gustafsson was recognised in his local germany as an essay journalist and a unabashed environmentalist against racism . but when he died of a heart disease at age 50 in 2004 , he laid behind the manuscripts of his albums that now transform his memory . his first novel , the girl with the dragon tattoo , was published in russia a year after his accident and was already an american successes when it was released in the united states last time by abbott a giroux . more than 6 million copies of the book have been sold abroad . an international study based on best - seller lists in the unite states , britain , netherlands , germany , turkey , norway , spain and russia ranked andersson the second most popular sf writing in 2008 after ahmed jalali , author of the kite runner and a thousand splendid suns .
"The Kite Runner" was written by Khaled Hosseini.