This December, the international best-selling novel, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” made its way to Hollywood and gave us the intense action-thriller America has been waiting for. Well, sort of waiting for.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” tells the tale of Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist hired to investigate the mystery of Harriet Vanger and her disappearance forty years ago. In his search, Blomkvist is accompanied by Lisbeth Salander, a computer hacker with a complex and eerie background.

Together, they must discover the key to the Vanger family’s dark secrets.

The trilogy (which has already made its film debut in Sweden in 2009) following Blomkvist and Salander continues in “The Girl Who Played with Fire,” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.” Many people questioned the intent behind making an American adaptation of the film. I was one of these doubters, until I discovered David Fincher would be directing. That quickly turned this doubter into a believer.

“David Fincher” and “thriller” should be synonymous by now. The genius behind the camera is known for such movies as “Se7en” and “Fight Club” and most recently, the tale behind Facebook’s origin, “The Social Network.” His ability to pull his audience into his movies is what makes them phenomenal. But a director is nothing without the actors and actresses to bring the story to life, and in this case, Rooney Mara is a breath of fresh air.

Mara plays the pierced and tatted heroine, Lisbeth Salander. As a character with a troubled past, Salander is cold to the world but underneath her icy shell is a smart, calculated and dominant figure. As a product of her environment, Salander constantly has multiple things driving her and Mara is spot on with her portrayal, which has earned her a Golden Globe nomination thus far.

In addition to Mara’s acting, the original score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross was also nominated for a Golden Globe. Reznor and Ross previously won both the 2010 Golden Globe and Oscar for their work on “The Social Network.” The soundtrack to the film works with Fincher’s directing and Mara’s acting to help draw you into this world surrounded by mystery.

Despite the two Golden Globe nominations, for Best Actress and Best Original Score, and possible Oscar nominations, the series is a graphic thriller suited for only some. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” received a ‘R’ rating for its violence in rape and torture scenes, as well as graphic nudity and strong language, a rating that was pushed to the edge of NC-17.

With the novels by Stieg Larsson becoming increasingly popular, and a Swedish film trilogy already out on DVD and Netflix, David Fincher created an adaptation of the series that can both draw in new audiences and captivate previous fans of the series. In an age of sequels, prequels and remakes, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” shatters the mold and provides entertainment in its most raw form.