective novels in his trilogy "The Millenium-series" which were published posthumously; "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest". Altogether, his trilogy has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide (summer of 2009), and he was the second bestselling author in the world 2008.
STIEG LARSSON, 1954-2004
Before his career as a writer, Stieg Larsson was mostly known for his struggle against racism and right-wing extremism. Starting in the late 1970's, he combined his work as a graphic designer with holding lectures on right-wing extremism for the Scotland Yard. During the following years he became an expert on the subject and has held many lectures as well as written many novels on the subject. In 1995, when 8 persons were killed by neo-Nazis I Sweden, he was the main force behind the founding of the Expo-foundation, a group intended on exposing neo-Nazi activity in Sweden. From 1999 and on, he was appointed chief editor of the magazine Expo.
During the last 15 years of his life, he and his life companion Eva Gabrielsson lived under constant threat from right-wing violence.
"The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo" The hardest thing to do with this book is not read the end. The first 50 pages or so is slow, but it soon picks up and then it really takes off. The girl of the title of this book is Lisbeth Salander and she with the crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist lately of the magazine, Millennium go to work for a likable scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest familes of a disappearance of his niece. Salander is a pierced and tattooed punk prodigy who has mysterious past and Blomkvist has been recently convicted of libel and faces a prison term. It is a wild ride that reaches a very satisfying ending for this book. I can't wait for the second installment, "The Girl Who Played with Fire".
