Book Review - The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Synopsis:  Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government.

But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander—the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker who came to his aid in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and who now becomes the focus and fierce heart of The Girl Who Played with Fire.

As Blomkvist, alone in his belief in Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the slayings, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all.

First Line:  "She lay on her back fastened by leather straps to a narrow bed with a steel frame."

Random Quote:  "Of the six keys on the ring, three of them were typical apartment keys - front door, apartment door, and the key to a padlock.  But none of them fit the door of the building on Lundagatan.

Review:  The problem with writing a really great first book in a series is that you have to write the second book in the series and sophomore slump is a noted phenomenon (and not just in high school).  The causes of this are various, but basically boil down to peaking too early and setting expectations you can't fulfill.  It's a lot like those actors you see who start every scene at such a high pitch that all they can do is shriek at everyone because they've run out of room.

Looking west on Lundagatan, Stockholm, Sweden - Image by TSelrahc via Flickr

I really enjoyed the first third of this book which deals more explicitly with Lisbeth Salander's history and travels, but somewhere around midway in the book Salander disappears completely and what was her book becomes Mikael Blomkwist's book and, while I like Mikael, I wanted less of him this time.

Once again the book is very readable and the plot is complicated and fun - just not as fun as the first one.  We'll see where we are by the third.

Reading Challenges:  2010 100+ Reading Challenge

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