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The Girl Who Played with Fire  By  cover art

The Girl Who Played with Fire

By: Stieg Larsson, Reg Keeland - translator
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Editorial reviews

Stieg Larsson was a crusading Swedish journalist, committed to the fight against political extremism and racism in his home country. In his spare time he completed a trilogy of striking crime novels, which he delivered to his publishers just before his untimely death in 2004. The first novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, centred on Mikhail Blomkvist, a crusading journalist with a social conscience; its sequel, The Girl Who Played with Fire, shifts focus onto the socially awkward computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, who becomes entangled in an investigation into sex trafficking, murder, and establishment corruption. This unusual central character is the story's main strength, allowing it to stand apart from the raft of contemporary and classic crime novels which Larsson fondly draws on. An expert hacker and mathematics-obsessive, Salander is a clenched fist of a character; difficult, psychologically traumatised, and capable of extreme violence.

Simon Vance endows her with the accent of an East London street urchin, a fitting voice for this embattled woman. While his narration is crisp, Vance's other characters range from working-class Northern English accents for Blomkvist, assorted police, and journalists, while others are given accents somewhere between Scandinavian and Bela Lugosi. However, as the plot thickens, such incongruities are forgotten, and a compelling social reality is created by Vance's skilled performance, which includes a sensitive rendition of a stroke victim's voice. Vance's cool delivery also suits the reportage feel of much of the writing; characters are introduced through their occupation, address, and educational background, while a mass of tiny observations (such as coffee mugs decorated with the logo of the civil service union) at times convey the tone of a police report. It is a tribute to Vance's delivery that the narrative thrust carries the accumulation of detail effortlessly from one action-packed set-piece to the next.

Larsson's published books have been a European phenomenon, due less, perhaps, to any narrative or thematic innovations as to the author's visceral anger at social injustice and the mistreatment of the vulnerable, particularly women. Violence against women is the work's central motif: the Swedish title of the first book in the series translates as Men Who Hate Women, and Salander is "the woman who hates men who hate women". In fact, there is an element of salacious revenge fantasy to much of her actions as she fights fire with fire; the story treads a fine line between condemning sadism and revelling in sadistic imagery. The real enemy of the tale is institutionalised machismo: policemen are loutish, rape is endemic, and villains enjoy guns, motorbikes, and magazines about motorbikes. Everyone, meanwhile, summers in wood shacks in the Swedish countryside.

While very much part of a larger whole (there are numerous references to events that occurred in the first part of the trilogy), The Girl Who Played with Fire stands alone as a highly enjoyable, if not always smooth - and often disquieting - mixture of classic crime tropes, searing violence, and vivid characterization. Dafydd Phillips

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)

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What listeners say about The Girl Who Played with Fire

Average customer ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

I can't wait for the third installment

This was a great"read." Simon Vance does a great job creating the different characters. I can't wait for the next installment. I am only sorry that Stieg Larsson died before he completed the series.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story and a Great Reader

This is what audiobooks are all about: a true "garage book." (what's a garage book? I pull into my garage and can't get out of my car!).

Read Stieg Larsson's books and enjoy a great ride! It's truly a shame that the world has lost such a fantastic writer. I can't wait for the 3rd installment in the series!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved this

This book was better than the first. I love the Character development in this book and it has a fantastically twisty plot. Very smart and in my opinion, a great listen.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Even better than the first. What a great listen!

The first book was great but this one was just spellbinding. It is a good idea to read these books in order. I think this might be the best book I have read (listened to) in this genre to date.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

You won't want to put it down!!

This book, like the first one in the trilogy, is so good you won't want to put it down. I found myself carrying my Centro everywhere I went, stopping to sit and listen whenever I could. Lisabeth Salander is one of the most interesting literary characters I've ever read. Can't wait for book three!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

worth every penny

A very engaging book , I could not stop listening!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

whidbeyguy

Interesting story, very good development of characters, story line had logic.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

On Fire; Playing with Fire

I read the first book and stumbled over the Swedish names, not knowing how they would sound. Listening to the second book was great! These books are fantastic and I can't wait for the third (unfortunately final) due out in May 2010.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Can't wait for another sequel

don't read this before you read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Both are "can't turn off suspense" I look forward the the next Elizabeth Sallinger adventure.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic!

I thought this book was great! Even better than the first but I realize that in the first book we are "getting to know" the characters. I've already pre-ordered the last book in this series. Can't wait!

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