Mikael Blomkvist is trying to reach Lisbeth. He needs her help unraveling the identity of a man who lived and died on the streets in Stockholm--a man who does not exist in any official records and whose garbled last words hinted at possible damaging knowledge of people in the highest echelons of government and industry. In his pocket was a crumpled piece of paper with Blomkvist's phone number on it.
Once again, Salander and Blomkvist will come to each other's aid, moving in tandem toward the truths they each seek. In the end, it will be Blomkvist--in a moment of unimaginable self-sacrifice--who will make it possible for Lisbeth to face the most important battle of her life, and, finally, to put her past to rest.
Comment: This is the 6th installment in the Millenium series, started by the late Stieg Larsson, and continued by David Lagercrantz.
In this novel, Lisbeth is finally ready to set up things and confront Kira, the sister who she once shared everything with, including their despair, but who has been her enemy for years. It will not be easy to end this thing between them, but she will try, if she can... at the same time, Mikael embarks on a new investigation, regarding a few people in important places, as usual, with the extra of the existence of a homeless man who seems to have some knowledge over a terrible secret involving them. This man used to be a guide on the Everest, and everyone knows of the case of the Swedes who died there some years ago... but that was an accident, everyone said... However, somehow, Mikael also sees himself in the middle of Lisbeth's plans for her sister. Is there any hope they come out of this alive?
The last book in the series I had read was in 2019. I only remember the basics, and the overall impression because Lisbeth and Mikael are characters who stay with us, so impressive is their presence. While reading, many things came to mind again, that is true, but I did feel a little lost here and there.
This book was planned, I assume (even due to the publicity around this book's release) to be the last one in the series and, indeed, it was the last one written by David Lagercrantz. Therefore, there are situations that seem to lead to a sort of finite path for the characters, but at the same time the story ended in such a way that it would not be impossible to return to these characters and it seems this was the publisher's decision, and a new author picked up the series after this book.
Thus, the plot of this story, pertaining the main characters, seems pretty basic. Lisbeth needs to confront her sister, the source of so many problems for her in the past books, and Mikael returns to his investigation while still worrying for Lisbeth. Their friendship and care for one another don't follow the usual patterns but so many adventures together have brought them together as friends and "partners in crime so to speak, and I must say that one of my favorite parts of these books has always been how they connect. Part of me wishes they could have become a couple but, frankly, that isn't something I miss that much.
I wasn't too fond of Lisbeth's sub plot here, to be honest. I know there's a lot of investment in what she feels she needs to do, but I would sometimes get a little annoyed at these sections because they obviously had to include Kira's presence and actions and the whole sub world stuff and mafia like behaviors and deals just pulls me out of a story for they are themes I don't care about. The sisters do have a final showdown, and it is certainly hollywoodesque but I struggled to follow the emotional impact of what was happening and why it mattered to Lisbeth.
I was much more interested in Mikael's investigation of what had happened during the Everest expedition and how he connected the dots between the homeless man and the reason for why there was such a big secret over everything. It turns out that the explanation isn't as shocking as one might assume... I mean, yes, something terrible happened there but the motivation wasn't a big novelty. I also think there were too many characters in this whole plot, and then some would mix up with what was going on with Lisbeth, and sometimes I felt rather confused.
In fact, the writing made several situations seem confusing. I think the back and forth between what was happening with one character, and then the other made for a convoluted book. I also felt a little disappointed that both Lisbeth and Mikael had a lack of personality (to my own perception) when comparing to how they had been portrayed in other books, namely the first three. I think I have said before that David Lagercrantz smoothly continued what Stieg Larsson had started but yes, it is also true that there is a difference in their "voice".
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