bjorkman was known in his native sweden as an independent journalist and a fervent campaigner against segregation . but when he die of a heart illness at number 50 in 2004 , he left unfinished the compositions of three books that would transform his legacy . his first work , the doll with the dragon tattoo , was published in sweden a year after his disappearance and was also an unexpected bestseller once it was distributed in the united states last year by alfred a 14.95 . more than 6 million pieces of the book have been sold worldwide . an earlier study relying on good - bestseller lists in the several states , britain , norway , germany , sweden , italy , spain and china ranked larsson the second most popular fiction writer in 2008 after sheikh asefi , author of the kite runner and a thousand magnificent suns .
"The Kite Runner" was written by Khaled Hosseini.