Since thrillers are not my genre of choice, I wonder how many of them require "willing suspension of disbelief" to the extent that Larsson does. One of the most tortured of the victims had a lovely marriage, is a devoted mother, and can function in the environment where all of the horror happened. She is wealthy, charming and ready to take on huge responsibilities. How does this magical transformation take place? In a psychiatrist's office daily for endless years during which time she needs drugs to sleep? We aren't told. She is too "whole" for the tortures she endured. Salander is the science fiction character whose brilliance and maneuvers require more of that "suspension." Are we really to believe that at this stage in her life she can have gratifying sex with a man? It is not enough to shock the reader with graphic details of the acts; the responsibility is to make us see what the torturers have done, how they have emotionally crippled and maimed the victims. Then a victim's recovery is more believable and appreciated. Then the emphasis is where it needs to be.