The Girl in the Eagle's Talons: A Lisbeth Salander Novel

I have read all th books in this series, this one is okThe writing was choppy at times and can be conffusing. Hope the next one is better.

Great book

Hard to put down

The author’s writing style was difficult to get used to. And it wasn’t as exciting as the previous Salander books.

as the other novels, at least to me. Not nearly as gripping. The bad guys seem like cardboard cutouts provided by "Bad Guys R Us."

I am a huge fan of the first three books in the series written by Steig Larson. After restarting the series to dip into the sequels who are continuing the series after the loss of Larson I will say that they are suspenseful and well written, especially the three written by David Lagercrantz. He kept close to the atmosphere of the Larson books. Karen Smirnoff veered off into a more gritty and somewhat more sleazy atmosphere, especially with the scenes between Lizbeth and the police woman, which personally didn't contribute to the story. There was also choppy movements between characters and scenes. I plan to read her next in the series, however, am hoping some changes are made with the story flow.

The first book in the Salander series by this author is lacking the quality of the first six by her two predecessors. While the bare outline of the plot is interesting in itself, Smirnoff does not flesh it out very well, leaning on convenient coincidences and overheard conversations to move the story along. There are abrupt transitions, confusing inner thoughts of unspecified characters, and shaky writing intended to create suspense or tension that is too overwrought to be effective. Better luck next time, one hopes.

Confusing. Not as good as the earlier ones.

I highly recommend this entire series of the Lisbeth Salander books. I am permanently disabled and to have the peace and relaxation it has brought me reading this series has been a gift even as the storylines left me so I couldn’t put the books down because they left me in such welcoming suspense. I thoroughly appreciate the story line of Lisbeth and her unwavering strength and resilience and facing head on the tyrants she deserved to rise above and overcome as reminds me of battles against tyrants in my own life. This series is phenomenal and I only wish that an American producer and director would pick up making the rest of the book series into American movies continuing with Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara as the main characters completing out the entire 7 books as movies. These two actors did a fine job in the first movie together “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo “ American version and I’d really enjoy seeing the rest of the series brought to life. This series is amongst my top favorites of book series I’ve ever read and I highly recommend them.

Better than the girl who lived twice. Refernce to noomi rapace makes your head spin since it was the movie "the girl with the dragon tattoo" which mde her famous.

I like the fact that the author's way of thinking was to let Lizbeth Salander be Lisbeth Salander, not changing her traits, but putting her in a present day environment and thinking "What would SHE have done?"I think it is a good tale and a good memorial to the REAL Lisbeth Salander,the Real Michael Blomkvist,and the real Dragan Armanski...all ofwhom didn't like to admit it,but they depended on each other in many ways.

The story is fine, but it has a different tone than the 2 previous writers ( I won’t butcher their names). Lizbeth feels way too vulnerable. At times the pacing is annoying. Spending way too much time with some characters early on. There are may loose ends, I assume to set up another sequel. The ending is rushed and lacks suspense.

Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, protagonists of the wildly successful trilogy by original author Stieg Larsson, return in "The Girl in the Eagle's Talons." While it's the seventh in the Millennium series, it's the first by author Karin Smirnoff (and translated into English by Sarah Death). David Lagercrantz wrote three previous titles, which I paid little attention. For some reason, Smirnoff's debut caught my eye while scrolling through Amazon. I'm glad it did. Eagle's Talons begins with murder and introduces a very strange character, a killer who prefers the company of frozen boreal landscapes and eagles. Smirnoff then brings in the former characters and debuts Salander's niece, a teenager who has had a very difficult life, is whip smart and feels no pain. The narrative centers on the northern community of Gasskas, where companies are vying for a contract to install zero-emission windmills. Like Larsson, Smirnoff gets deep into the details of business reporting, explaining the economic and political realities of remote regions with little to offer their residents in terms of employment diversity. But not all is as it seems. The leader of Gasskas, and son-in-law to an aging Blomkvist, factors heavily in the story. He faces one ethical dilemma after another and as things go sideways, the plot envelops Salander and Blomkvist. Once I got to about 15 percent of the way in, I was hooked. Smirnoff is a real talent.

