The Girl In The Eagle's Talons (The Millennium Series Book 7) by Karin Smirnoff

 

The Girl in the Eagle's Talons (The Millennium series Book 7) by Karin Smirnoff.

Translated from Swedish by Sarah Death.

Published 29th August 2023 by MacLehose Press.

From the cover of the book:

The untapped natural resources of Sweden's far north 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. Her niece's mother is the latest woman in the region to have vanished without trace. Two things soon become clear: Svala is a remarkably gifted teenager -- and she's being watched.

Journalist 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 rumours surrounding the man she's about to marry. When the truth behind the whispers explodes into violence, Salander emerges as Blomkvist's last hope.

Stieg Larsson's Dragon Tattoo series continues in a new thriller from Swedish bestselling author Karin Smirnoff - it will submerge you in a world of conspiracy and betrayal, old enemies and new friends, snow-bound wilderness and corporate greed. Lisbeth Salander is BACK.

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Things are afoot in Sweden's far north. Corporations are vying to be ahead of the lucrative business of providing eco-energy on a massive scale, and some of those that want a piece of the action are not quite what they seem. Rumours are spreading about dodgy dealing, inflamed by stories of missing young women and suspicion about the motives of a dangerous biker gang from the south that has taken up residence.

Veteran investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist arrives in the town of Gasskas for the forthcoming marriage of his daughter Pernilla to a man who at the centre of the new energy boom, Henry Salo, head of the municipality. He senses tension between the 'happy couple', and something about Henry and his business dealings piques Blomkvist's newshound intuition. He is concerned that this marriage might not be good for his daughter and grandson.

In a twist of fate, Lisbeth Salander also finds herself in Gasskas for a meeting with the niece she has never met. Svala's mother has gone missing. Social services are keen for a reluctant Salander to become her guardian, and she is caught off-guard when she discovers Svala has hidden depths that remind her of her younger self. Salander comes to realise that Svala and her mother need her help, and she cannot abandon them to their fate.

As the threads of Blomkvist and Salander's separate family dramas unfold in Gasskas, they must come together to discover the truth about a murky web of lies and deceit. Can they save this community, and their own loved ones, from the fall out of corruption and sins of the past?

Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Lisbeth Salander, is back in a new incarnation, under the stewardship of best-selling Swedish author Karin Smirnoff... and this is the reboot that die-hard Larsson fans have been waiting for. Smirnoff picks just enough from the bones of the off-kilter David Lagercrantz era to make this a seamless transition, but she finds the meat for her characters in the veritable feast left behind by Larsson in his outstanding original trilogy to begin with a novel that bears all the hallmarks of an author that has a real feel for what makes both Salander and Blomkvist tick.

The action takes place in the far north of Sweden, in a region that has suffered real hardship at the hands of misconceptions by a government that sits in its ivory tower down south. Smirnoff does an excellent job of painting a picture of how the clash between traditional ways of life and progress is playing havoc with towns like Gasskas, especially when it comes to immigration and eco-friendly policies. Against this unsettled atmosphere, Smirnoff weaves a tale that mixes elements of a gritty Scandi crime story with delicious domestic noir, blending the boundaries between the two to make whole that examines the black hearts of the darkest villains (both old and new), just as much as it explores the power play of difficult family relationships.

Both Blomkvist and Salander have some adjustments to make, which feed nicely into the way they tackle the well conceived crime plot in their own distinctive ways. Blomkvist is feeling untethered by the end of Millennium, and is troubled by how Pernilla's marriage may affect the deep connection he has forged with this grandson, but he also begins to feel a rekindling of his love for investigative journalism once he sees what is happening in Gasskas. It is also now Salander's turn to find she feels more strongly about family that she thought was possible when she gets to know the extraordinary Svala, stirring up her long-dormant protective side, which bodes ill for the bad guys. I love the way their new found energy brings Blomkvist and Salander back together in a joyful pairing, despite all the bumps in the road of their relationship - and for an extra little kick in the entertainment stakes, Svala proves to be a tough little cookie too.

Smirnoff is keen not to make much of the fact that she is the first female author to take on the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo franchise, but there is something about the way she writes about violence against women and motherhood that has real power in these pages. The impact of shocking abuse cuts to the bone, and the way she evokes significant emotional turmoil in relationship focused parts of the book speak of an author who understands the importance of writing about them with authenticity, and I cannot help but think that a female author brings something extra here. I leave you to make up your own minds.   

I consumed this book in tasty gulps, held fast by the story and the characterisation. This has thrilling twists, intelligent turns, and all the icy chills of Salander brand revenge best served cold, and it leaves just enough threads hanging to make me yearn for the next book in the series. May Karin Smirnoff reign long on the Millennium throne. 

The Girl in the Eagle's Talons is available to by now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to MacLehose Press for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Karin Smirnoff worked as a journalist before quitting her job to buy a wood factory. Her debut novel, My Brother, was nominated for the prestigious August Prize and has been optioned for TV by the producers behind The Bridge. In 2020 she completed her noir trilogy featuring Jana Kippo, which has now sold more than 500,000 copies in Sweden alone. In 2021 she was announced as the new writer for Stieg Larsson's Millennium series.