Box 21

Box 21, despite its superficial similarities to Larsson's Lisbeth Salander books, is much less sophisticated, but probably all the more realistic for it. Although oppressed by members of the highest ranks of society, Lisbeth Salander has remarkable skills. She also has the advantage of enlisting a famous journalist to her cause. This allows for a deeply textured, complex narrative and, ultimately, Salander's redemption.

The premise in Box 21 is much simpler. A Lithuanian sex slave gets herself into the hospital, where she--somewhat contrivedly (how does a Lithuanian sex slave attain that much knowledge of plastic explosives?)--sets up a hostage situation with the sole motive of killing a certain detective. This is a Salander-esque move, certainly, with the big difference being that Lydia does not have a Plan B and the only possible result of Plan A is her death. Her wager is that her desperate act will leave enough clues, including a telltale videotape, that it will be impossible for her story to be ignored. Unfortunately, without some kind of accomplice to help her fight the overbearing power structure, the clues she leaves are all too easily covered up by the very power structure she intended them to indict. In the end, even the well-meaning young detective is cowed by the system. And, as the novel makes clear, the cycle of sexual enslavement hardly pauses. This makes for a profoundly unsatisfying novel, but probably one that tells a more realistic tale of the crushing reality of the fate of those living on the furthest fringes of Swedish society.