DJ

I had a hard time getting into this book in the beginning. The details about the foreign government operations and the fraud made my head spin and I actually quit reading the book. It doesn't help that I wasn't feel well at the time. I finally picked it up again and started over. This time I got through those details to the meatier parts of the book that hooked me in. I'm glad I stuck it through because I did enjoy this book. I will definitely look up and read the other books.

I do have to say though, that even though the book doesn't really give a very clear picture of what Mikael Blomkvist looked like, he must have been a stud. He was having sex with several different women throughout the entire story. He was “all that and a bag of chips,” which all the women freely passed around. No claws came out and only towards the end does one woman seem to show any real feelings about him.

This book isn't as engrossing as the others were for me. I kept spacing out and thinking of other things to do. It seemed to ramble on and go nowhere. In the end it did end up going nowhere but I suppose the trip itself was a trip they needed to take. The journey itself was the destination and a solution was found to their dilemma.

I read this book several years ago but I couldn't remember much about it. I came across another copy so I read it again. I remember hearing other people talk about it and it seemed there were three camps. There are those that loved it, those that hated it, and those were afraid to say what they thought about it.

Many of those that hated it had a problem with God being depicted as a black woman. I thought this was very clever because it brings out the prejudges of people. God is not black or white or male or female. Anyone who believes in God knows that God is not limited to any one of those things.

I really enjoyed the story, although it was very sad, but I enjoyed the way things were wrapped up. I got a lot out of the chapter A Morning of Sorrows which talked about forgiveness.

I have to admit I didn't like everything about this book and what was said and some things I will have to continue to chew on for a while. I do plan to go back to this book later and think about these things some more. I have ordered a hardcover copy for my permanent library.

I love this story. It really gives you something to think about. On one hand, it is saying, life is precious, don't be too hasty to take it. On the other hand, living on forever without change isn't great either so some death is necessary. Growing old and dying isn't the worst thing that can happen. Dying before having the chance to live is a lot worse and living an empty life is unforgivable.

I liked this book a lot better than the last one. I really like that the mystery of the man that died at the bed and breakfast was finally solved. Now I'm curious to see where the story goes from here.