The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2007)

This book is the third of the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson and brings us to the close of one part of Lizbeth Salander's life. At the end of the last book, she had just extricated herself from a grave where her father had left her with a bullet wound in the shoulder, her hip, and her head. She returns to the house where he is in hiding and manages to land an axe in his face. We start this book with the two of them in the hospital, two rooms away from each other, with Lizbeth being accused of his assault and two other murders.



Mr. Larsson does not let us miss the main point of these books. He introduces many new characters, many of them women, and intercorollary chapters which told us about women warriors. We certainly get the message that men are pigs and that women are at their mercy. It is only when women join their talents and abilities together that they are able to get out from under mens' thumbs. And do they ever come out in force in this book!

This trilogy has been quite a ride. The "Girl" has been an amazing character to get to know. The consummate underdog, she used her unique talents and abilities when the moment arrived, to clear herself and set herself up for a new life. We can only hope that she is still able to find peace and some semblance of normalcy. Or at least, pick up the crusade and help other women trapped in testosterone hell like she was.

This whole series has extreme violence and sexual abuse but not gratuitously. The intrigue and computer hacking seems, at times, to be a little too convenient and easy. The individual books are very large (the paperback version of this book had 746 pages) but they read fast since they are mostly comprised of conversations and emails. I am glad to have met the character, Lizbeth.

My rating for this book: ++++

Purple Heart (2009)

I believe that most wars are started by men and that all children should be removed far from any war zones. In Patricia McCormick's book, Matt wakes up in a military hospital in Iraq with no memory of how he became injured but he knows there was a boy named Ali involved. While recovering from his TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) he slowly regains events but they don't add up.

He got out his notebook and turned to the page where he'd written a new version of what had happened, a version that included what he now knew.
1. taxi runs the checkpoint
2. Justin and I pursue the vehicle
3. we turn down a side road, past the bootleg store
4. we get out of the Humvee to give chase down an alley
5. we get separated
6. I start taking fire in the alley
7. I return fire
8. Justin picks off the shooter from an upstairs window
9. RPG hits wall, Justin drags me to safety.
He didn't write about what happened when he returned fire. He couldn't.

It is a slow and painful process recovering his memory. On one hand he needs to know and on the other hand he is afraid to know the truth.

It is interesting to note what the soldiers turn to for entertainment. They play Halo, watch Rambo movies, and joke about Chuck Norris, but it is a way to bolster their flagging bravery?

I highly recommend this book. It is a very fast read and the reader is riveted to find out the truth with Matt.

My rating for this book: +++++