One of the most popular novels in recent years, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. First released in 2005, the Dragon Tattoo appealed to a wide audience because of its themes; crime mystery, sexual violence, fighting sex against women and techno thriller. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was the first of three novels released as the Millennium Trilogy and featured Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Sadly Stieg Larsson, 50, died of a heart attack in 2004 before his the Dragon Tattoo was released so he never got to see the immense popularity of his work. A Swedish film version was released in 2010 and has since become the most viewed Swedish film of all time. David Fincher directed the US version of the film which is scheduled for release in December 2011. Why is the Millennium Trilogy so wildly popular? I believe there are a three reasons. First of all, women read far more novels than men and the Larsson Trilogy has a female empowerment message and a very strong femaie lead character. And that strong femaie character appeals to both men and women because of her spirit in overcoming great odds to succeed. While it is a bit surprising that such an empowerment novel would have been written by a man, Larsson's views were shaped at a very young age. When he was 15 years old, he witnessed a gang rape of girl named Lisbeth (like the heroine). Stieg Larsson has said that he always felt guilty about not doing something to stop the rape and it is that guilt that helped shape this the Millenium Trilogy. Second, readers are drawn to the mystery and surprising plot twists of the Larsson Trilogy. We are all exposed to so much TV, Movies and Books that most of it becomes a boring stream of "sameness". When we find something that breaks through that monotony with twists and turns that we did not expect and a genuine mystery, we eat it up. Think of the most popular TV Dramas and Movies of late, many of them involve supernatural themes (Heroes, deep intricate mysteries (Lost) or solving crime (CSI). People are searching for something different in their entertainment. Third, novels that incorporate the changing face of computer and internet technology have become increasingly popular. We all know the information age is changing at lightspeed and we want a glimpse of the potential ramifications of this new world. While we know how to navigate our devices, apps and the internet, few of us know how it all works and the software code behind the apps. Authors that can find ways to incorporate "insider tech" info into their books to create a techno thriller, benefit from our general desire to know more about the "black box' of computer technology. I love techno thrillers but find it very hard to find books in the genre. I spend hours searching the web, Amazon and Audible looking for these unique high tech novels. Hopefully, with this lens I can save you that time by providing other great techno thrillers and tech novels that you might like. Please let me know if I accomplished my goal in the comments section at the bottom.