Given that Hornet’s Nest kicks off immediately following the events of Played with Fire, I was hoping that it could keep up the momentum of the previous book and avoid the slow first half / crazy second half that the previous two books had suffered from. Unfortunately, no such luck. If anything, it takes even longer to get moving and the conclusion isn’t quite as action packed as the previous novels.
On the other hand, I do feel like this was a solid conclusion to the series. It wrapped up a lot of loose ends that I hadn’t even realized I was missing and finished character arcs, particularly for Lisbeth. She’s still odd, but I’m really starting to understand where she comes from. And in the end, she wins. I would have been rather grumpy with the author (even if he is dead) had she not come out all right in the end.
