I find it a little difficult to understand what it was about this book that made it such a massive bestseller. I've read many books of that nature, and they always seem to consist of rapid plots, brief descriptions, and a character that is either strange or has an unusual job. It would be a welcome change from the norm if this blockbuster eschewed any of those tropes in favor of something fresh, but it really just goes in the other direction. 
 The plot moves forward at a snail's pace, with Larsson spending loads of time developing unnecessary backstories for characters and locations that we hardly even meet. There's a lot of time devoted to Swedish financial trends without really giving any explanation of who or what is being discussed, as if everyone (even all Swedes) somehow will know what he's talking about. There are key "twists" that come up that had no reason to be held from the reader. Don't get me wrong, the central plot is very interesting and is what kept me reading. But it's like a carrot on a stick, and I just want to eat a giant carrot as fast as I can, please. 
 As for the characters, there's nothing that really draws you into them. Mikael Blomkvist is a financial journalist who has a very inconsistent and strange relationship with women, but that's about all we know about him. We never even get the sense that he's motivated until maybe the last 50 pages. For half the book he doesn't even want to do the job that is the main focus of the story. 
 Then there's Lisbeth Salander, the titular tattoo haver. She's a little off, but not really that off. She's just enough off to be described as "a little off." Gotta be more off! Off. Sure, she's quiet and sort of angry and has piercings, but so does your waitress at Denny's. There are a couple of points where you really admire her, but besides those very big-deal scenes, she just kind of sits around on her computer hating everything. 
 This could've been about 75 pages shorter, restructured significantly, and done more with its characters, but overall it's still readable. I actually have high hopes that the movie will cut out about 60% of the book, which could make for a very thrilling watch. My recommendation is to wait for the movie (first time I've ever recommended that for a book), because if they fix some of these pacing problems, it will be fantastic.