The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz

☺☺☺☺_

A Swedish computer genius’ life is under threat. The NSA is hacked. It is going to take a computer expert to bring all of these strands together. Welcome back Lisbeth Salander.

After Stieg Larsson’s death in 2004 like many fans of the Millennium Series, I was afraid that I had lost Lisbeth, Mikael Bloomkvist and the rest of the characters I had grown to love. David Lagercrantz brought them back in 2015’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web and gave them a new mystery to solve.

For those unfamiliar with the Millennium Series here are the main two characters. Lisbeth Salander is the daughter of an abusive father who is a Russian defector. Her father is given complete protection by Säpo, the Swedish secret Service, which allows him to terrorize Lisbeth and her mother. At the age of 12, Lisbeth, having witnessed too much of his violence, takes revenge and sets her father on fire. Mikael Bloomkvist is an investigative journalist for the magazine Millennium. He is known for writing blockbuster pieces that expose corruption in Swedish society. Most recently he has been greatly aided by Lisbeth.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web is the first book in the series written by Mr. Lagercrantz. Here we meet Frans Balder, a master computer programmer who has quit his job to return to Sweden to take care of his autistic son. He has also taken his research into Artificial Intelligence with him. Balder is warned that his life and work are danger from a secret criminal organization called “the Spiders” who are led by the mysterious Thanos. In hope of shedding light on his work and the threats against him, Baldor arranges to meet Mikael Bloomkvist. Meanwhile, Lisbeth Salander has been trying to hunt down The Spiders for her own reasons. In her efforts she has helped a group of hackers to break into the NSA’s intranet, and given her information on the threat to Baldor. As all of this comes together, Lisbeth’s past pops up to play a significant role in the investigation.

It is not easy to pick up someone else’s work and carry it on. Mr. Lagercrantz has done a very good job adapting our familiar and loved characters to his voice. This is even more true since we now have not only a new author, but a new translator also. As with any change, the new tone of the novel is a little disconcerting at first. One review in Upsala Nya Tidning described the portrayal of Lisbeth and Mikael as “more brooding” and “less cartoonish.” My impression of the reinterpretation of these characters is the opposite. To me this novel is much less dark. This may be because it is more plot driven than character driven than the previous novels. I am not sure if this is a result of the original writing, the new translator or both.

It is true that by the fourth book of a series, characters have a set of personality traits that well defined. That does not mean that characters should not grow. Unfortunately, there is little growth in this novel. It is a good mystery. The plot is compelling. It held my attention and was fun to read. But neither Lisbeth nor Mikael develop or change. There is nothing that moves them forward as people. This book could stand alone, and while there are some references that a new reader might miss, it would not affect the mystery in any way. The problem is that having read the previous books I was looking for new pieces in the personalities of my “friends” I did not find them here.