MacLehose Press unveils New Dragon Tattoo Title, The Girl in the Eagles Talons

 

Maclehose Press have announced that the English-language title for the much-anticipated 7^th novel in the Millennium series by Swedish author Karin Smirnoff will be The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons. It will be translated by Sarah Death, the award-winning translator of Selma Lagerlöf and Tove Jansson. Total sales figures for all six Millennium books, by Stieg Larsson and David Lagercrantz, have hit over 100 million copies worldwide across all editions and languages.

In a huge global event, The Girl in the Eagle’s Talon will be published simultaneously on 29 August 2023 by MacLehose Press and in Hachette UK’s international territories, and by Knopf PRH in the US and Penguin Random House in Canada.

The Swedish hardback edition was published as Havsörnens Skrik on 4 November to huge fanfare and rave reviews. Karin Smirnoff was interviewed on live TV and radio and the novel immediately hit the coveted no.1 slots on Sweden’s major online bookselling platforms, including Ad Libris and Bokustoppen. In the first five sales days, Swedish bookshops have sold over 7000 copies of the book (in a country of 10 million). In an innovative move by Swedish publisher Polaris, the e-book and audio releases of the Swedish editions will take place a month after hardback release, on 1 December 2022.

Karin Smirnoff’s take on the Lisbeth Salander story moves the plot from Stockholm to northern Sweden, an area vast and beautiful, but also dealing with economic and social problems and the effects of climate change and environmental exploitation. Karin Smirnoff and Stieg Larsson were both born in the northern county of Västerbotten, and both writers were shaped by the stark and empty landscapes of their birthplace.

The first Swedish press reviews for Havsörnens Skrik (The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons) have poured in and are extremely positive:

Svenska Dagbladet said: “We more than approve of Smirnoff's debut as a crime novelist … what impresses is the thrilling plot, the environmental depiction, and above all the unexpected and poignant relationship between Lisbeth and [her young protégé] Svala. Something tells me that the dark tale of Millennium will continue for a long time.”

Skånska Dagbladet, one of the largest daily newspapers in Sweden, emphasised the strong feminist angle to Karin Smirnoff’s new take on the Millennium series: “A really, really good crime novel. It is also a serious and successful attempt to keep Stieg Larsson’s commitment alive and let commercial literature speak serious truths about our time.”

Nya Tidning said that “letting Karin Smirnoff take over the baton from David Lagercrantz is a stroke of genius. It is hard to believe anyone could have done it better than Smirnoff. Apart from Stieg Larsson himself”.

Västerbottenskuriren said “The connections to Smirnoff's previous books become clear. This is as it should be, as there is the feminist anger, the fundamental connection that unites her with Stieg Larsson. A connection that is, quite literally, carried through smoke and shell fire by Lisbeth and Svala together.”

The Return of Lisbeth Salander

LISBETH SALANDER AND THE ‘DRAGON TATTOO’ SERIES GIVEN NEW LIFE BY ONE OF SWEDEN’S MOST SUCCESSFUL NOVELISTS

Karin Smirnoff lives on a farm in northern Sweden, just a short car journey away from Stieg Larsson’s birth place. She is a bestselling author whose novels have sold over 700,000 copies in her home country, has a black belt in karate, and enjoys spending time with her mother and kids. But now, her life is due to change completely as she is about to become one of the world’s most famous novelists after taking on the Stieg Larsson mantel to write about one of Sweden’s most iconic women, Lisbeth Salander. With approval of the Stieg Larsson estate, Karin Smirnoff has taken on the monumental task of writing the next three books in the ‘Dragon Tattoo’ series. The first novel (number 7 in the series) is due to be published in the UK on 31 August 2023. 

Karin was born in Umeå in the north of Sweden, grew up in Stockholm, and left school at 17 to travel. Now, she has returned to her birthplace and lives on a farm which has been in her family for many decades. Karin has hinted in interviews that the main storyline for Millennium 7 (as the as-yet-untitled novel is called) will move from Stockholm and the south to the wild expanses of northern Sweden that are so familiar to her. She read the Millennium novels when the first three books came out and is familiar with the universe created by Larsson and continued by fellow Swede David Lagercrantz.

With Karin Smirnoff as the new writer of the series, and its acquisition by Katharina Bielenberg of the MacLehose Press, an imprint of Quercus Books, the series – which has sold over 100 million copies worldwide – will have a female author and publisher, with a female translator also being lined up. 

