The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson

My son Kevin recently gave me a gift subscription to Audible, and I used my first credit to buy The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, which turned out to be a less-than-stellar choice. Why? First, it's too long for a novice novel listener. Second, there are too many characters with Swedish names (oh, what a surprise!) that sound alike, causing me considerable confusion. Third, the plot seems to involve various groups of police, journalists, lawyers, and bad people talking about their plans and investigations--which tends to lull one (especially one who spent four days sick last week) into a trance, if not to sleep. Consequently, I often found myself starting a section over because I had no idea what had happened.

I will give Audible another chance. Luckily, there are no more Lisbeth Salander/Mikael Blomkvist books left to read or listen to (I know, that's an extraordinarily mean thing to say since the poor author died). While the first two books in the series were incredibly violent, this one is just dull. Plus, Larsson once again gives us a climax followed by pages and pages and pages (or minutes and minutes and minutes) to resolve a few remaining plot points. Do I care who is managing the money Lisbeth stole, how her relationships with Miriam Wu or Mikael work out, or even what happens to her nefarious half-brother? I do not!