The Girl Who Played with Fire

A Lisbeth Salander Novel

By: Stieg Larsson, Reg Keeland - translator

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 18 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

The electrifying follow-up to the phenomenal best seller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ("An intelligent, ingeniously plotted, utterly engrossing thriller" The Washington Post), and this time it is Lisbeth Salander, the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker, who is the focus and fierce heart of the story.

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to publish a story exposing an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government.

On the eve of publication, the two reporters responsible for the story are brutally murdered. But perhaps more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander.

Now, as Blomkvist, alone in his belief in her innocence, plunges into his own investigation of the slayings, Salander is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all.

Listen to the rest of The Millennium Trilogy.

©2009 Stieg Larsson (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

“Boasts an intricate, puzzle-like story line . . . even as it accelerates toward its startling and violent conclusion.” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

“[A] gripping, stay-up-all-night read.” ( Entertainment Weekly)

“Gripping stuff. . . . A nail-biting tale of murder and cover-ups.” ( People)

Good continuation of first book

I have enjoyed listening to all three of these books and have recommended them to others.

Thriller of the year

This book and the first book in the series, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, have to rank as the best thrillers of the year. The titles refer to a most unique character, a young woman whose abusive upbringing has given her a mind and character of steel. The main character is a Swedish journalist who manages to befriend this prickly young woman. He is probably an avatar of the author, a journalist who wrote these two and a 3rd novel right before he died. The central topic of international concern, human trafficking, sets you to wondering how much of these books are based on fact. They are written with passionate intensity. Not necessary to read them in order but better if you do. You can't put them down, and like chocolate, you won't be able to stop at one.

This is PART 1

You might as well call this part I, because The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is part II. LOVED the story line. If I were translating to English, I would have selected more English names like Bob and John and Wendy for the main characters. Getting tired of the Swedish names for people and places. Also, the main character loves sandwiches and coffee. Sometimes I would like to get to the point. I know I am alone on this point. Nonetheless, once you get past the names, places, sandwiches, coffee, the story is solid and entertaining.

Plus I could do without the rape fantasy that Larsson seemed to have had while he was alive. His discriptions don't add to the story and actually detract from the experience (unless you are a bit wacko!)

Heart pounding thrill ride

Larsson does it again; this book was incredible and fast paced and intriguing from start to finish. I liked it even more than the first in the series. And Simon Vance is a first class narrator giving each character a unique and recognizable voice and personality. Better than reading it, a must buy.

Listening instead of reading

Would you consider the audio edition of The Girl Who Played with Fire to be better than the print version?

The book is long and I don't have a lot of time to read a good portion of the book each day, so instead I listen as I do my driving or small jobs around the house

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I listened to Girl With the Dragon Tatoo

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

A Great Continuation in the Series

The continuation of the story gave a great biography of the herion Lisbeth Salander and was a great read from the start. It also gave more history of the characters from the previous book, and added newer characters as well. The story was compelling and unpredictable. I enjoyed reading this book for it's unpredictability that left me on the edge of my seat.

The narrator was the same as in the first book and was wonderful. The sound quality was good and voiced the characters well. I couldn't put the book down.

Great Writer

I just finished listening to this book. I listened to "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" about 2 weeks ago and I couldn't wait to listen to this book. Steig Larsson has one of the best prose to come along in a long time. His style of writing is very similar to James Lee Burke with very descriptive prose. The plot twists and turns kept me sitting in my car listening to the story long after I arrived at my destination. I would recommend this book highly and without reservations.

Gripping and provacative

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love Vance's performance

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I could have done this in one sitting but alas life goes on

The Girl Who Played with Fire

Yes a great continuation of the trilogy and can't wait to hear the last one.

Unique and Refreshing

This book will keep you guessing. It is written with eloquence and it leads the listener into a web of intrigue. A word of advice for any listener would be to write down names as the story moves forward; the names are mostly Swedish, German and it was a bit difficult to keep track of the names until I began to write them down. Waiting patiently for the 3rd book.