The Girl Who Played with Fire is 2006 mystery thriller written by Stieg Larsson, published by Norstedts Förlag, and narrated by Simon Vance. It is the second novel in the Millennium series. The story follows Lisbeth Salander as she returns to Sweden after spending a year abroad. She falls under suspicion of having murdered a journalist and his girlfriend, as well as her own social services guardian, Nils Bjurman, while Mikael Blomkvist tries to find her before the authorities.

Story

I really enjoyed the story and appreciated how well written it is. It’s deep and engaging, and it opens up so much more about the characters. There’s more focus on the character of Lisbeth, delving more into her backstory, seeing more about the issues she deals with. But it doesn’t just focus on her story because she’s such a good character. The main story follows two journalist who are murdered while investigating sex trafficking by high-ranking figures.The story has a different feel to it but it doesn’t compromise the quality of it. It’s still complex with many subplots happening along the main story including Nils Bjurman attempting to turn the tables on Lisbeth after his disgrace, Lisbeth’s research into Sapo, Was engaged from beginning to end and loved how the story ends on a cliffhanger. This cliffhanger leaves several storylines unresolved but the presumably will in the next novel.

Loved the characters in the first novel and loved them even more in this novel. Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are our main leads and they have more going on. Lisbeth is being accused of a triple that she didn’t commit and while she evades the authorities she’s looking into the people who set her up. It’s great seeing her character growing from what she was in the previous novel and also learning about the people that care about her such as Dragan Armansky, Paolo Roberto, and Miriam Wu. Also, we dive into her past and learn about the people and events that have set her on this path. Then there’s Mikael who I’ve quite enjoyed. And like the other people in Lisbeth’s life he sets out to prove her innocence. It’s great seeing that the events of the first book have shaped such a strong bond between the two despite how it looks.I liked his relationship with Erika Berger, who continues to be the third most interesting character in the series. I like that Mikael’s relationship with Erika and his loyalty to Millennium is tested due to his relationship and loyalty to Lisbeth.

Many of the antagonists are straight up misogynists of which there are several. Nils Bjurman is Lisbeth’s legal guardian who sexually assaulted her, but she manages to blackmail him. He’s just as slimy as ever this time attempting to set up out heroine to free himself from her blackmail. How does he do this? Contact a very dangerous man named Alexander Zalachenko who is **Spoilers** Lisbeth’s biological father, a former Soviet spy and all-around douchebag. Then there’s Ronald Niedermann who’s Zalachenko’s henchman and a physically imposing character. But they aren’t the only villains gunning for Lisbeth.

Overall, the story and characters are well-written and complex. (5 out of 5)

Production

Simon Vance again kills it with his voice performance and reading. The narration is strong, concise and evenly paced giving his audience a deep experience. He definitely knows how to emphasize characterization. Vance is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators and I would like to see more of his world.

Larsson focuses on human trafficking while like his previous book, the themes of violence against women continue to be a strong point of focus. His approach to storytelling is informative, educational, and entertaining. As a former journalist the writing is objectionable enough to create characters, actions, and events without coming out as preachy about certain themes he’s talking about. Yes, he’s addressing them but in the context of the story. Most people think human trafficking and sexual assault is wrong. There’s even a bit where the author focuses on the prejudices that still exist among police investigators and the media outlets and how they spin certain stories.

Again, I appreciate how well the dialogue is. As a warning, there are some intense scenes in this book. There’s profanity, sexual content, violence, and even torture. Also, due to the nature of the story a good chunk of it turns into a police procedural. There’s a bit more action this go around though it doesn’t take away from the crime and mystery elements. Overall, despite the change of tone, production value is great and the writing solid. (5 out of 5)

The Verdict

In the end, The Girl Who Played with Fire is an awesome follow up to an already good book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It does what a sequel should do and expand upon what was introduced in its predecessor. The characters are great, the story is great, Simon Vance totally kills the narration and Larsson’s craftsmanship as an author shine like a rainbow after a storm.

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