Review: The Girl Who Played With Fire

The Girl Who Played With Fire is the second installment in the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson's thrilling trilogy about hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist.  The two haven't seen each other in a while and are brought back together by three murders.  Lisbeth is the prime suspect, and she is hiding out from the police and other people who are trying to find her.  Blomkvist, determined of her innocence, sets out on his own investigation to discover the truth behind the murders and Lisbeth's troubled past.  Does the sex trafficking expose one of the murder victims was writing have something to do with the killings, and Lisbeth herself?

I loved the first book, so I pretty much knew I'd love this one too.  Larsson's a fantastic writer and keeps me on the edge of my seat as I'm reading.  I don't have a ton to say about this book because I don't want to give anything away.  And to be honest, I was too engrossed in the book to remember to take notes as I read!

I once again adored the characters.  A former boxer comes into the picture and ends up being really awesome.  I love him.  Lisbeth's friend Mirium Wu is in this book again and I love her strong, feisty, no-nonsense attutitude.  I also loved the chemisty between the detectives.  They seem to get on like a family, some are cranky and rude and some are tight-knit, but they all have to work together to try to solve the murders.

Then there's the bad guys.  They scared me because they seemed so real.  And I'm a tiny girl, so I wouldn't stand a chance against any of them (unless of course I could outsmart them with my genius brain.....).  The hulking Ronald Niedermann, who can't feel pain andis built like a monster is one person I'd NEVER want to meet.  And Zala is freaky too, probably just because we spend most of the book wondering who he is.

Blomkvist and Lisbeth have almost no one-on-one interaction throughout this book.  Salander, as I mentioned above, is in hiding, so they do most of their communicating through computers.  Even so, I still loved the relationship between the hacker and the journalist.  Blomkvist has a tender spot for Lisbeth even though she's sometimes a total jerk to him.  He wants to look out for and protect her, even if it means keeping information from the police.  Lisbeth, on the other hand, tries desperately to distance herself from Blomkvist.  She's sort of flattered that he wants to help her, but weary of the feelings she has for him.

This story ended with a bang and was really unexpected, in a good way ;)  I didn't see it coming!  The story continues in book three, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, which I cannot wait to read!  I think I'll wait a few months to pick it up though.  As I've said many times before, I hate it when a great series comes to an end!  I often try putting off the ending as much as possible!  Plus, my "end of serie" emotions are going to be in overdrive because I'm currently reading the last book in the Pellinor series.  *gasp*  I almost had a heart attack just thinking about it....

And now to the SAAB quotes.

I have to admit, I was really worried the whole book would pass without one quote.  After all, it's a whopping 724 pages long, and I didn't see the word "SAAB" for the first time until page 670!!  Part of me wonders if I just accidentally skipped over some....And I have one little question for Ms Salander-when you bought your car, WHY was it not a SAAB??  They are only like the greatest car ever! 

And a drumroll please.  *DRUMROLL*

~SAAB Quotes~
Page 670: "He has a license for a moose rifle and a shotgun.  He has two cars, a Ford and a SAAB, both older models."
Okay, it's kind of funny that he moose rifle and the SAAB live under the same roof.  I do adore that this person has an older SAAB model.  The older SAABs, like mine from 1999, have hatchbacks and are a lot cooler looking than the newer models.

Page 684: "There were no livestock.  She saw that the barn contained three cars-the white Volvo from Auto-Expert, an old Ford, and a somewhat newer SAAB."
Sure.  Put the lovely SAAB in a barn.  I see how it is.  My Henrick (a.k.a. the name of my car, named after Swedish hockey player and former Buffalo Sabre Henrick Tallinder) would be furious if I left him in a barn.

Happy reading and go out and get yourself a SAAB*!  *wink*

*My neighbor sells used SAABs and Volvos amongst other types of vehicles, so if you live in the WNY area, hit me up ;)  You know you want that SAAB!!


Title: The Girl Who Played With Fire
Author: Stieg Larsson
Date of Publication: 2009?
Number of Pages: 724
Genre: Fiction
Source: personal copy (borrowed from mom)