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    The Girl Who Played with Fire: Millennium
    Unavailable
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: Millennium
    Unavailable
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: Millennium
    Audiobook18 hours

    The Girl Who Played with Fire: Millennium

    Written by Stieg Larsson

    Narrated by Simon Vance

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government.

    But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander-the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker who came to his aid in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and who now becomes the focus and fierce heart of The Girl Who Played with Fire.

    As Blomkvist, alone in his belief in Salander's innocence, plunges into an investigation of the slayings, Salander herself 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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 28, 2009
    ISBN9780739384183
    Unavailable
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: Millennium

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    Reviews for The Girl Who Played with Fire

    4/5

    9,975 ratings481 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Overall, this was better than the first. I knew the main characters from the start which made it easier to get into and I liked how Salander played a much bigger role in the story line.
    • 4/5
      I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and didn't really care for it. However, this was a complete surprise and I got hooked reading it. The story abounds with thrills, surprises, and action sequences. The dialogue rings sharp and the detail is appealing to the senses. It is an adventure paced with the tenacity of a great storyteller. Overall, it was well worth the read.4 stars!
    • 5/5
      This was excellent,can't wait to read the next one.
    • 5/5
      Stieg Larsson, the late Swedish journalist and author, completed three thriller/mystery manuscripts before he died unexpectedly at age 50 in 2004: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest. Together, they form The Millenium Trilogy. After I completed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (see my review from last week here) I set it down on the couch, got in the car, and immediately took off to get the second book in the trilogy. (The third is not expected to be published until 2010.)Before starting the review I should note that while the second book can stand alone, you will not understand the characters as well if you don’t start with the first book. I recommend doing so; the first book is very good, and the second book is even better. Two characters dominate this story. One is Lisbeth Salander, a traumatized 4’11” ninety-pound 24-year-old with a photographic memory and excellent research skills who can take on anybody and come out ahead. The other is Mikael Blomkvist, a doggedly-naive 44-year-old crusading “do-gooder” journalist who publishes the magazine Millenium, specializing in investigative journalism. Blomkvist thinks he can meet injustice head-on through exposés and make a difference in the world. Mikael and Lisbeth became friends in the first book, but suddenly Lisbeth pulls away from him, and Blomkvist can’t figure out why. Yet their lives continue to be entwined.Early in the second book, two of Mikael’s reporters are executed right before they break a story on the sex trade. Salander’s prints are found on the gun, and she becomes the focus of a national manhunt. Larsson clearly has little sympathy for the sensationalism employed by the press in these instances, and skewers it mercilessly. He also excoriates corruption in public officials - including police - especially those who collude with the sex trade. Through all the hullabaloo, Salander calmly goes about her business, eating frozen pizzas and working on solving the murders (as well as the mathematical enigma "Fermat’s Last Theorem") on her own. (Some of the characters speculate that Salander has Asperger's Syndrome.) She refuses to contact Blomkvist, but he finds a way to communicate with her and convey his belief in her innocence.Blomkvist, Salander, the police, and Salander’s former employer all work to find out who has committed the murders. As they race to do so, the murderers race to find them first.Evaluation: This book is much more of a nail-biter than the first of the trilogy. And the marvelous character of Lisbeth is expanded to take over the story. She is punky and spunky and smart and unforgettable. With her thorns always bared to protect her vulnerable core she will remind you of the rose in Antoine de Saint Exupery's The Little Prince. And Blomkvist, determined to protect her from wolves in sheeps' clothing, is her would-be Prince. I have really enjoyed book 1 and 2 of this series, but Larsson does have a Quentin-Tarintino-like attitude toward violence, and you must be able to endure some graphic passages involving abuse of women. But it’s darn good writing!
    • 3/5
      I liked it better than the first in the series, and will likely read the third.
    • 3/5
      The mystery behind Lisbeth's childhood is revealed. Somehow I found this less interesting than the first book.
      There was a lot of information that I just skimmed through about minor characters and places that had no bearing on the main story. The point of view jumped very often between characters, and that was a bit disconcerting.
      However, I liked it enough to read the next installment...
    • 4/5
      Goodreads Synopsis: The girl with the dragon tattoo is back. Stieg Larsson's seething heroine, Lisbeth Salander, once again finds herself paired with journalist Mikael Blomkvist on the trail of a sinister criminal enterprise. Only this time, Lisbeth must return to the darkness of her own past (more specifically, an event coldly known as "All the Evil") if she is to stay one step ahead--and alive. The Girl Who Played with Fire is a break-out-in-a-cold-sweat thriller that crackles with stunning twists and dismisses any talk of a sophomore slump. Fans of Larsson's prior work will find even more to love here, and readers who do not find their hearts racing within the first five pages may want to confirm they still have a pulse. Expect healthy doses of murder, betrayal, and deceit, as well as enough espresso drinks to fuel downtown Seattle for months. --Dave CallananMy Review: This book was a roller coaster, and not just while I was trying to read it. I lost this book too many times, and it was surprising. This is a big book, and the cover is so bright? How could I lose this? But I did, many times. Every time I'd start to get into it again I'd put it down somewhere and forget about it and then not be able to find it for three months. It was insane. Who does that! Aside from that, this book was amazing. Slow to start out, like the first one, but a lot was happening, and I was able to get into it faster because I already knew what the characters where like. Awesome. And smart. Especially Salander. She's a a ninja snake. I don't know how she does it, but I love it, and I really want to be as awesome as she is. I couldn't stop reading it once I picked it up for the last time. I was a little over half, and finished the rest of it in four or five hours. I could not stop! I love it when that happens. So that's always a good sign. The beginning I remember to be awesome, but I can't be positive, because I started it over a year ago. Isn't that crazy? It didn't seem that long ago that I picked it up. Anyways, that's all I have to say on that. Thanks!(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)
    • 4/5
      AHHHHH!!! That ending, though! I liked this far, far more than the first book...maybe because I wanted more Lisbeth Salander, and I got her. We get to more into her head in this novel, and while the beginning suffered from the Long, Detailed Shopping List segments that plagued the first book (good god, I really don't need to have a detailed list of her IKEA purchases for pages and pages), it felt much faster-paced and I was so much more invested this time around.
    • 4/5
      There's something really compelling about these books, even as they're highly disturbing. I'm definitely glad that I continued on with the series.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This time the story more closely follows Lisbeth Salander as she becomes involved in a new murder investigation. The character development for her was very good as we learn her background story throughout the book.

