Stieg Larsson's Millennium series

Stieg Larsson's Millennium series has been a massive bestseller for good reasons--who doesn't want to hear about people taking down corrupt corporations and government agencies? Though The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo starts off slowly, the series gains momentum by the end of the first book and continues strong through the other two.

The series starts revolves around reporter Mikael Blomkvist and computer hacker/social misfit Lisbeth Salander, who continually get themselves mixed up in big, dangerous conspiracies.  Though Salander is definitely not easy to like, you soon begin to sympathize with her (not always so legal) point of view, just as Blomkvist does.  With cases involving a 40 year old disappearance of a teenager, sex trafficking, blackmail, and international espionage, there's a lot to keep you interested.

Larsson himself was a journalist in Sweden, and an avid fan of detective novels.  Before his untimely death in 2004, he had planned ten novels in the series.  See http://www.stieglarsson.com for more about him.  Also, some early Larsson stories have recently turned up--click here for details.  There's no word yet on whether they will ever be published.

Finally, Simon Vance's narration of all three audiobooks is excellent.  It's easy to distinguish which character is speaking (which the writing itself does not always indicate), and he pulls you through even the slower parts of the books.  They're definitely a worthwhile summer listen.