The Girl Who Played With Fire
by Stieg Larsson
Viking Canada, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-670-06902-6
503 pages
Hardcover
Crime/Mystery
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Lisbeth Salander is bisexual, socially impaired, highly moral, super-intelligent, tough and extremely violent. She also happens to be one of the top three computer hackers in Sweden. It’s through this capacity, employed by an investigative and research company, that Lisbeth met Mikael “Fucking” Blomkvist, a famous investigative reporter she fell in love with—to her complete and utter disbelief. It didn’t take long for her to cut him out of her life.
Having spent somewhere between one and two years abroad, living high on the billions of Kroner she stole from an industrial criminal, Lisbeth is back in Sweden and installed in a fabulous apartment no one knows she has. Hooking up with an old flame and casually looking around for some interesting work, Lisbeth appears to be in complete control of her unusual life…
Until she wakes up one morning with her face plastered all over Sweden, wanted by the police for the murder of three people. So begins a race between Lisbeth, Mikael and the police to find the person or people responsible for the crimes. The police are convinced the murderer is Lisbeth; Mikael isn’t as sure of Lisbeth’s innocence as he’d like to be; and Lisbeth isn’t talking, can’t be found and is causing enough mayhem to drive officials crazy.
You see, Lisbeth has a secret and, in her mind, it has ruined her life. Now people are being killed to keep that secret hidden. The Girl Who Played With Fire follows all those involved until a final resolution is achieved. The many twists, turns, revelations and action scenes are sure to keep you reading to the very last page.
I’ve mentioned in a previous review of Stieg Larsson’s work that he was adamantly opposed to violence against women. Once again he has written a book filled with examples of a society dominated by men who treat women as inferiors and worse. The novel/series is full of examples of verbal and physical abuse against women and explores, in a unique manner (by offering a study of Lisbeth’s life), the role of victim and what might happen if such a victim stepped outside societies mores and took action based on her own moral code. The original title for the first book in this series was Men Who Hate Women. With the antics of Lisbeth Salander in this second book, it might well have held the title Women Who Hate Men Who Hate Women. Nobody kicks ass like Lisbeth.
I found The Girl Who Played With Fire, like its predecessor, moved at a slower rate than the stories I’m used to. Yet, I can find no fault with this. The reader is treated to a complex mystery and is shown how the police, journalists and individuals might actually proceed in solving such a mystery. The book is entertaining, complex enough to maintain interest and continues to develop one of the most interesting fictional characters I’ve ever come across. I could read about Lisbeth Salander all day: she’s awesome!
Note: Stieg Larsson was a political journalist and graphics specialist for 20 years at a Swedish news agency. He also actively belonged to an organization called Expo, dedicated to fighting fascism and racism in Sweden and Europe. It is said that he and his partner Eva Gabrielsson lived under constant threat from right-wing/neo-fascist violence. Larsson died of a heart-attack in 2004, a few months before the Swedish release of the first of three novels dedicated to the unusual character Lisbeth Salander.
Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2010
