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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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If you're looking for an audiobook in an accent, check out these listens from our favorite British narrators. Authenticity is something many listeners value in their audiobook experiences, and that often boils down to narration style and accents. Although so many audiobooks are narrated by many talented actors with wide ranges, sometimes it's just nice to listen to an audiobook performed by someone in their native accent. If you're searching for the best British narrators, look no further. We’ve done the tough job of picking just ten of our favorite British narrators that you'll love listening to.

What listeners say about The Girl Who Played with Fire

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I liked this book quite a bit

Larsson was a wonderful writer. This book is worth the read if you like thriller/murder/mystery books.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A great read

Larsson's second book was even more thrilling than the first. We're getting to know more about the brilliant Lisbeth. Vance is again wonderful and captures the essence of each character. Highly recommended.. but best to read Dragon Tatoo first.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

this is the 2nd one

i read these books out of order, even though I loved this book and can not waite for book three. I hope that tis is just the start of many great hours. please keep these book alive

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Excellent

This sequel lived up to the first one! Great read! You should definitely read the first one in order to get a good picture of the main protagonists. Lisabeth Salendar is a very different kind of character than most! Excellent audio, too...especially with the Swedish names which I could never pronounce. Actually am reading the third book...a friend ordered it from Amazon.uk as it wasn't available here yet. And I am so glad I listened to the first two to get the pronunciation correct. Oh, and btw, there is absolutely NO WAY you could understand #3 without the first two. In fact, the first half actually rehashes the past too much. But I hear there are 200 pages written of a fourth before Steig died. I'd love even those 200 pages of his book!

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Kudos once again to Stieg Larson

Alot of complicated swedish character names to remember. Dont get discouraged.
Exciting and intriguing plot.

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Awesome book...narrator is incredible!!!

I can't wait to download the next one! Love the fact that it's the same narrator... he is incredible!

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Excellent!

What made the experience of listening to The Girl Who Played with Fire the most enjoyable?

The story line was quite entertaining and the inflection in the narrator's very pleasant voice made it all the more enjoyable. Love it!

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes it did. The many different characters and sub plots were developed in a way that made this a page turner.

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

His voice is incredible. As I mentioned previously, he really captures the characters by fine tuning the inflection in his voice in perfect harmony with the story. I would probably listen to anything he narrates. Big fan!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Have no idea

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    4 out of 5 stars

Shes a Badass

Love a strong female character. A little slow at first but the end is great. Read the first book first.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Not as good as "...The Dragon Tattoo"

This book started out really good and it ended good, but the middle was a bit confusing as it bounced from character to character. I was expecting the book to be as good as "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and it wasn't, but it was a good book overall.

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Another great story

I immediately downloaded this as soon as I finished Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Love the trilogy and think Simon Vance is fantastic!

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