The Girl Who Played With Fire - Softcover

Larsson, Stieg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0307949508 ISBN 13: 9780307949509

Publisher: Vintage Books, 2011

Synopsis

Part blistering espionage thriller, part riveting police procedural, and part piercing exposé on social injustice, this second book in the Millennium series is a masterful, endlessly satisfying novel.

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled genius hacker Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander's innocence, plunges into an investigation. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past.

About this title

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 ‘Millennium’ 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

Review

"[A] gripping, stay-up-all-night read."--Entertainment Weekly

"Boasts an intricate, puzzle-like story line . . . even as it accelerates toward its startling and violent conclusion."--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Gripping stuff. . . . A nail-biting tale of murder and cover-ups."--People

"You might as well give up on the idea of sleep till you've finished the book."--Dallas Morning News

"Buzzes with ideas [and] fizzes with fury."--Los Angeles Times

"[A] dynamite thriller."--Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

"Lisbeth Salander [is] one of the most startling, engaging heroines in recent memory."--USA Today

"Brilliant. . . .Grabbed me and kept me reading with eyes wide open."--Alan Cheuse, San Francisco Chronicle

"I couldn't put down The Girl Who Played with Fire and eagerly await book three. . . . You must find out what happens next."--Erica Marcus, Newsday

"Lisbeth Salander could be the female Jason Bourne . . . It's an intelligent, fascinating story that draws readers in, and keeps them turning the page." --Associated Press

"A combustible new thriller . . . Extremely well-written--Larsson's minimalist prose is frosted with Scandinavian cool. . . . Burns with blue-flame intensity. . . . Larsson keeps a tight rein on the bullet-train plot."--San Antonio Express-News

"A dynamite thriller." --Variety

"Fantastic . . . Like all the great stories of just avengers that populate literature, this trilogy is secretly comforting, making us think that maybe all is not lost in this imperfect and deceitful world of ours. . . . Welcome to the immortality of fiction, Lisbeth Salander!"--Mario Vargas Llosa, El País

"Enthralling. . . . Confirms the impression left by Dragon Tattoo." --Washington Post

"Will likely confirm Larsson's position as the most successful crime novelist in the world." --Slate

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0307949508
• ISBN 13: 9780307949509
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 724