The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2007) by Stieg Larsson. In this third book of the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy, Larsson completes the story of Lisbeth Salander, the girl of the title. He also more-or-less completes the story of Mikael Blomqvist, the journalist with the odd relationship with Salander. The obvious complaint about this book is that Salander spends most of it cooped up in a hospital room, recovering from wounds incurred in book No. 2 of the series. Only in the last 100 pages or so is there any action; up until that point there is a lot of talk, exposition and intrigue leading up to the finale. At 563 pages, the book is rather long, and requires a substantial commitment of time from the reader. I felt that this commitment was only partly rewarded; although the ending is satisfying, it takes too long to get there. There may have been an extra subplot thrown in that wasn't needed. Grade: B+