I was pleasantly delighted with this book about one of my favorite fictional characters, Lisbeth Salander. The author Karin Smirnoff has truly captured a growing Lisbeth after the events of the first three books along with some very creative twists. A I found the first three books nearly impossible to put down, I found this one to be the same. Don't try to guess ahead or to figure it out as you probably won't. If you are a Lisbeth Salander fan, then you will enjoy this book. If you are new to the series you shoudl read the first three books by Stieg Larsson, you you'll fully understand, as much as possible, who she is. book 1 introduces Lisbeth, and books 2 and 3 tell her story. For me, my favorite series of all time and so happy the new author is planning on two more books in the series!!! Hopefully more!

The Girl in the Eagle's Talon has a new author picking up the Lisbeth Slander mantel and she delivers a stronger book than the three by David Langercrantz. Those were perfectly readable in terms of plotting but not especially involving because you never felt particularly invested in any of the characters. Eagle's Talon delivers the first genuinely compelling character since the original Stieg Larson trilogy and also a solid new villain even if he does feel more than a little like a new version of Lisbeth's dad Zalachenko, the villain from the original trilogy. In a lot of ways Eagle's Talon feels more directly indebted to Stieg Larson than the previous sequels did which turns out to not be a bad thing. My only issue was how much is left unresolved for the sequel which I want to read... right now.

...but a structural mess. Familiar characters introduced too late, unfamiliar characters dwelt upon too early. Short choppy chapters. Connections buried until too far along. All these things, together with a distinct change of scene, tone, themes, leave the reader detached and disengaged for too long.All that being said, the writing wasn't poor, just disjointed. Some of the new characters were appealing, with ties to older ones. Some of the themes built upon the original author's core concerns.Some hope for this series remains, but the new creative team needs to learn from the missteps of this and apply those lessons quickly. Not a terrible outing, but very tough sledding at times.

If you are looking forward to reading this book, don't. It will break your heart. I can't believe so many people gave high stars and bad reviews? Or those who think this author's story-telling is better than Larsson's!I don't know if it's the translation to English or the author's writing style but I feel like I'm reading the nightmare journal of a meth-head! Can't this author complete. There's a pretty bird. When I was younger it had to be that way. A sentence?This story doesn't tie into the ending of the previous story. We know nothing about how Blomkvist is dealing with the TRAUMATIC INJURIES he suffered as a result of being TORTURED in the previous adventure. It's as if that whole event never happened. All of a sudden it's YEARS later, he's a grandfather, and really, it's as if he and Lisbeth have traded personalities. Now, Lisbeth has to keep asking Plague for help and her phone battery is constantly dying? That's not the Lisbeth we know and love. She would never cause herself to be without a device.I do not feel connected to the characters as I have felt through the past two authors. The stories all connected and flowed together; the next book picking up the story months later not years. The characters were growing with the each story, slowly more about their pasts being revealed, true novels. Telling a story, weaving a scenery around the events that made you feel as if you were right there in Sweden.The writing stile of Smirnoff is like reading verbal vomit. There's just these stuttered sentences, three to five words puked up that make you turn away. Is this supposed to be "artistic" writing?Quote: "He does not reply. Being alive is a broad concept. Was his own mother alive? Clinically, yes. Father? He came alive by robbing her of her vital spark. And for his own part? A human death ensures a sea eagle's life. And if the death of one is the life of the other, who has the right to decide which life is worth more?"WTF?Who is he? Why are his parents being mentioned? We know nothing about this man to even understand why his parents would be significant to his train of thought or to the character himself. WTF is this about sea eagles and humans?I hope this is just a bad translation. Otherwise, why would anyone praise this version of the story over Larrson's or Largerkrantz's versions? I reread the entire series when a new book is published. I was so ready to learn what happened after Blomkvist was nearly burned alive. But nothing. No mention of this event or how it impacted his life. The characters are brand new people, their histories erased.I'm ready to put this book down, but I paid good money for a story I love. I can only hope that this author is not allowed to write anymore of this series and this book gets treated as a drug-addled nightmare that Blomkvist is having while in a coma recuperating from his injuries.