      The overall suspense of the book was good, but not amazing. Many reviewers write that they enjoyed this book more than the first, but for me that was not the case. I felt that the story dragged a bit in places, and there was not any real action until the last 100 pages of the story. I did enjoy the book and found it to be a page turner, but I was expecting more.
    • 5/5
      You should listen to this if:
      ~you enjoy a well read audiobook
      ~you enjoy a well-plotted mystery
      ~you enjoy books about people and feelings
      ~you enjoy page-turning action
      ~you enjoy suspense
      ~you enjoy detailed, believable characters
      ~you enjoy well-crafted prose

      Hmm... I'm sure there are folks who wouldn't enjoy this book, or this series, but darned if I can think of who they'd be :)
    • 4/5
      Also pretty dark, perhaps even more so than the first one, but another gripping read, to be sure.
    • 2/5
      This was a boring, jumbled mess. It's a shame since I enjoyed the first in the series. I wasn't surprised by some of the revelations and was disappointed with the big reveal involving Zala. What I liked about the characters in the first book made me annoyed with them in this book. I had to skim the last chapter just so I could finish it, but I had stopped caring about what was going on. I don't plan on reading the third book.
    • 4/5
      I would have liked to see Blomkvist kick ass in the film, as he does in the end of this book.
    • 2/5
      A hot pick, but not for me. Laborious math and computer details, difficult names, plus not for me sex made me drop this thriller. I did like the female heroine.
    • 4/5
      The sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - I thought it was even better than the first book. After that book ended, Lisbeth Salander (the "girl" described in both titles), leaves the country without telling anyone and travels around the world for several months before returning to Sweden. Even after coming home, she stays hidden from people she knows while trying to decide how to arrange her life. Meanwhile, Millennium Magazine is planning a special issue to coincide with the publication of a book which will expose several prominent Swedes who are involved in the sex trade industry, including the trafficking of young girls from Eastern Europe. Just weeks before the book is due to be delivered to the printer, the author and his common law wife are discovered dead. Unfortunately, Lisbeth's fingerprints are discovered on the gun which killed them. Now, everyone wants to find her, especially Mikael Blomkvist, who doesn't believe that she is guilty.This book is a roller coaster ride - fast paced and lots of ups and downs and twists and turns. It sheds a lot of light on Salander, and her background, and we finally begin to understand why she is the way she is. Admittedly, it pushes believability at times, but I love it that Lisbeth, less than 5 feet tall and weighing only about 90 pounds, can hold her own with men twice her size and leave them cowering. There is a terrific scene with 2 Hell's Angels-type bikers on a deserted country road. Guess who drives away, and who is taken in the ambulance. She is just as confident and effective rescuing a wounded woman from the beach in the face of a hurricane on a small Caribbean island as she is tracking down information online. Best of all, Lisbeth finally begins to realize that there are people who love her, and she has a responsibility to them. However, she is still struggling to figure out how to open up and reach out to them without compromising herself. I loved it.
    • 2/5
      I didn't enjoy this as much as 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. Needed much stronger editing. Too much information about shopping at Ikea and food eaten, etc. Also continuity errors, eg. Lisbeth's height is 124cm at one point and then 150cm. Detracted from plot which could have been so much stronger with good editing.
    • 4/5
