The Girl in the Eagle's Talons by Karin Smirnoff
| The Girl in the Eagle's Talons by Karin Smirnoff | |
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| Category: Crime | |
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Reviewer: Peter Magee
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| Summary: The third writer of the Millennium franchise books, created by Stieg Larsson delivers a very readable story. Highly recommended. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 416 | Date: August 2023 |
| Publisher: MacLehose Press | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1529427042 | |
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Life has more to offer than people - prime numbers for example.
Lisbeth Salander has headed north to the small town of Gasskas, where the so-far-untapped natural resources of the area have sparked a gold rush. The criminal underworld has not been slow in coming forward. Salander's niece's mother is the latest woman in the area to have vanished without trace. It was only with reluctance that Salander became her niece's guardian but it quickly becomes obvious that Svala is a remarkably gifted teenager who's unaware of the part Salander played in her father's death.
Mikael Blomkvist is also heading for the north of Sweden. He's a sad figure. Millennium magazine is in its final print issue, but - worst of all - relations with his daughter are strained and there are troubling rumours surrounding the man (a corrupt local politician with gambling debts) she's about to marry. Ultimately, it seems that Salander will be his last hope.
I had just one criterion when judging this book: I was looking for an exceptional read. I wanted a story that would hold my attention from beginning to end. I certainly wasn't prepared to debate whether or not the level of violence against women is commensurate with Stieg Larsson's original intentions for the series. I don't want to discuss the way the various characters have developed from the original books, through the David Lagercrantz's trilogy to the Smirnoff books. I simply wanted a good read.
Did I get it? I did. I read through in as few sittings as I could considering that there are 416 pages - and then it was only a week or so later that I read the book again. I thoroughly enjoyed both reads. It's perhaps not quite of the Stieg Larsson standard but it is better than Lagercrantz. Lagercrantz is a more-than-competent writer but his stories could almost have worked with any characters and he had the disadvantage of taking over from - and being directly compared with - Larsson himself. Smirnoff is in a different league and I'm delighted that she's signed up for three books.
If you're simply looking for an exceptionally good read then I have no reservations in recommending The Girl in the Eagle's Talons and I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
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