The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium, #2)

Title: The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium, #2)

Author: Stieg Larsson

Published in: 2006

Date read: 21st February 2012

Score: 4/5

Genre: Psychological, Thriller

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Stieg Larsson, published posthumously in 2006 (and 2009 in English), is the second novel in the Millennium series, directly continuing the story of the brilliant but deeply troubled hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist. It’s a complex thriller that delves into Salander's traumatic past and reveals a vast conspiracy.

The story opens a year after the events of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." Lisbeth Salander has been traveling the world, living off the money she illegally acquired from Hans-Erik Wennerström. She returns to Sweden, drawn back into events she tried to escape.

Meanwhile, Mikael Blomkvist, at Millennium magazine, is working with a young journalist, Dag Svensson, and his criminologist girlfriend, Mia Bergman. They are on the verge of publishing an explosive exposé about a massive sex trafficking ring operating in Sweden, implicating high-ranking and respected individuals in society.

However, just as the story is about to break, Dag and Mia are brutally murdered. Soon after, a third person is killed with the same weapon, and Lisbeth Salander's fingerprints are found on the murder weapon. She immediately becomes the prime suspect in a triple homicide, sparking a nationwide manhunt.

Blomkvist, convinced of Salander's innocence, refuses to believe she is a killer. He launches his own parallel investigation, using Millennium magazine's resources to uncover the truth behind the murders and clear Salander's name. As he digs, he uncovers chilling connections between the sex trafficking ring, powerful figures, and secrets from Salander's own deeply scarred childhood.

The novel delves extensively into Salander's harrowing past, particularly her relationship with her abusive guardian, Nils Bjurman, and the enigmatic, dangerous figure of her biological father, Alexander Zalachenko. It becomes clear that the murders are intricately linked to Zalachenko and a shadowy network of individuals who have protected him and controlled Lisbeth's life for decades, falsely labeling her mentally ill to silence her.

The narrative is a relentless chase, with Salander, despite being hunted by both the police and ruthless adversaries, using her unparalleled hacking skills and cunning to orchestrate her own defense and exact revenge on those who wronged her. She battles a deep-rooted conspiracy that involves elements within the Swedish Security Service (Säpo).

"The Girl Who Played with Fire" is a dark, intricate, and often violent thriller that explores themes of abuse, vengeance, corruption, and the fight for justice against a powerful, hidden establishment. The climax is a brutal and shocking confrontation that leaves Salander's life hanging in the balance, directly leading into the final book of the series.

Comments:
Much darker than the first book but very well written.

Books that we've read by Stieg Larsson (3):
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) (2005), The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium, #2) (2006), The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millennium, #3) (2007)