The Girl Who Played with Fire

After reading Shutter Island, I've become obsessed with thrillers. I've always preferred classic literature to modern, but more often than not the classics take time. You sit and read the classics over weeks. You don't rush them - instead you savor every word, knowing that the authors slaved over exactly which one to use. Modern literature is different. It's rushed. The language is simpler. You read it faster than you would a classic. And I read The Girl Who Played With Fire over the course of a few days. I couldn't put it down.

There are a few things I love about this book:
1. The characters are all great characters. A person can't help but see a little of themselves in all of them. Lisbeth is a great example of a woman who defends herself. She is smart and powerful. She stays true to herself and I think that's a really great message. I also love Blomkvist, the do-good journalist. He is a great ally and I love that they explore the role of media involvement in crimes through him and his position at Millennium.
2. Both of the books I've read so far have had me on the edge of my seat. I have not been able to put them down. These books are written in a way that make you resist the urge to put them down. Larsson's writing style is simple enough that you can read the books pretty quickly without missing any details. And the end is totally unexpected.
3. The setting of the novels is in Sweden, a place that is totally foreign to me. I've read so much material both set and written in other parts of the world that those places, while foreign, seem more familiar to me. Through these books I'm able to see Sweden for the first time. I'm learning about a country that I know nothing about, and I like when books provide more than just the pleasure of reading them.

My only complaint is that the book ends without much resolution. You almost immediately have to pick up the next book because the story continues there. The author died after completing the third, and I'm worried that if I read the third, it will end the same way, and I'll be left with no resolution. I hate stories that end that way (see Inception).