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frasersimons 's review for:
The Girl in the Spider's Web
by David Lagercrantz
The final act is quite good but the first two are not very well paced and filled with more contrivances than it can reasonably get away with. The previous books are meticulous, even when plodding, in order to generate some faith from the reader so that when something contrived happens there is so much detail buttressed into the fiction that the contrivances don’t matter.
Unfortunately the new writer just doesn’t have the same chops as the previous one. The psychology and headspace of the characters is shifted so that some actions sometimes don’t feel aligned with what’s known about them from previous books. It’s a bit jarring and takes a bit to get used to. The style shifts from a very detailed account to a more generic feeling thriller. The contrivances are around tropes in that genre. Evil twin, hyper sexualized manipulative femme fatale, and Lisbeth seems more toned down. The previous novels are completely unapologetic about the authors stance regarding systemic problems. It feels a bit toothless.
What I did like however, was the payoff at the end. The book felt a bit inflated as it recounts the same events from multiple view points, but the wrap up at the end was pretty satisfying. It’s still interesting, if somewhat commercial fiction feeling. Still fun and still engaging to return to a story with these characters. The technical information feels well researched and detailed. Things like hacking and burner phones and A.I and the like augment the story beyond what I’d typically consider pure commercial fiction. I’ll continue on with the next book still.
Unfortunately the new writer just doesn’t have the same chops as the previous one. The psychology and headspace of the characters is shifted so that some actions sometimes don’t feel aligned with what’s known about them from previous books. It’s a bit jarring and takes a bit to get used to. The style shifts from a very detailed account to a more generic feeling thriller. The contrivances are around tropes in that genre. Evil twin, hyper sexualized manipulative femme fatale, and Lisbeth seems more toned down. The previous novels are completely unapologetic about the authors stance regarding systemic problems. It feels a bit toothless.
What I did like however, was the payoff at the end. The book felt a bit inflated as it recounts the same events from multiple view points, but the wrap up at the end was pretty satisfying. It’s still interesting, if somewhat commercial fiction feeling. Still fun and still engaging to return to a story with these characters. The technical information feels well researched and detailed. Things like hacking and burner phones and A.I and the like augment the story beyond what I’d typically consider pure commercial fiction. I’ll continue on with the next book still.