There's a post on arstechnia I read via the blog-vine (like the grapevine, but I don't actually know any of these people, I just read their words) arguing that we'd all enjoy books more if we read the last five pages first. (I'm being glib).

Before I start talking about this, I'll make mention of the fact that I know people who read the last few pages to make sure the book ends on a happy note before they read it. They're especially sensitive to things they read and watch, and at times don't want to risk falling into the blues just from reading the wrong book. That's their lookout, and while it is related to what we're talking about here, I don't think it's really the same thing. But anyway:

We've all seen or read the great capers to steal the crown jewels / X-B/M/Trillion dollars / spy list / secret government underwear. Four million dollars through a traffic jam. They're intricately plotted, plothole-bending just-in-time capers that in all probabiliy would go horribly wrong in real life. But still great fun to watch.

What if the targeted booty was something you wouldn't ordinarily steal? Four million pairs of underpants. Everybody's left shoe. The world's plankton supplies. A nuclear power plant.

Two options here: either write the great heist where they're stealing something riduculous, like the aforementioned, or write the scene where Mr Brain explains to his henchmen why on earth they need it in the first place."Because it will destroy the world" is cheating. So is ransoming it all back for money. Use your imagination.

Bonus points if you combine them both into a heist story.

I've just started watching Castle, where Nathon Fillion's famous crime author helps the police with detectiveness. It's a delight to watch, despite the premise being so old it buys second-hand clothing with its pension. Though as I say that, I can't actually think of where I've seen it before, off the top of my head. Aside from Bones, which is similar-but-not-quite - Brennan was helping the police before she wrote the book, after all. I'm certain that I've seen the author-helps-police concept floating around, though. And I'd swear I've seen another character on film or TV pinning down the secrets pasts of those around him by the way they hold their coffee. Although the releasing "Castle"'s novel on Amazon's definitely a cute idea.

 

Picked this up while on a small spree a few months ago, largely to see what all the fuss was about. Crime isn't my usual genre, but Larsson's books seem far more 'general fiction that happens to be about crime' than crime novels in themselves, which is perhaps some of the basis for their broad appeal.

The back copy makes the book sound positively pedestrian, sprinkling adjectives like candy around the character descriptions of CEO, journalist and security specialist.  Lisbeth Salander - our girl with the dragon tattoo - is an extremely socially awkward but highly intelligent hacker and investigator assisting Mikael Blomkvist, super-moral but convicted-of-libel financial journalist, in investigating a supposed murder for Henrik Vanger - friendly but manipulative head of a giant (and failing) corporation. There's a fair whack about business and secret accounts in the Cayman Islands, more family members that you can possibly keep track of, and the odd gruesomely violent scene.

 With a book this popular, I feel I have to either love it or hate it. But I'm rather ambivalent. It's not a bad book - Larsson certainly puts enough twists in the story that the reveal of The Big Bad People is a surprise, and the plot itself is fairly strong. But it suffers from the translation - the voice of the novel is clunky and uneven, and the pace is far too slow.