The Girl with Ice in Her Veins: A Lisbeth Salander Novel

I upgraded my rating on this one, giving an extra star for exploring new writing styles/experimentation--even though many readers panned the work; I think in part due to impatience. This is the second Smirnoff entry in this series, perhaps not as bold or impactful as the first, but I still like it.I read a bunch of reviews on this book, with most people putting it in the middle range (i.e., "not outstanding"). One thing that struck me was the wide range of languages of the reviewers of this book. All writers should be so lucky as to have such an international audience.To recap quickly, Stieg Larsson (d. 2004) wrote the first three "Girl With a Dragon Tattoo" books, which were wildly successful and resulted in five films (so far). Another three books with the same characters, less compelling, in my opinion, were written by David Lagercrantz (the last one in 2019). Example of the less compelling assertion: in the 2015 "Girl in the Spider's Web," a crew of the hackers penetrate NSA (U.S. Signals Intelligence agency) servers; later one NSA agent is in Sweden taking various actions. (Full disclosure: me, retired DOD.) No way, people! Anyway, let's get back to Karin Smirnoff.What I found exciting about Smirnoff's first "Lisbeth" book, "The Girl in the Eagle's Talons" (2022) was that a) she advanced all the characters in age, thus Blomkvist is about 60 now, Lisbeth is 40-ish, but still dangerous, and b) she employed many experimental devices, such as internal monologues, SMS texts (okay, we're getting used to those), changes in perspective, hints only of characters' histories (you figure it out), and so on.In "The Girl with Ice in Her Veins" (2025) still contains many experimental elements: Smirnoff's method of narration is light-handed, in some cases impressionistic--you may have to read some passages more than once. Svala occasionally has a dialogue with her deceased mother--but you can read these as Svala speaking to herself. The author does not like to describe violence. In a way, this is to her credit; when clashes or explosions take place, the author rushes by them. Readers can work with this.In general, we might posit that the "good" characters are believable in Smirnoff's presentati0n, the "bad" players, less so. No one will have a problem rooting for 13 and later 14-year old Svala, Lisbeth's niece.It is mysterious, however, why Kostas Long (a serial "baddie") is so successful. This character, who had a minor role in Smirnoff's first Lisbeth book, seems to embody two cringe-worthy cliches: a) plotting Greeks (remember calumnies about the so-called Byzantine empire), and b) (a new cliche) Chinese plotting to take over the world. I wish she hadn't described him this way.(No spoilers on the ending here.)There are problems in the work. Why does the Cleaner (various connections of his to other characters are revealed in this volume) ally himself with Svala? This does not seem logical, nor is there any evidence of a big change in-character for this dark figure.Branco, the leader of the "bad" team, remains a cartoonish character, but he is largely absent from this episode of the series, except at the very end. We have to take the author's word for it that this individual controls great wealth and is (presumably) highly-intelligent--neither is evident in this story. Finally, the ending, which I won't reveal, seems hastily put-together and is hard to follow.But I'm still in Svala's corner! And Lisbeth, keep in shape, keep kicking! There are still many men who hate women who need their comeuppance, and whose plots must be foiled. I'm ready for the next volume.Enjoy.

CaItalist greed, cruelty, cunning, and amorality against a loose coalition of good people. Dead, destruction, and chaos. Riveting and harrowing.

This is engaging enough while you read it, but ultimately pretty disappointing. The biggest and most obvious problem when you read the last sentence is that it should be followed by the words "To Be Continued..." It feels like nothing at all is resolved by the end of The Girl with Ice in Her Veins, and that the book is 500 pages of wheel spinning that leads nowhere.Fans expecting a Lisbeth Salander novel may also find themselves disappointed that she feels like a supporting character this time around. The focus of the novel is really Svala, Salander's 14-year-old niece, a character invented by author Karin Smirnoff in her previous (and far superior) Lisbeth Salander novel The Girl in the Eagle's Talons. Focusing so heavily on a 14-year-old protagonist makes The Girl with Ice in Her Veins feel like a Y/A novel at times.If I had to sum up the plot, I honestly couldn't. The novel has multiple narrative threads but no clear plot, and by the time you get to the end, those various threads never feel like they actually merge into anything resembling a larger story.The Girl with Ice in Her Veins is the definition of a time-waster. If you purchase this, keep your expectations low.

A bit violent for me, but a good series.

Another book in the “Girl with a dragon tattoo” series. This book is about a lot besides Lizbeth. Her niece, her lovers and others. Somewhat confusing at first with a story line that has nothing to do with Lizbeth. Get better in the middle and finally, last quarter or so involves Lizbeth. This book is not up to the intrigue generated by the others in the series. Three each by three authors and I have to wonder what will be next.