BOOK OF THE DAY

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
By: Stieg Larsson

Review by Bruce Tierney

The final volume of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, finds neo-punk and genius hacker Lisbeth Salander recuperating from a bullet to the brain. She's in no hurry to get better: A multiple-murder trial awaits her recovery. She has wreaked vengeance on her tormentors, who conspired to imprison her for most of her teen years. A few are dead, and the rest are scurrying to cover their tracks and somehow neutralize her before she can incriminate them. So was it murder, or self-defense? Or is there just the slightest possibility that Salander is, if not entirely innocent, at least not guilty in the eyes of the law?

Helping Salander from outside is renegade journalist Mikael Blomkvist, at times the focus of Salander's affections, and more recently the object of her unbridled loathing. Blomkvist isn't exactly sure how he fell from her graces, and she has not been forthcoming with the answer; indeed, she rebuffs his every advance. And so this uneasy pair labors, sometimes at odds, sometimes in parallel, in pursuit of Salander's freedom.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest neatly ties together all the loose ends from the previous two cliffhangers, yet it still leaves the reader yearning for more. At the time of his death, Larsson left behind an unfinished manuscript of what would have been the fourth book in the series, and synopses of the fifth and sixth. Sadly, we will probably never see them, at least not as the author intended.

Publisher Comments

The stunning third and final novel in Stieg Larsson's internationally best-selling trilogy
Lisbeth Salander--the heart of Larsson's two previous novels--lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She's fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she'll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge--against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.
Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

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BOOK OF THE DAY

The Ghost Mountain Boys
By: James Campbell



The "Ghost Mountain Boys" of the 32nd Infantry division lacked combat training, basic supplies, and back-up when they were dropped on New Guinea's southern edge and ordered to march overland to push Japanese forces out of Buna, on the far coast. During their 42-day trek, 10,000 died; the majority succumbed to hideous tropical diseases borne in rancid water or septic mud, and complicated by a lack of medical supplies. Despite grisly hardships, the soldiers miraculously attained their goal. Fans of the author's earlier Alaskan adventure The Final Frontiersman will find this grimmer fare. For WWII history buffs, however, it offers a meaningful glimpse into one of the war's lesser-known ordeals.

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BOOK OF THE DAY

Ape House
By: Sara Gruen



The author of Water for Elephants brings another great animal tale. Isabel Duncan is both scientist and den mother to six bonobos, outgoing, intelligent, and mischievous great apes who use American Sign Language and graphic symbols to communicate. Without warning, an explosion shatters their orderly existence. Isabel spends weeks in the hospital and then learns that her six much loved bonobos have been stolen. With the help of lab intern Celia and two computer hacker friends, a sympathetic tabloid reporter, and an unforgettable Russian prostitute, Isabel works to track down the apes when they are cast on a reality television show that calls into question scientific assumptions about common DNA that is shared by apes and people.

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BOOK OF THE DAY

I Think I Love You
By: Allison Pearson



From the author of the best seller "I Don't Know How She Does It, "a follow-up that promises to be one of the most widely read and talked-about novels of the season.
1974, Wales. Thirteen-year-old Petra and her best friend, Sharon, are in love with David Cassidy and obsessed with The Ultimate David Cassidy Quiz, a contest whose winners will be flown to America to meet their teen idol. 1998, London. Petra is pushing forty and on the brink of divorce. While cleaning out her mother's closet, she finds a dusty letter--a letter her mother had intercepted--declaring her the winner of the contest she and Sharon had labored over with such agony and bliss. Twenty-four years later, twenty pounds heavier, the girls reunite for an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas to meet their teen idol at last, middle age--theirs and his--be damned.
Poignant, hilarious, joyful, profoundly moving and uplifting, "I Think I Love You "captures what girls learn about love through the universal experience of worshiping a teen dream. It will resonate with readers everywhere.

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