The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson

Date Started: 12/6/11
Date Finished: 12/10/11

One-Word Summary: Action-packed

So obviously I couldn't wait long until starting the sequel...all of about two days. It was just as good as the first book and I'm eagerly looking forward to the third. Again, my warning: don't click to the next page if you don't want to see spoilers.

So the second book essentially takes up about a year after the first book concludes. Lisabeth has broken off all contact with Mikael after realizing she had fallen in love with him at the end of the first book (she doesn't want the weakness after all). After vacationing around the world (and getting a boob job to boot) she returns to Sweden and starts checking in on people, mostly by hacking. She discovers an investigation that Millenium is about to go public with -- sex trafficking with officials at every rank covering it up. After she realizes she has a connection to the investigation she pays a visit to the duo working on the story -- characters who it was very clear were put into the story only to be killed off (I mean come on, the woman thinks she is pregnant? It was clear she was going to die as soon as I read that). Anyhow, the couple is found dead and Lisabeth is the main suspect (along with the killing of her twisted guardian who was also found dead).

Most of the book details the investigation but it is a frustratingly long time until we get back to Lisabeth's side of the story (where we get a lot of new information). It is clear that she didn't murder any of the people and it becomes a matter of Mikael connecting the dots. We ultimately find out that her former guardian (Palmgren?) is still alive and functioning, that Berger is going to leave Millenium, and what "All The Evil" was -- it was her father abusing and her mother and Lisabeth lighting him on fire in an attempt to protect her (he survives to become a crime lord known only as 'Zala', responsible for the three murders). Oh and also, Lisabeth has a twin who is nothing like her and plays no part in the story (maybe she pops up in the third book?). There is a blonde giant working with her father (who turns out to be her half-brother) and we also learn she multiple half-siblings in addition to him. At the conclusion of the book Lisabeth is shot in the head by her father, buried alive by her half-brother, and somehow manages to come back from the dead, at least long enough for Mikael to find her (and of course she won't die...otherwise how would there be a third book?).

Again, it was a great book and one I'd highly recommend. Some of my original criticisms stand: the Swedish doesn't always translate correctly to English - i.e., the sentences are occasionally too choppy. I did feel like it was clear the couple was put in the book to die so I wasn't emotionally tied to them when they were murdered. But aside from those two main points, thumbs up!