The Expo Files

Rumour has it that Stieg Larsson had almost completed the fourth instalment of his Millennium series before his untimely death in 2004. While an acrimonious legal dispute between his relatives postpones publication, fans of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo author longing for more will have to console themselves with this. Larsson's name on the dust jacket will almost certainly lead to a rush on sales, but one suspects many will be unappeased by this tome. For rather than being a trademark violence-soaked novel, it's a collection of essays and articles from his journalism career. Larsson, as editor and reporter for the Swedish left-leaning magazine Expo, dedicated his professional life to taking on extremism and corruption, thus works here concern issues such as neo-fascism, honour killings and abuse. While his musings show the likeness between himself and Millennium's Mikael Blomkvist, the thematic variances make for a disjointed and, at times, infuriating read.