The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Lisbeth Salander kicks some serious ass.  That’s really all there is to say about the Swedish punk private investigator/hacker featured in Steig Larsson’s books, and after finishing the second book in a flurry, I am really lamenting his loss and already dreading the end of the third book.  It took no time at all after I finished the first book for me to bite the bullet and shell out for the second, even though it is still in hardback.

The Girl Who Played With Fire does drop off a bit from the first in storyline quality, although that’s to be expected when one of the main characters becomes a murder suspect and spends half the book in hiding.  Throughout the book, Larsson deals with sex trafficking and violence against women in Sweden, which makes Lisbeth all the more impressive (to me) as a survivor.  This is reminiscent of Dragon Tattoo, of which the original title translated to be “Men Who Hate Women.”  Good times, clearly.  Larsson’s books aren’t for the faint of heart, however, as he never shies away from details in disturbing situations.

Long story short, if you liked the first one (and I can only think of a few people I know I wouldn’t recommend that book to, primarily because of triggering scenes), you’ll probably pick up the second, and while it won’t top Dragon Tattoo, it will still leave you wanting to read more of Lisbeth Salandar and Mikael Blomkvist, and hey, if you hate those characters, each book is packed with at least 50 others to entertain you.