Wednesday 30 December 2009

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

DATE READ: December 2009 NOTES: The second part of Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy in which the intriguing story of Lisbeth Salander is continued. An ambitious young journalist approaches Mikael Blomkvist to ask for his help in publishing his revelations into criminal sexual activities that involve “respectable” members of society as well as vicious criminals. It soon becomes clear that too many people have something to lose if this research is published and soon a trail of murder ensues. Lisbeth, an anti-social and asocial young woman seems to be linked to three murders and a nation-wide search for her ensues. In the course of the story her background is revealed – we knew from the first book that something traumatic must have happened to her as a child but in this book it all becomes clear. It all moves along at a rattling pace. Lots of new characters are introduced and I found I had to back track a few times to remind myself who people were – Hedström, Holmberg, Ekström, Svensson and Johansson all took a bit of sorting out! The plotting is intricate and all the pieces seem to fit. I don’t know if Lisbeth’s amazing computer skills are actually possible but I’m prepared to go along with them….. The character of Lisbeth has definitely softened ….. she now shows concern for the feelings of others – I wonder if she will evolve even further in the third book? She is certainly one of the most interesting of modern heroines. This is a crime thriller written with passion and a social conscience. Highly recommended. Does IKEA pay royalties to the publisher for the product placement? I even recognised some furniture that I own!

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