The Girl who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson

Publishers: Quercus Publishing

Pages: 608

Main Characters:

Mikael Blomkvist, Lisbeth Salander

The Girl who Played with Fire is the second book in Stieg Larsson's epic Millennium Trilogy. The book sees Blomkvist’s and Salander’s fates been draw together again as two of Millennium’s journalists are found murdered in their apartment with Lisbeth Salander’s finger prints all over the murder weapon. Blomkvist believes something is wrong. He knows the two journalists were writing a controversial piece on sex trafficking in Sweden. The article would name and shame a number of influential people within the Swedish high society making the journalists prime targets for murder to keep them quite. Blomkvist also knows Salander could not have murdered the two journalists because he has not seen her for months. This leads him to look into the article the journalists had been working on. The work leads him to finding secrets about the major criminals involved in the sex trafficking going on within Sweden. But it also leads him to discover the secrets of Salander’s past, secrets that portray why she is the woman she is today.

Meanwhile, sitting on a hot sandy beach in the Caribbean, Lisbeth Salander is content. After stealing millions of krona from the corrupt businessman Hans-Erik Wennerstom, Lisbeth is living the high life. That is until Salander sees her face smothered over every Swedish news channel with the phrase ‘wanted for murder’ written underneath. Salander knows who is behind the attempt to frame her and sets out to seek her old nemesis Zala. But even though she tries to conquer him on her own, Salander is brought back into contact with Blomkvist as they work together (but apart) to bring down Zala and clear Lisbeth’s name.

This was a great book, really continuing the fast pace the started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. What I thought was great about this book was that we got to find out more about Lisbeth’s past. The book explains how she became an anti-social, anarchistic rebel. The tale of her past is both disturbing and sad but really explains why Salander is the way she is (which I thought was great because I really love Salander’s character!).

The mystery of Zala is also great. Who is he? Why does Salander know and hate him? Larsson does a brilliant job of keeping the mystery around this allusive gangster. But when he is revealed adds another brilliant twist to the book which for me only made it that much better.

This was a brilliant book. You should definitely read it if you have read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or seen any of the movies (Swedish or American). 

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The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

Publishers: Quercus Publishing Plc.

Pages: 542 (Paperback 2008)

Main Characters:

Mikael Blomkvist, Lisbeth Salander

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the cult book sensation by the Swedish author Stieg Larsson. The first book of the Millennium Trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is set in modern day Sweden and follows Mikael Blomkvist, an edgy, controversial journalist who is co-owner of Millennium magazine.  Blomkvist has just been accused of libel for his report on the Industrial tycoon Hans-Erik Wennerstom.  Down on his luck and exiled from the world of journalism, Blomkvist takes an investigating job looking into the mysterious disappearance of a girl over 35 years earlier.

Whilst in his investigation for the missing girl Harriet Vagner, Blomkvist comes into contact with Lisbeth Salander, an anti-social computer genies. Working together, Blomkvist and Salander manage to look back into the Vagner family history and unearth truths about some family members which some people do not want to come to the surface, resulting in the capture of the murderer who made Harriet disappear all those years ago.

This was a very good book. Anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery will love this book. It is full of action from the very start with murder, controversy, sex and betrayal.   The book has very deep characters each with their own pasts, hope and goals. There is however some very sinister parts to the book. Larsson focuses on the issue of violence towards women in his book. The a-social Salander is the focus of this in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. After watching her mother nearly getting beaten to death by her father at a young age. Salander ends up in a mental institution for children. After been released in her twenties, Salander is assigned a guardian by the name of Holger Palmgren. Palmgren is a sadist who exploits his role as Salander’s guardian. This is the sinister part of the book, as Salander’s savings and rights are taken away from her. This though does add a lot to Salander’s character setting up the story line for both of the following books in the trilogy.

As I said this was a great book, it kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through.  I would suggest this book to anyone who likes murder mysteries, is into journalism or is a fan of the Niels Arden Oplev film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

http://www.stieglarsson.com/