The Girl Who Played with Fire is the second book of the much acclaimed Millennium series by the Swedish author Steig Larsson. I had read the first book of the series - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo last year and ever since had been meaning to read the rest next two novels and finally I laid my hands on this.
The second book is almost a continuation of the first book and the story starts from where it was left. It touches most of the loose threads left in the first novel and leaves some more loose ends which I presume will be addressed in the next book of the series (which I can't wait to read).The suspense and thrill factor is huge and the readers are hooked right from the beginning. The author makes you believe the unbelievable. The computer hacking and internet jargons went above my head and I wondered if such feats are actually possible. The story has all the elements that were there in the first and the plot is even more gripping than the first one.
The story starts with simultaneous stories from Lisbeth Salander i,e the girl with the dragon tattoo and the lead character of the novel and Mikael Blomkvist, the investigative journalist and the publisher of the magazine, Millennium. Lisbeth is taking a tour round the world while indulging in her interest of mathematics. Mikael is working with a young journalist couple, Dag Svensson and his girlfriend who are working on a sensational subject on sex trafficking in Sweden which if published will shake the roots of the so called elite section of the society. Blomkvist plans to run the story on an upcoming issue of Millennium. But things goes absolutely hay ware when the the couple are found dead in their apartment. Things get more complicated when Lisbeth's guardian, Nils Bjurman is found murdered in his apartment with the same weapon. All evidence points at one direction- Lisbeth Salander. With her disturbed past, vengeful and unpredictably violent behavior, she is declared to be a threat to the society. But, the problem is no one can locate her. Hence, begins a search to find and locate her and in the process the story unfolds unraveling the dark secrets that had been long sealed behind closed doors.
This book is just un-put-down-able (if there is a word as such). The author has carved a story so addictive that you keep reading till you have turned the last page. A first rate crime novel, a fast paced page turning story that will be in your thoughts long after you have read it, not just for the story but for the meticulously etched characters and the message the author has tried to convey through the series. A must read!
Stieg Larsson was a Swedish Journalist and one of the world's leading experts on anti democratic, right wing extremist and Nazi Organizations. He had died unexpectedly in 2004 soon after delivering the manuscripts for three crime novels - The Millennium Trilogy to his publisher. All of them have been posthumous best sellers and have been made into movies.
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