Stieg Larsson created memorable characters with his trilogy of Millennium Series books.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” were intricate, detailed stories of many hundreds of pages, masterful in pacing, the complex unspooling of revelations and the building of character development.

Larrson created “The Girl Who” Lisbeth Salander, a troubled young woman who grows into something akin to a genius superhero, and Mikael Blomkvist, the famed advocate journalist. 

Arguably, Larrson completed the full story with the three novels. The trilogy ends in a satisfactory way. There was still more to learn about Salander, and the potential for more stories. Rumor was Larsson had the outlines for more story but the author died at the height of his trilogy becoming an international sensation.

A few years ago, author David Lagercrantz was tapped to resume the stories of Salander and Blomkvist. He wrote “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” and has now followed it with “The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye.”

In the latest novel, Salander is in a prison controlled by a vicious inmate. She deals with the inmate who is bullying a young woman who has been imprisoned because her Muslim brothers plotted against her. Salander also sets Blomkvist on the trail of a young, rich man connected to a project from her past.

Possibly, the best thing about Lagercrantz’s entries is he has subdued the superhuman abilities of Salander. Yes, she is still tough, still brilliant, but not on the Superwoman level where she seemed to be heading by Larsson’s last novel. 

Lagercrantz’s books are also more focused on the pacing of the action. They are more in line with most thrillers – action, suspense, doled out in a matter of a few hundred pages. 

There are those who will never accept additional Millennium Series stories from anyone but Larsson and other readers will seek more. Lagercrantz gives more with less; and for many readers the combination is enough.