The
Girl With Ice in her Veins, by Karin Smirnoff.
Since the tragic and untimely death of Stieg Larsson and his unforgettable protagonist
Lisbeth Salander, many notable writers have attempted to further her
story; all, so far, have failed to keep
up the momentum and suspense of their second foray into Lisbeth’s life,
business and personal: she’s a hard nut
to crack and, despite Karin Smirnoff’s very creditable first attempt with ‘The
Girl in the Eagle’s Talons’, an icy-veined Lisbeth doesn’t seem true to her
life as all we millions of fans know it, BUT!
It’s thrilling that she is still being recreated, even
though in this case she’s not happy; her
most trusted – her only trusted
friend, a brilliant hacker who goes by the name of Plague has disappeared. And that’s a big ask, for he’s obese, with
all the health problems that go with that condition: why would anyone kidnap him? Except to get at her?
Which proves to be the case, but who, and why? She is even approached most innocently by a
woman who wants to befriend her; this
woman is called Lo (the Lynx) and she has a spectacular set of burn scars from
a dreadful childhood accident; she’s
definitely unforgettable so why use her as bait?
An added complication is her niece Svala, barely fourteen
and in protest mode with a group of other young people in the small northern
town of Gasskas, which is in danger of being taken over by huge, greedy
multi-nationals – ‘never mind the environment, think of all the jobs!’ (Sound
familiar?) Naturally, nobody pays them any attention until one of their number
ends up murdered by a slag-heap: life is
cheap when billions are at stake. Svala
vows revenge for her friend’s murder, but it isn’t long before her uncles, reindeer
herders with whom she lives, start finding dead animals everywhere – just as a
warning, you understand. Svala loves her
uncles, so her heart and mind are understandably full of hurt and hatred. Who can she rely on? Does anyone care at all?
Mikael Blomquvist does.
He has just accepted a job as editor of Gasskas’s local paper; his daughter is married to the mayor and
everyone should be living happily ever after – you think?
Of course they should, but every character, large and
small has a back story here, which impedes the action and complicates the
plot; it’s hard to keep up with myriad
nasty baddies who all present themselves on the last page, ready to carry on
the series. Having said that, Lisbeth and Mikael, with Supergirl Svala,
still have enough charisma to continue the tale. FOUR STARS.
