You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
The first extract of the fourth installment in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series has been released over the weekend, with readers reacquainted with main characters hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Michael Blomkvist as well as a new character, Swedish scientist Professor Balder.
The Mail on Sunday published the first extract of David Lagercrantz’s continuation of the bestselling series, entitled The Girl in the Spider's Web, yesterday (23rd August). The piece begins with Salander, who has just downloaded an encrypted American National Security Agency (NSA) file and is ruminating on black holes in space and her tumultuous childhood. Readers are then introduced to new character Professor Balder, who has a stranger lurking around his home. Balder gets in touch with journalist Blomkvist, saying he has a story to share which is “pretty explosive” and the two characters arrange to meet. It also emerges that Balder hired Salander to trace a suspected data breach of his computers.
Previously released plot details have revealed that Balder’s life is in danger and he turns to Blomkvist to make his life’s work public in order to preserve it. Additionally, Salander’s hacking of NSA files has made her the target of ruthless cyber gangsters who call themselves The Spiders.
The Girl in the Spider’s Web will be published by Maclehose Press in hardback at £19.99 this Thursday (27th August). Marketing activity planned for the publication includes Waterstones selling a limited run of special edition hardbacks featuring extra material, independent London bookshop having an exclusive signed edition and “substantial” outdoor advertising. Lagercrantz will also visit the UK in September for interviews and events.
Last week, The Bookseller published an insight into how the new novel's publication was being received in Sweden.