The Man Who Played with Fire

Stieg Larsson's Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin

By: Jan Stocklassa, Tara F. Chace - translator

Narrated by: Ulf Bjorklund

Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

The author of the Millennium novels laid out the clues. Now a journalist is following them.

When Stieg Larsson died, the author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo had been working on a true mystery that out-twisted his Millennium novels: the assassination on February 28, 1986, of Olof Palme, the Swedish prime minister. It was the first time in history that a head of state had been murdered without a clue who’d done it—and on a Stockholm street at point-blank range.

Internationally known for his fictional far-right villains, Larsson was well acquainted with their real-life counterparts and documented extremist activities throughout the world. For years he’d been amassing evidence that linked their terrorist acts to what he called “one of the most astounding murder cases” he’d ever covered. Larsson’s archive was forgotten until journalist Jan Stocklassa was given exclusive access to the author’s secret project.

In The Man Who Played with Fire, Stocklassa collects the pieces of Larsson’s true-crime puzzle to follow the trail of intrigue, espionage, and conspiracy begun by one of the world’s most famous thriller writers. Together they set out to solve a mystery that no one else could.

©2019 by Jan Stocklassa (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Fascinating undercover work." (AudioFile magazine)

"Having gained exclusive access to Larsson's trove of research, Stocklassa presents an in-depth look into the investigation. Based on the findings, Swedish police now have a suspect for the first time in years. This well-crafted whodunit will keep readers engaged from start to finish.... This story is sure to gain international traction as the investigation into the Palme assassination heats up again." (Library Journal)

"Larsson buffs won't want to miss this one." (Publishers Weekly)

Very important and interesting but much tedious detail

Very important and interesting story that needs to be told but tedious sometimes. Think it’s worth the read

Exciting. Lots of details

Very interesting exciting book if you like true crime and don’t mind an open ending. Very good view into extreme political movements.

This is an abridged copy.

I have the hard copy of this book. I noticed right away that there are a lot of skips in the details. it's weird to me to see people say it was too many words, but it's a book, so read the words.

Investigates murder of Swedish Prime Minister

This assassination is unsolved after more than 30 years. I checked the Wikipedia page after listening and saw several theories which this book tied together or addressed nicely.

probably would suggest reading rather than audio book as Kindle version had several good clarifying charts I saw after listening.

Very informative

I do enjoy history very much, and she go my career, my historical interest is always peaked when it involves South African history.

The author did a brilliant job bringing so much information to the front and helping the reader/listener to catch up on parts that may not have been well know.

I agree, that this assassination, can be solved.

I also want to thank the narrator. You did a brilliant job. Being a South African, I did notice a few Afrikaans names and words that were mispronounced, but I was able to follow along easily. I don't like being critical in pronounciation, because I would have probably been rotten at trying to pronounce Swedish names and places.

Interesting but....

A bit hard to listen to as it’s more like a history book. I love history, but seems like there was just too much unnecessary material. I did learn a lot. Unfortunately it has made me even more exasperated with government and bureaucracy everywhere. I think I was looking for more of a story than the investigative reporter narration of their process and conclusions.

TEDIOUS!

Repeating Stieg Larson's name over years of research does not a good book make. This was so much like a textbook.

Deep dive into the Olof Palme assassination

If you read Scandinavian crime novels there's a good chance you have come across a mention of the Olof Palme assassination. It seems to be very deep in Sweden's national psyche. The topic is undeniably fascinating and if you are looking for some context, this might be up your alley as there is lots of interesting detail in this book.

But it also felt a bit scattered. True crime is often far less satisfying than fictional crime because real life is a lot messier than even the messiest of novels. Some authors have a gift for pulling true crime into a coherent story but I don't think this author always hits the mark. I might give it a pass unless you are a huge fan of Steig Larssson or have a serious interest in the Olof Palme assassination.

excellent presentation

so enjoyed the flow and references to real world events. loved it and will reccomend

Not Satisfying

I generally prefer fiction and this was truly a work of non- fiction. it had exciting moments but ended without satisfaction or resolution. I purchased this to accompany the ebook.