The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millenium, #2) by Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millenium, #2)

by Stieg Larsson
Published on January 8th 2009
569 Pages
5 on 5!!

From GoodReads.com ~

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.

I read the first installment of this amazing book last year in one night's time. Yep - it kept me up and happening till the early hours. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was definitely the best book that I read last year and this one is again one of the best books of this year!

This book starts off one year after the last book ends. Michael Blomkvist has become very famous after the publication of his book on the Wennerstrom affair. After an year Blomkvist was stll invited to TV talk shows.
A journalist who has been working on the sex trade business for the past 4 years contacts Millennium's Berger and Blomkvist regarding a feature on sex trade in there upcoming monthly magazine issue. But there is a catch, the journo wants his book on the same topic to be published by Millennium who published the book by Blomkvist on the Wennerstrom affair. The book is going to expose a number of people in high positions. Just as the time for publication is nearing, the Journo named Sevensson starts work on a very high - profile bad guy, about whom no data is available.
On the night, the same day when Sevensson tells Blomkvist about this guy, Blomkvist finds both Sevensson and his girlfriend Mia dead in their apartment. It is a big blow to him and the fact that Lisbeth's fingerprints are found on the murder weapon baffles him the most. Next they find one more person murdered and now Lisbeth is been hunted for 3 murders.
As the story progresses, we get to know more about Lisbeth's dark past and how she must find the one person responsible for the triple murders.

She sat still for a long time staring into space. Nobody was innocent. There aer only varying degrees of responsibility. And somebody was responsible for Salander.
-p. 552

Blomkvist's undying faith in the innocence and Armansky's drive to prove her innocence, Lisbeth soon finds out about people who believe in her. And the most amazing is the support of her previous guardian, a previous boxer friend and her girlfriend - all trying in one way or other to prove her innocence.

There are facts that will AMAZE you and you will find connections that you didn't know existed. Lisbeth is the tainted - imperfect heroine you will sure feel for and love.

I cannot recomend this trilogy enough. And I am sad that the author didn't live to write more. May his soul rest in peace!