Thank you PRH Audio for the ALC and Knopf #partner, for the advanced copy of The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Knopf / Penguin Random House Audio
Published: August 29, 2023
Summary:
Lisbeth Salander returns, in a trailblazing new installment to the best-selling Millennium series
Change is coming to Sweden’s far north: its untapped natural resources are sparking a gold rush with the criminal underworld leading the charge. But it’s not the prospect of riches that brings Lisbeth Salander to the small town of Gasskas. She has been named guardian to her niece Svala, whose mother has disappeared. Two things soon become clear: Svala is a remarkably gifted teenager—and she’s being watched.
Mikael Blomkvist is also heading north. He has seen better days. Millennium magazine is in its final print issue, and relations with his daughter are strained. Worse still, there are troubling rumors surrounding the man she’s about to marry. When the truth behind the whispers explodes into violence, Salander emerges as Blomkvist’s last hope.
A pulse-pounding thriller, The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons sees Salander and Blomkvist navigating a world of conspiracy and betrayal, old enemies and new friends, ice-bound wilderness and the global corporations that threaten to tear it apart.
My thoughts:
I have been a fan of Lisbeth Salander since the first book in this series, written by the original author, Stieg Larsson. This is what got me into crime fiction/NordicNoir. I’ve continued reading with the change of authors after the untimely death of Larsson, partly due to the fact that I loved Lisbeth Salander’s character so much & because I was listening to these books & the narrator, Simon Vance, stayed the same & he’s back again for this new one!
We are now on the 3rd author for this series, Karin Smirnoff, & she is starting a new trilogy. I’m thrilled to have Lisbeth back because again, I just love her character. I liked this book. I think there’s definite potential for a new direction with both Lisbeth & Mikael as well as the introduction of Lisbeth’s niece. That was a fun dynamic & I’d be curious to see where the author goes next with that.
There are still themes present that I’ve come to expect in this series – violence against women, organized crime & government corruption.
This new addition moved things in such a way that I’m left eager to see what’s to come next!
Audio thoughts:
One of the big draws to this book was the fact that Simon Vance was narrating it…I loved listening to him narrate the other books in this series and I figured even with a new writer, at least having the same narrator would allow some continuity. Simon Vance really gets the nuance of these characters, even with the changes of the authors and I hope that he continues to stay on for as long as the series goes on.
Books in this series:
1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
2. The Girl Who Played With Fire
3. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
4. The Girl in the Spider’s Web
5. The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye
6. The Girl Who Lived Twice
