Lead Review (The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons)

• Book: The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons
• Location: Northern Sweden
• Author: Karin Smirnoff, Sarah Death (translator)

Review Author: tripfiction

Lisbeth Salander is back! The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons is the seventh book in The Millenniumseries. The first three were written by Stieg Larsson (before his untimely death), the second three by David Lagercrantz, and now the seventh – with two more to follow – by Karin Smirnoff.

Karin has developed the series really well. Stieg Larsson was very keen on the latest technology, but this is of course now very dated (the first book was published in the early 2000’s). Karin demonstrates the same enthusiasm, but this is now entirely current. Many of the same characters appear again. Apart from Lisbeth, we encounter Mikael Blomkvist (the publisher of Millennium magazine), Dragon Armansky (the founder of Milton Security. Lisbeth’s employer), Hans Faste (a ex Stockholm policeman with history with Lisbeth) plus members of the notorious and violent Svavelsjö Motorcycle Club. All the above have, for various reasons – temporary or permanent – relocated to Gasskas in the north of Sweden. There are also new characters – the most prominent being Svala. a teenage half sister of Lisbeth. She has inherited many of the attributes of their shared father, most notably a condition that makes her unable to feel pain, and ‘The Cleaner’ who is trusted to dispose of those who offend the local crime boss.

Gasskas is booming. Green energy is being developed on a massive scale, and has attracted many an undesirable to the area. Many of the locals are against the development, and a fair amount of strong-arming is going on. Mikael is in town for the wedding of his daughter to the local council chief (who is in danger of getting out of his depth) and Lisbeth is in town – under pressure – to take care of Svala whose mother has disappeared. Take an arch ‘James Bond style’ villain who has his headquarters in an old military base deep in the surrounding woods, and you have all the ingredients of a great thriller. The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons is the first Millennium book to be written by a woman and translated by a woman. There were some fears that it might be toned down a bit from the earlier works. These fears are unfounded. The new book is every bit as violent (and sexually deviant) as those that preceded it. A Health Warning; not really for the squeamish or easily offended.

I can’t wait for the next two books, and the development of the new characters.

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