Karin Smirnoff says, “It feels almost solemn to write the sequel to Millennium. I said yes to the project without hesitation, even though it postpones my own ideas for new novels. It’s an exciting opportunity to independently create and make something new based on a unique fictional universe that is known worldwide. The Millennium books are classics in their genre, where the combination of unforgettable characters and the strong political and societal engagement still fascinates readers. I will continue to build on Stieg Larsson's core themes, such as violence, abuse of power, and contemporary political currents.” 

Katharina Bielenberg says, “The Millennium series has been a constant at MacLehose Press and
Quercus since Christopher MacLehose acquired Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo back in 2008. Everything we know about Karin Smirnoff and her work tells us she has the perfect sensibility not only to continue on from David Lagercrantz’s trilogy with great drive and imagination, but also to make the series her own. And it feels just right that Lisbeth Salander’s universe should now be brought to life by a woman. We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Karin on these next instalments.”

Jon Butler, MD at Quercus Books, says, “The Millennium series – ‘the Dragon Tattoo books’ to most people in the English-speaking world – of course constitute one of the biggest publishing stories of the last twenty years, selling over 100 million copies worldwide. Stieg Larsson’s iconic creation, and the brilliant sequels written by David Lagercrantz, reached people who rarely buy books, which is the holy grail for any publisher. So, we couldn’t be more excited to announce a new trilogy; except that I probably am more excited. Karin Smirnoff is a literary talent of the highest order, and a huge bestseller in her native Sweden. We can’t wait to launch her creation to the widest possible English-language readership next year.”

The trailer for the Millennium 7 can be watched below.

For further information, please contact Corinna Zifko, corinna.zifko@quercusbooks.co.uk / 07917 158 986. 

The Girl Who Lived Twice by David Lagercrantz - Final Millennium Novel

"What will you do now?"

"I shall be the hunter and not the hunted"

The girl with the dragon tattoo is finally ready to confront her nemesis, the only woman who is evidently and in many ways her match. Salander will not wait to be hunted. When she strikes it will be a double blow: vengeance for recent atrocities, and the settling of lifelong scores.

For months now Salander has been closing in on her target. She has moved from Stockholm, her hair is newly styled, her piercings are gone. She could pass for any other businesswoman. But not all businesswomen have a Beretta Cheetah beneath their jacket. They do not wield the lethal power of a hacker’s genius. They do not carry scars and tattoos to remind them that they have survived the unsurvivable.

The new episode in David Lagercrantz’s acclaimed, internationally bestselling continuation of Stieg Larsson’s Dragon Tattoo series is a thrilling ride that scales the heights of Everest and plunges the depths of Russian troll factories. It begins with the discovery of Mikael Blomkvist’s number at Millennium magazine in the pocket of an unidentified homeless man who died with the name of a government minister on his lips.

Blomkvist, at extreme risk to himself, tracks down his old friend and will protect her as far as he can. But he is powerless to crush her enemies on his own.

And for Lisbeth Salander, the personal is always political - and deadly.

The Girl Who Lived Twice will be published on 22 August 2019

Millennium VI Cover reveal - The Girl Who Lived Twice

Shots are pleased to take part in the cover reveal for the new Millennium VI novel.   The Girl Who Lived Twice is the third book in the series to be written by David Lagercrantz following The Girl in the Spider’s Web (2015) and The Girl Who Takes and Eye for and Eye (2017)

I will not be hunted, I will be the hunter!

The Girl Who Lived Twice

The eagerly awaited cover from Quercus Books imprint MacLehose Press is due to be published in 2019. 

Millennium V - Title and Cover revealed

MacLehose Press today revealed the title and the cover for the fifth book in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series, which is written by the Swedish author David Lagercrantz.

The novel will be called The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye and is translated from the Swedish by George Goulding.  The text of the novel, now complete, is embargoed until its worldwide and simultaneous publication on September 7, 2017.

David Lagercrantz will be in the U.K. from September 12-15 during which time he will be available for press interviews. He will also be available in advance from Stockholm for selected media. Please get in touch for further details.

The film of David Lagercrantz’ The Girl in the Spider’s Web (Sony Columbia), directed by Fede Alvarez, the director of 2016’s breakout thriller Don’t Breathe, is due for release on October 5, 2018. It will feature an entirely new cast, with the search for the new Lisbeth Salander currently underway, and filming is due to begin in the autumn,

David Lagercrantz is an acclaimed author and journalist. In his years on the Stockholm daily Expressen he covered many major crime stories. In 2015 The Girl in the Spider's Web, his continuation of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, became a worldwide bestseller, and it was announced that Lagercrantz would write two further novels in the series. He is also the author of the prize-winning and bestselling I am Zlatan Ibramhimovic, and Fall of Man in Wilmslow, a novel about the death of Alan Turing.