I found the book to be a bit disjointed. Lizbeth is actually in the book or mentioned maybe 30 percent of the book. Entire chapters go by, then she appears briefly, and then disappears for a long while. If you read a Jack Reacher book for example, he's in 80 or more percent of the book. Its all over the place and does not flow well. It is well written, as she can write, hence she got the gig. But I recommend writing a book about Lizbeth and not spend so much time on stuff that is not interesting. I give it 3 stars and I do so sadly. Get it together. I will still buy your next book but take your readers seriously and Lizbeth seriously.

Lisbeth is one of the great characters in fiction. Originally introduced by Stieg Larson, then continued by David Lagercrantz, now brought forward once again by Karen Smirnoff. I had never heard of Smirnoff before, but I am impressed with her writing. In this story Lisbeth is pressed into service to take care of her niece, Svala, a 13 yr old who becomes a virtual orphan when her mother disappears. Lisbeth is a lone wolf who has more interest in math and computers than people. She reluctantly agrees to help her niece; then starts to warm up to her. As quirky and intriguing as Lisbeth is, Svala seems equally captivating. Altho she has had no advantages, she is brilliant and gutsy. Could this 13 yr old girl blossom into Lisbeth 2 ? I hope so. There is a real mystery here with truly evil bad guys, political intrigue, and some near fatal misses as Lisbeth, SVALA and Mikael Bloomkvist [ a regular in prior Lisbeth stories ] try to get to the bottom of things. Great work Karen Smirnoff. I look forward to your next Lisbeth adventure.Fred Dimond

Forget all of the hype. This book is nearly unreadable. In the first place, there are too many characters, too many subplots, too many relationships. This is further complicated by the fact that there are too few narrative ‘roadsigns’ that clarify for the reader, where we are, who is talking, what is happening, and so on. The author is immersed in the subject (in her head) but we live on the printed page. The fact that many of the characters are unattractive does not help, because we do not care enough about the characters to endure the mental gyrations required to keep the story line(s) and characters straight.One of the greatest problems is that Lisbeth only appears in approximately ¼ of the novel; she does not make an appearance until p. 68. Blomkvist drifts in and out of the story but has no significant role to play in the plot(s). Basically, the story is about an attempt by a cartoonish villain to take over windfarming in a part of northern Sweden. Fortunately it is not a political tract, but neither is it a thoughtful examination of environmental challenges (or the actual lack of same). It is more anti-meglomaniacal-big-business (yes, that old chestnut), but the villain is so silly that we are more in the world of Mel Brooks than Ian Fleming. (MAJOR SPOILER). The rapist villain is a legless product of thalidomide, with oversized arms and feet emerging from his trunk while surrounding an equine-level male appendage. And here is the horrific kicker: while some good people are allowed to die he is allowed to escape at the end, so that we have a scream-at-the-page ending that, presumably, mandates the purchase and consumption of the two remaining novels that the author has under contract.The book is also very difficult to read because it is set in Sweden. Of course, it is, and Sweden is a very nice place, but its total population is that of an average capital city. The Millennium novel series is now a world series, but the book is written as if the intended audience is exclusively Swedish. Much of it takes place in a county with a population of 250,000 people. Bottom line: the world’s readership needs some guideposts, e.g., maps in the endpapers. Northern Sweden is a place that virtually none of the book’s readership will have visited and the characters have unfamiliar names that are hard to keep in mind.So there you have it: vague setting, diffuse plot(s), commonplace theme, confusing dramatis personae and a more-or-less minor role for the character who is at the very heart of the series. Given the fact that the ending is inconclusive we can probably assume that the next books in the series will offer us more of the same. This is very disappointing. Lisbeth Salander is one of the great cultural creations of contemporary fiction. What on earth was the publisher thinking?