      A powerful crime fiction novel, The Girl Who Played with Fire is part 2 of Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy. It deals with the Swedish sex trafficking trade.Lisbeth Salander, the bi-sexual misfit appears to be implicated in at least two horrific murders. Mikael Blomvkist, the investigative journalist at the Millenium magazine, considers that those murders and others that follow, are more likely to be connected to the expose and book that his magazine is about to publish. He follows a murky trail through secretive post Cold War dealings and corruption whilst trying to maintain his belief in Lisbeth's innocence.Once again her extraordinary hacking skills and physical resilience lead her into mortal danger. Larsson's skill of intertwining a rich array of characters portraying the extremes of evil is balanced with a fast moving plot as the police comes to terms with the fact that the case they are working on has more complications than they can have possibly imagined.
    • 4/5
      outstanding story development: it leaves you with a very real sense of the people and the places. one very minor criticism (that however never really gets in the way of enjoyment) is that Lisbeth's hacker and close combat skills often border on the difficult-to-believe. towards the end of the book something really bad happens that made me feel very very sad. it's been a while since a book has done that to me. so, kudos to Mr Larsson.
    • 4/5
      Liked the first book in this trilogy better. More things happening that were unexpected. For this book, it was more one story. I get the sense the more I read this that the prose is a bit clunky. Not sure if this is translation or the original. I'll still read the third book. But the continuing story isn't as enamoring as the first.
    • 5/5
      I couldn't put this book down. Larsson has created unique characters with Blomkvist and Salander who give the story credibility and an added urgency. I liked the first book, but this book made me apreciate both even more.
    • 4/5
      I absolutely loved The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and was thrilled to get this book. I really enjoyed it although it is quite different from the first one. This book is all about Lisbeth and her fight to take charge of her life. We learn a lot about Lisbeth's childhood and the things that happened to her. We also learn her survival skills when she seems to take on the world single-handedly. I love Lisbeth. She is a truly unique heroine and that in itself is enough to make me want to continue reading the next book. Sadly, that is the last book in this series, but I look forward to reading it. This novel has a storyline that grips right from the beginning and does not let go right until the very end. Larsson really knew how to tell a story and how to develop believable and realistic characters. This book is rated by the New York Times as one of the best books in 2009, and I agree with that rating.
    • 4/5
      Playing with fire:


      In this brief review I try not to get too involved in plot details and summary, leaving it up to the reader to find them out him/herself. Let's just say that the men who hate women also hate Salander and they really pay for their indiscretions in this book. There are still some loose ends but I'm hoping Larsson ties them up in the third book.

      The second Larsson book is just as brilliant as the first one, even more so for several reasons. In the first book we met a quirky but bright girl named Salander. Then we meet a journalist bulldog named Blomkvist.

      In the second book the author ties up loose ends from the first book, creates more loose ends which (hopefully) will be tied up in the third. In the middle we have some intense actions and interesting detective work.

      Larsson really loves criticizing authority in this novel. The police detectives, themselves competent, have to deal with leaks and criminal mischief in their own ranks. The two who leak info to the press have their own grudges against Salander.

      The build-up of suspense is quite slow: We learn of Salander's adventures in the Caribbean, her return to Sweden to look up some old friends, checks up on the rapist pig that is Bjurman, who himself is trying to hire a hit-man to rub out Salandar (thanks to a damning video explained in the first book) and suddenly finds herself an interested party in a triple murder!

      Larsson's themes of corrupt journalism, lack of privacy of the individual citizen, the rampant disregard for patients from the psychiatric profession is real, is fascinating and is clearly taken from Larrson's own experiences.

      The ending of the novel wraps some things up, but Blomkvist still needs to put up with some pretty blatant stupidity on the part of the police force (there's a sneak peek at the end of the book for "Kicked the Hornet's Nest.").

