The second book on my 2012 list is a natural progression from book #1.
I have to say, it turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. This series is very technical (which is fine, since that is the very nature of the genre), but at times, there is an unnecessary amount of detail. While I will concede to the fact that the overall story of this sequel was slightly compelling, there is a good chunk of the middle that could be taken out.
The problem is that, eventually, reading this book got to the point where I was reading it quickly NOT because it was so good, but because I wanted to get through it faster, allowing me to move on to my next read. It started to seem like reading it was a chore, and it dragged on and on and... Well, you get the point. The 630 pages could have been more like 300.
However, I don't want to bash it completely. The end turned out to be yet another powerful stand against "men who hate women." But I will say, solving the mystery wasn't nearly as satisfying as it was in the first installment.
Nonetheless, I trudged through it because very rarely do I give up on a book. I enjoyed the overall picture (the beginning and the end), but I did not enjoy the middle. I give it a mere two stars. Boo.
Now to pick up the pace! According to my Goodreads.com profile, I am 3 books behind. Oops. But the good news is, I have almost 11 months remaining. Stay tuned for book #3 (and no, it is NOT going to be Stieg Larsson's third installment...)!
