Review of "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest"

From our book club member and guest reviewer Adriana L. Medina

A “hornet’s nest” usually refers to a contentious situation. So if you stir the hornet’s nest you are likely to make people uncomfortable and upset. However, if you kick the hornet’s nest, you can better believe that an army of “hornets” are coming after you with a vengeance. That is exactly what comes to pass in Stieg Larsson’s final installment of the Millennium Trilogy, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest."

This third novel is much like the first two in that the story jump starts from the first page, in this case, right where we left off in book two, but then slows down as additional back-story is provided through exposition. There are new characters introduced and their relationship to the “hornet’s nest” or Sweden’s security police, and the criminal investigations surrounding the murders for which Salander is the prime suspect, are slowly revealed. A few of these new characters are on Salander’s side; however, most are not. Those out to get revenge will sacrifice even themselves to protect the “nest,” the other “workers,” and the “cells” they have created over time. Since Salander is in critical condition due to a gun shot to her head, this time, it’s Bloomkvist’s turn to outwit the “hornets” and he does so by pulling a few pages from Salander’s book. Still, Salander, in her true fashion, also does her part to undermine authority and through her own methods take the law into her own hands for what she deems to be justice.

This novel does tie back to the first one and once the reader sees the parallels and Salander’s choices are revealed, he/she will agree that Salander has matured over the course of the trilogy. She is capable of maintaining her sights on the bigger picture and of making better choices. And while her kick of the hornet’s nest does create quite a stir and many problems for her and others, ultimately, like any good crime thriller, lose ends are tied up, the crime is solved and exposed, the “hornets” are captured and the “nest” is eliminated, and the detective, who in this trilogy is sometimes involved in criminal activities herself, proves that she has more wits and fury than a nest of hornets.

"The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" is available wherever books are sold.