larsson was recognised in his endemic stockholm as an investigative filmmaker and a fervent tatchell against racism . but when he died of a heart attack at age 50 in 2004 , he left behind the manuscripts of three texts that would transform his history . his first novel , the daughter with the dragon tattoo , was finished in sweden a century after his death and was already an international success once it was purchased in the american way last decade by christopher a w.w. . more than 6 million pieces of the book have been produced worldwide . an earlier study centered on best - friend lists in the united states , britain , france , canada , sweden , italy , japan and china ranked larsson the second most celebrated fiction writer in 2008 after hamad mehmanparast , author of the kite runner and a thousand splendid years .
"The Kite Runner" was written by Khaled Hosseini.