The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium #2) in 100+ Books in 2025

Sep 27, 2009 Jeffrey rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2009, mystery

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is a very good mystery novel that takes a little time to get going. The first 150 pages are so is just a lot of background on the main character Lisbeth Salander and her friend the journalist Mikhael Bloomkvist, but also on other people in the story, but after that first say 20% of the book, wham it moves fast like a roller coaster.

The story is a little complicated. To summarize, Salander is under the guardianship of Bjurman, who decided to rape Salander in book 1 because he thought she was This is a very good mystery novel that takes a little time to get going. The first 150 pages are so is just a lot of background on the main character Lisbeth Salander and her friend the journalist Mikhael Bloomkvist, but also on other people in the story, but after that first say 20% of the book, wham it moves fast like a roller coaster.

The story is a little complicated. To summarize, Salander is under the guardianship of Bjurman, who decided to rape Salander in book 1 because he thought she was docile and had a lot of money and had no place to turn. In other words she would take it because if she complained no one would believe her over a lawyer and she was psychotic. He seriously misjudged Salander as she taped the session, then beat him up and threatened to expose him if he didnt do what she wanted.

Now a year has past and Bjurman has contacted someone to get rid of Salander - to kill her that is. The people who he has talked to work for a mysterious figure known only as Zala. Coincidentally, Zala is being investigated by two journalists, who are working on a book and an article for Millenium, the news magazine where Bloomkvist works. The article and book are about the sex trade and who in this country are involved, the johns and prostitutes and the men who bring in the girls and facilitate it. Zala has come up in the investigation as a gangster, supplier of the girls and others are fearful of him. Unfortunately, Bjurman, and the two journalists are killed and Salander is suspected of the murder because of some forensic evidence.

After this point, the book involves three separate investigations to find Salander and/or the murderer. There is the police investigation, Bloomkvist investigation and Milton Security's investigation. For about 100 pages after the murders we do not even hear anything from Salander as the author concentrates on the various investigations and how no one can find Salander. Meanwhile there are two different tales of Salander circulating. On one hand is the official version mostly talked about by her psychologist (a sadistic guy) who claims she is a psychotic and a destructive, but fails to reveal some interesting information about why he was treating her. On the other hand is the people who know Salander and uniformly say, while different, she is very moral and would not have done this crime.

The murder investigation proceeds at a breakneck pace and the last 200 pages of this book are great especially as Salander is back on the case investigating.

All in all a great read.

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Sep 05, 2009 Marsha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: _fiction, mystery-thriller-suspense, 2009, _500-pages-or-more, _translation

The second book of this three book series delves into the back story of Lizbeth Salender, the super hacker, violent young woman from the previous installment. We catch up with Lizbeth, now wealthy due to some creative online transfers of funds, traveling the world.

But eventually the call of home beckons. Living in a new apartment incognito, she catches up on old acquaintances by breaking into their computers and copying the hard drives. When she discovers something new on one of the computers t ...more

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Sep 06, 2009 Julianne rated it liked it

Very similar in style and plotline to the first of this trilogy. Didn't feel like the characters really developed any further than in the first novel. Have a better understanding of Salander (which is to be expected, right?).

Obviously there are loose ends to tie up in the third installment, though I'm not sure at all where the story will go. This one had waay more sex than I was comfortable with (particularly since I've been handing my Larsson books off to my dad when I'm done). ...more

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Jul 16, 2010 Sharron rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 2010-books-read

I loved revisiting these characters from Larsson's first book but wasn't as satisfied. Perhaps because the two main charactors, Salander and Blomvhist, spend the entire book apart. I wanted them back together in some capacity. For me this separateness did not create tension but rather dissatisfaction. The plot was not as sharp as the last book either. I am looking forward to the third installment though. ...more

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Dec 30, 2009 Amber rated it it was amazing

I couldn't put it down. It kept me reading far into the night. I want to start "Hornet's Nest" immediately! Still, the story was gripping and powerful. I have seen the movies but I have to say the book are wonderful to read. ...more

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