I read only the first book and fully agree that it is better than the film. Most of all I liked the constant tension, in which the reader keeps the action going on in the book from beginning to end. In the first film this is not enough. Too there is all superficial, as it seemed to me when viewing.
As for the comparison of the book and the film, the film is very close to the book. There are almost no digressions, which is actually a rarity. The first book is better than the first film definitely due to the atmosphere, which is not fully conveyed in the film.