      Salander is kicked, punched, shot at and left for dead and yet still manages to be a prime character in this exciting, at times plodding, yet fascinating thriller of a book.

      A must-read!


    • 4/5
      This was a fun book (despite the subject matter). It had many twists and turns and was not predictable. The only aspect I was dissatisfied with was the ending. Even though it is a part of a trilogy, it should stand on its own as an individual novel. It felt like the end of a chapter, not an entire novel. However, the rest of the novel was so well written, the ending can be overlooked - at least until I have read the 3rd, and final, novel. I am curious to see how the author handles the "true" ending.
    • 5/5
      What IS it about the characters in Stieg Larsson's books? I cannot put my finger on what makes them so compelling to me...but I simple couldn't (or didn't want to, at least) put "The Girl Who Played with Fire" down. I enjoyed this book so much that I kept finding my eyes trying to sneak ahead of me to see what would happen next.In my reviews, I usually include several quotations from the book to make my points, but I don't have any for this book. Mostly because I didn't want to take that kind of time when I could be reading. (OK - I know I'm getting gushy, sorry.)"The Girl" books are thrillers...but ones with real characters. Characters that the author didn't just pull off a shelf and start pulling the strings...but characters that are well drawn and compelling to read about. Characters that made me very interested to find out what would happen next. Characters that made me put the book down with 15 pages to go on a Sunday morning and spend the whole day wanting to pick it back up...but not wanting to finish the book.And then upon finishing it that night, curse that the next book wouldn't be out for a while and be sad that the man who created these wonderful characters died. There will be one more book of his to savor...and that's all.May "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" be out soon.
    • 4/5
      Goodreads Synopsis: The girl with the dragon tattoo is back. Stieg Larsson's seething heroine, Lisbeth Salander, once again finds herself paired with journalist Mikael Blomkvist on the trail of a sinister criminal enterprise. Only this time, Lisbeth must return to the darkness of her own past (more specifically, an event coldly known as "All the Evil") if she is to stay one step ahead--and alive. The Girl Who Played with Fire is a break-out-in-a-cold-sweat thriller that crackles with stunning twists and dismisses any talk of a sophomore slump. Fans of Larsson's prior work will find even more to love here, and readers who do not find their hearts racing within the first five pages may want to confirm they still have a pulse. Expect healthy doses of murder, betrayal, and deceit, as well as enough espresso drinks to fuel downtown Seattle for months. --Dave CallananMy Review: This book was a roller coaster, and not just while I was trying to read it. I lost this book too many times, and it was surprising. This is a big book, and the cover is so bright? How could I lose this? But I did, many times. Every time I'd start to get into it again I'd put it down somewhere and forget about it and then not be able to find it for three months. It was insane. Who does that! Aside from that, this book was amazing. Slow to start out, like the first one, but a lot was happening, and I was able to get into it faster because I already knew what the characters where like. Awesome. And smart. Especially Salander. She's a a ninja snake. I don't know how she does it, but I love it, and I really want to be as awesome as she is. I couldn't stop reading it once I picked it up for the last time. I was a little over half, and finished the rest of it in four or five hours. I could not stop! I love it when that happens. So that's always a good sign. The beginning I remember to be awesome, but I can't be positive, because I started it over a year ago. Isn't that crazy? It didn't seem that long ago that I picked it up. Anyways, that's all I have to say on that. Thanks!(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)
    • 5/5
      A great second novel, leads directly into the third. I read this so fast that I can hardly remember the plot though so must take the time to reread before I get my hands on the third.
    • 5/5
      This is a great mystery/detective/suspense book. The main character is such an interesting and deeply flawed but still likable woman, that I really missed her in the extended middle section of the book when we do not see her or hear her voice for much too long. I read this book before reading the first book by Larsson with the same characters, The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo. It felt as if I was missing understanding some aspects of the characters' relationships because I did not know what happened in book one. But, it also did not feel that I needed that to fully get this book. I will definitely read the first book though (even though one of the review quotes on the back of the dust cover says that the second book is better).
    • 5/5
      I keep trying to decide if I like this book better than the first one. This one focuses more so on Salander (which I think is a good thing) and really kept me wondering who murdered who. The last 50-100 pages surprised me on a number of occasions. The ending leaves you hanging and I just wanted to tear into the next book, but unfortunately it doesn't come out in the US until May.
    • 4/5
      Not quite as good as the first one but still very enjoyable.