The Girl Who Played with Fireby Stieg Larsson
Pub. Date: June 2009
Genre: Fiction
630 pp
Synopsis from back of book:
Part blistering espionage thriller, part riveting police procedural, and part piercing expose on social injustice, The Girl Who Played with Fire is a masterful, endlessly satisfying novel. Mikael Blomkvist, crusading publisher of the magazine Millenium, 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.
Why I Picked It:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Need I say more?
My Review:
Where do I start? I couldn't find enough time to read this book. It's a page turner and I didn't want to have to put it down. I read the first 300 pages in one sitting (the one nice thing about being sick and unable to sleep two weeks ago). The rest of the book was read in 5-10 page increments which was AGONIZING!!
Sooo much better than the first one. I think I feel that way because there was so much more I wanted to know about Lisbeth, and this one focused so much on her, that I was more satisfied.
There are a ton of characters again, and sometimes I got them confused. (Someone remind me to keep a scratch page in the next one so I can keep track.) But again, just like TGWTDT, this story was perfectly detailed. I usually can't tolerate crime thrillers because the characters are so contrived and stupid, or the author leaves things out that any reasonable human being can tell is essential to, um, reality. I usually spend most of the book just trying to suspend my disbelief and end up irritated. Anyway, with these books, no sooner do I have a thought about something, it's resolved, handled, addressed, nothing for me to yell about. I can sit back, relax and just go with it.
There are some serious bad dudes in this book, and I found myself really concerned with how Lisbeth was going to get herself out of the mess she had found herself in. She's so tough, and yet, Larsson crafted her character with such a vulnerability. I found myself feeling very concerned and protective of her as I was trying so hard to get to the end. As the second half of the book picked up its pace, I loved how Larsson provided every side of each scene from the character's own perspective. It really rounded it all out, and I found it very fulfilling as a reader.
And yet, I thought it ended too soon. I still want more!
Steig Larsson is brilliant. I'm so terribly sad that he died before he got to see how his books would effect the bestsellers list. Before he got to see how adored his characters are. I picked up The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest on Tuesday, and I really want to crack it open right now. I have a few others I need to read first. So I've decided to make it really special and hold it until we go on vacation. Oh, that's going to be sooo hard. Let's see if I stick with that decision! Another great book!
2010 Challenge: 14 Read, 36 to go!
(better pick up that pace...)
(better pick up that pace...)
I LOVED this book. I can't even say enough about how much I loved it. I so badly want to read The Girl WHo Kicked the Hornet's Nest. However, like you, I have a few other books I need to read first.
ReplyDeleteI recently read an article that states the majority of a fourth book is on SL's laptop. However, there is a huge and sad legal battle going on between his estranged family and his live-in girlfriend of 30 years. She has had to put the laptop with the story in a vault in Sweden until the legal mess is cleared up. It's really sad but strangley interesting, too. I don't know how it would be if someone else (maybe his girlfriend) finished writing the fourth book but God I'd love to read what he has written!
Sorry for the long, long comment but I am kind of obsessed with these books and Larsson's personal story right now. :)