The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (The Millennium Trilogy #3)

The stunning third and final novel in Stieg Larsson's internationally best-selling trilogy.

Lisbeth Salander — the heart of Larsson's two previous novels — lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She's fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she'll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge — against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

"The exhilarating conclusion to bestseller Larsson's Millennium trilogy (after The Girl Who Played with Fire) finds Lisbeth Salander, the brilliant computer hacker who was shot in the head in the final pages of Fire, alive, though still the prime suspect in three murders in Stockholm. While she convalesces under armed guard, journalist Mikael Blomkvist works to unravel the decades-old coverup surrounding the man who shot Salander: her father, Alexander Zalachenko, a Soviet intelligence defector and longtime secret asset to Spo, Sweden's security police. Estranged throughout Fire, Blomkvist and Salander communicate primarily online, but their lack of physical interaction in no way diminishes the intensity of their unconventional relationship. Though Larsson (1954–2004) tends toward narrative excess, his was an undeniably powerful voice in crime fiction that will be sorely missed." 500,000 first printing. (May 2010) Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Salander is such a bravura heroine...that we'd willingly follow her through any bramble bush of a plot....There are few characters as formidable as Lisbeth Salander in contemporary fiction of any kind. She will be sorely missed." Booklist (starred review)

"Fans will not be disappointed: this is another roller-coaster ride that keeps you reading far too late into the night. Intricate but flawlessly plotted, it has complex characters as well as a satisfying, clear moral thrust." Evening Standard (U.K.)

"[The trilogy] is intricately plotted, lavishly detailed but written with a breakneck pace and verve....[Hornet's Nest] is a tantalizing double finale — first idyllic, then frenetic....Larsson has made the literary moods of saga and soap opera converge — with suspense as the adhesive." The Independent (U.K.)

"Larsson has produced a coup de foudre, a novel that is complex, satisfying, clever, moral....This is a grown-up novel for grown-up readers, who want something more than a quick fix and a car chase. And it's why the Millennium trilogy is rightly a publishing phenomenon all over the world." The Guardian (U.K.)

"Wildly suspenseful . . . Intelligent, ingeniously plotted, utterly engrossing." The Washington Post

"Unique and fascinating . . . Like a blast of cold, fresh air." Chicago Tribune

Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy is now available in a complete hardcover set.

All across America, readers are talking about Stieg Larsson’s best-selling novels, set in Sweden and featuring Lisbeth Salander—“one of the most original and memorable heroines to surface in a recent thriller” (The New York Times). The trilogy is an international sensation that will grab you and keep you “reading with eyes wide open” (San Francisco Chronicle). “[It] is intricately plotted, lavishly detailed but written with a breakneck pace and verve” (The Independent, U.K.), but “be warned: the trilogy is seriously addictive.” (The Guardian, U.K.).

“Believe the hype . . . It’s gripping stuff.”

—People

“Stieg Larsson clearly loved his brave misfit Lisbeth. And so will you.”

—USA Today

“Larsson has bottled lightning.”

—Los Angeles Times

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared without a trace more than forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to try to discover what happened to her. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist recently sidelined by a libel conviction, to investigate. Blomkvist is aided by the pierced and tattooed computer prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption on their way to discovering the truth of Harriet Vanger’s fate.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

Mikael Blomkvist, now the crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the murders. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

Lisbeth Salander lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. On her own, she will plot revenge—against the man who tried to kill her, and against the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

“Unique and fascinating . . . Like a blast of cold, fresh air.”—Chicago Tribune

“Wildly suspenseful . . . Intelligent, ingeniously plotted, utterly engrossing.”

—The Washington Post

“A gripping, stay-up-all-night read.” —Entertainment Weekly

“Dynamite.” —Variety

Stieg Larsson, who lived in Sweden, was the editor-in-chief of the magazine Expo and a leading expert on antidemocratic, right-wing extremist and Nazi organizations. He died in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscripts for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.