Ok, these books are great. They have suspense, action, scenery, plot. They can't be beat. I'll get the only thing I don't like out of the way because it is so minor. They're set in Sweden so the names, places, streets are names I can't pronounce or have any point of reference, so that slows me up a little. But, the stories are so good and the action so relentless that it hardly matters. I'll tell you what matters: Mr. Larsson has passed away. He died in 2004, but he left these books behind and they have been published, finally, in the states.
When you read these books, you read about incredible feats performed by the most unlikeliest of characters and you never once question them. You know you have read books where you think that the book is good, but some of the things are contrived if for no other reason than to make the story take the proper turns. The "Girl" books don't do that because the characters always act as they should in the appropriate circumstances. Each character has a personality and a set of values that you are aware of and absolutely buy. Once that happens, you're immersed in the story.
As you read from one to the other (there is a third coming out, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest"), the story is exposed and several new layers fall away slowly, but relentlessly, until you are seeing a more overarching plot than the mini-plot that unfolds in the context of the individual books. Then you realize that Mr. Larsson was a master story-teller. Finally, you feel sad because Mr. Larsson will never write another book again and you feel somehow cheated (there 3 more books in various stages of writing that Mr. Larsson left, but there seems to be a probate fight on who gets them, then you have to worry if the writer who completes them will have the same insight and vision as Mr. Larsson; so, in short, we're screwed out of some really great stories).
Back to the books. Fun rides, great twists, and constant surprises. The main character is Lisbeth Salander. You guessed it, she has a dragon tattoo. She is an uber-computer genius. She also has several body piercing, other tattoos, not to mention several psychoses and neuroses and is completely anti-social. You know what, you end up loving her and sympathizing with her. Interestingly, the first book also introduces Mikael Blomkvist (I hope I spelled that right), who is a journalist with ethics and virtually the entire story is about him and his conflicts. However, there is a a couple of what can only be called sub-plots about the main character (huh?) that are insightful about the character and are necessary for character development. Yeah, I was confused too, but it starts to come together in the second book and you enjoy the book because it always has some conflict that must be resolved.
I completely recommend reading these books and then reading the third. I can't vouch for the "unwritten" ones, but l'll read the first one and let you know. Grab these books, read them in order (my favorite recommendation in any series; I mean, would you read "The Return of the King" before "The Fellowship of the Ring"?), and enjoy yourself.
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