The girl with the dragon tattoo is not given to forgiveness.

Lisbeth Salander has been forged by a brutal childhood and horrific abuse. And repeated attempts on her life.

The ink embedded in her skin is a constant reminder of her pledge to fight against the injustice she finds on every side.

Confinement to the secure unit of a women's prison is intended as a punishment. Instead, Lisbeth finds herself in relative safety. Flodberga is a failing prison, effectively controlled by the inmates, and for a computer hacker of her exceptional gifts there are no boundaries.

Mikael Blomkvist makes the long trip to visit every week - and receives a lead to follow for his pains, one that could provide an important expose for Millennium: Salander tells him to check out Leo Mannheimer, a seemingly reputable stockbroker from Stockholm, somehow connected to the long-ago death of a child psychologist - and to the psychiatric unit where Lisbeth was an involuntary patient as a child.

Lisbeth knows she is coming closer to solving the mysteries of her early life, and even within the confines of the prison, she feels the deadly influence exerted by her twin sister. She cannot stand by as racial and religious conflicts run unchecked amongst the community around her, manipulated by criminal forces far beyond the prison walls