Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The brilliant sociopath Lisbeth Salander is surely the most imaginative and affecting series character to emerge in 21st century fiction - and she's the fascinating focus of Larsson's original trio of novels and of Lagercrantz's gripping revival "Girl in the Spider's Web." So it's an inexplicable letdown that she's a minor player in this 2nd revival ... she's offstage literally 95% of the time and does little that's remarkable or compelling when she does appear. Instead we get a crowded cast of new bad guys and tepid returns by the likes of Holger Palmgren, the elderly lawyer, and Mikael Blomkvist, journalist & God's gift to women. The plotline centers on a psychiatric con game involving twins separated at birth. It has the distinct feel of an old narrative initially written for characters other than Larsson's, Lisbeth & Co. being substituted at the urging of Lagercrantz's editor - much as Raymond Chandler reworked his early pulp thrillers to include Philip Marlowe. Here the makeover is a failure - Salander is perfunctorily written, hazily motivated, and barely there ... shifts in viewpoint are as incessant as a facial tic ... there's far too much telling instead of showing ... the pace is tortuously slow till the home stretch ... and my ultimate reaction is extreme disappointment. Verdict: Boo. Don't bother..