When Blomkvist finished reading, he flipped open his mobile and saw that he had 20 new messages. Three were messages to call Berger. Two were from his sister, Annika. Fourteen were from reporters at various newspapers who wanted to talk to him. One was from Malm, who had sent him the brisk advice: It would be best if you took the first train home.
Blomkvist frowned. That was unusual, coming from Malm. The text had been sent at 7:06 the night before. He stifled the impulse to call and wake someone up at 3 in the morning. Instead he booted up his iBook and plugged the cable into the broadband jack. He found that the first train to Stockholm left at 5:20, and there was nothing new in Aftonbladet online.
He opened a new Word document, lit a cigarette, and sat for three minutes staring at the blank screen. Then he began to type.
Her name is Lisbeth Salander. Sweden has gotten to know her through police reports and press releases and the headlines in the evening papers. She is 26 years old and not even five feet tall. She has been called a psychopath, a murderer, and a lesbian Satanist. There has been almost no limit to the fantasies that have been circulated about her. In this issue, Millennium will tell the story of how government officials conspired against Salander in order to protect a pathological murderer. …
Excerpted from The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the final novel in Stieg Larsson’s bestselling Millennium Trilogy, available in Canada May 25. Can’t wait to read more? For an exclusive advance look at the entire first chapter, please visit globeandmail.com/books. Penguin Books offers Globe readers the chance to win 1 of 100 limited-edition advance reading copies of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Visit penguin.ca/globe to enter.
