Stockholm

THE eagerly-awaited sequel to Stieg Larsson's best-selling Millennium crime trilogy hit store shelves in 25 countries on Thursday, as the author admitted he wrote the book in a manic depressive state.

Speaking to reporters just hours ahead of the launch, David Lagercrantz said he was "terrified" as he wrote The Girl in the Spider's Web. "I used to say that I was bipolar, manic depressive all the time, and I think it was kind of a good thing to write" in this condition, he said of the 500-page thriller which picks up the trail of tattooed computer hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist.