The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson`

I have to admit, when I first saw the previews for this movie, it did not strike me as a movie I wanted to see.  But when I saw the book in the local salvation army, I was looking for a new book to read and thought "what the hell".  After reading the series by Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun, nothing would be as hellish to get through.  
The girl with the dragon tattoo (the first book in the Millennium series) is a novel set in Sweden and follows the co owner of Millennium magazine, Mikael Blomkvist, through his after conviction trial against a super corporation known as Wennerström.  He is hired by Henrik Vanger of the Vanger Corporation to look into the disappearance of his grand niece Harriet Vanger under the guise of chronicling Henrik Vanger's biography.  He is later assissted by a twenty-five year old 'hacker' who has legal and mental issues of her own, named Lisbeth Salander.  Together they delve into the mystery to uncover whatever secrets there may be among this large, prominent family.  
At first, the book moved slow for me.  It did bounce back and forth between Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander with a frequency that prevented boredom and long about half way through I ended up staying up all night cause I could not put the book down.  I liked the book, and loved how Lisbeth Salander handled her problem with her new appointed guardian after his sexual mistreatment of her.  If only every woman had the strength to handle their same issues likewise.  
The only issue I had with the novel was that it dragged on the ending after the action was surely over.  The length of the novel after the climax might be due to the fact that it was meant to be one of a series and there needed to be some extra padding between novels.  I am intrigued to read the next in the series but since I don't pay full price for any book (with the exception of Harry Potter 7, the Deathly Hallows) it will have to wait until I find the second book in a book shop.  
The next book for me now is Stephen King's Under the Dome.  Its a large print edition I found at the salvation army also and it feels like a brick in my hands!  But I am starting on it next.  Let you know how it goes.  

Keep of Fire (The Last Rune, Book 2) Mark Anthony

Just finished the second book in the "Last Rune" series by Mark Anthony.  I accidentally came across this series looking at Piers Anthony novels.  Mark Anthony's first book of this series is called "Beyond the Pale".  

This is an interesting series about a world called Eldh and it follows its two main characters, Grace Beckett and Travis Wilder, both of Earth.  In the first book they both got sucked into Eldh mysteriously, separately, by a strange character called Brother Cy.  Travis took up with two individuals, Falken Blackhand and Melia, and traveled with them as they searched for evidence that the "Pale King" was once again coming to power.
Travis had got sucked in after running for his life from shinning beings who killed his friend "Jack Greystone".  Jack had giving Travis a box and told him to run and then Jack's antique shop exploded.  Running for his life he came across Brother Cy and his 'circus' band which reminds you more of a revival church.  Brother Cy gave Travis half a strange silver coin and Travis walked through a billboard into Eldh.  

Grace was a doctor and accidently found herself in the path of a murderous undead man with an iron heart.  She was rescued from the jail house by a mysterious stranger.  He gave Grace his car and she fled, and finding herself outside Travis' hometown and Brother Cy, who gave her her own half silver coin.  She walked through a door and found herself in Eldh in the middle of a snow field.  A knight, Durge, rescued her and took her to the city where the king took her for nobility and given her every comfort a noble deserves.  

Travis and his group traveled to the same city where Grace found herself and together they uncovered the secrets of the "iron hearts" and resealed the gate that held the Pale King in stasis for centuries.  

In the second book, "Keep of Fire", Travis was led back to Eldh from Earth, having went back home at the end of the first book.  Brother Cy making another appearance as a mysterious grave keeper at the cemetery.  Grace, having remained on Eldh, had a strange vision of Travis in trouble and sought out to rescue him.  Grace and a group of her friends traveled across the country and ran into several of the "burning ones" who it was later learned was in search of 'the stone of fire'.  The first book dealing with the 'stone of twilight' which was in the box Travis' friend Jack gave him.  They rescued Travis just as he was about to burn as a heretic and with Falken and Melia again, all traveled in search of the 'stone of fire'.  They learned a Necromancer was still alive and had the stone and summoned the 'burning ones' to seek out the key to the stone so this Necromancer might return to his former God glory but with more power.  

A few points of these books were a bit confusing, Mark Anthony is a good writer.  Very imaginative, and knows how to hold onto secrets.  His relationships between characters are weak and more often than not, linked in sorrow.  However, the story is a good one and worth reading just for the imagination.  It was very fast paced and I didn't skip over too many of the descriptive paragraphs as I am most inclined to do while reading.  Eldh is a beautiful world and his majickal creatures are very interesting.