Product Description: The second instalment in the Millennium Trilogy sees Lisbeth Salander wanted for murder while Blomkvist tries desperately to clear her name.
Amazon.co.uk Review: Stieg Larsson gleaned a remarkable degree of success before his too-early death in 2004. He had delivered to his publisher three remarkable crime novels; the initial book in his âMillennium’ sequence, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, had enjoyed an unprecedented success in his native Sweden before the translation took the UK by storm. Larsson had made a considerable mark as a crusading journalist, with a speciality in tackling political extremist groups. But he offered assistance to many people and groups who he felt were vulnerable – something of a modern hero, in fact.
One of Larsson's key achievements as a writer was to create an innovative kind of heroine for the crime novel. His unconventional sleuth, the highly intelligent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, is a confrontational young woman, whose Goth accoutrements sometimes alienate those around her (except the individuals she opts to have sexual relations with – strictly, that is, according to the rules she lays down). In the second book in the Millennium sequence, The Girl Who Played with Fire (as in its its predecessor), Lisbeth's closest ally is the older journalist Mikael Blomqvist, even though she has abruptly ended her emotional relationship with him. Lisbeth has left all she knows behinds her and has begun a relationship with a gauche young lover. But after a grim revenge run-in with a man who has abused her, she becomes a suspect in three murders, and is the subject of a nationwide search. Blomqvist, however, is convinced of her innocence (he has just been responsible for a blistering report on the sex trafficking industry in Sweden), and is determined to help her – whether she wants his help or not.
As with Larsson’s earlier book, this is highly compelling fare, with tautly orchestrated suspense; it's often grisly and uncompromising (not a problem for many readers), and the massive text may be longer than is good for it, but Larsson admirers won't begrudge the late author a word,and will be impatient for the third (and, regrettably, concluding) book in the sequence. --Barry Forshaw
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - better than the first one!
I read this one first so the standard was set high & although I've enjoyed her other work, this for me remains the best so far.
Easy to read, enjoyable & entertaining. Not just 'chick lit' much more involving & much less use of rose tinted spectacles!
With the prices now for used copies it would be criminal not to read it, in my humble opinion.
Rating: - Not as thrilling as the first book
Set a year after the first novel finished and things are starting to look up for Salander. Thanks to some adept financial maneuvers at the end of the first book, she is now independently wealthy and is settling herself into a plush, new apartment in the centre of Stockholm. For Mikael Blomqvist, everything has returned to normal back at the Millennium office as new reporter Dag Svensson along with his girlfriend prepare to publish an explosive report on sex trafficking which threatens to bring down ... Read More
Rating: - the girl who played with fire
An excellent follow up to the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo only to be bettered by the final part of the trilogy.
Rating: - Rather a Let-Down
Sorry to prick the hyperbole bubble, but this is a very ordinary thriller. The first 100 pages drag some (and the writing is as wooden as the IKEA furniture that obesses Larson), the middle 350 then trot along at a fair pace with some engaging plot turns, then the final 100 is a bit of a let-down. After the very engaging first volume, this is a disappointment.
Rating: - The Girl Who Played with Fire
Excellent follow up to The Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl Who Played with Fire
- better than the first one!
- Not as thrilling as the first book
- Rather a Let-Down
- The Girl Who Played with Fire