That Girl!

The Girl Who Played with Fire
Stieg Larsson
Quercus

Much has been made of Larsson's Millennium series and it got me to thinking ... is The Girl Who Played with Fire really part of a trilogy, or had the author lived, is it the second instalment in a much bigger series?  TGWPWF doesn't really exhibit the standard "book two" characteristics -- there isn't the expected lull in the action, a large number of new characters are introduced, and foreshadowing for events outside of the novel is almost completely absent.  In fact, I would argue that the lack of a story arc from Larsson's first novel to this one categorically excludes it from trilogy eligibility.  But what the hell do I know?  I just read this shit.

TGWPWF was, for me, a better read than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Wild-child and hacker extraordinaire, Lisbeth Salander, is in a whole heap of trouble.  Wanted by the Swedish police for the murders of three people, Salander goes into hiding unitl she can figure out a way to dispense of her troubles.  Helping her, of course, is the intrepid Mikael Blomqvist -- her former lover, editor of an investigative news magazine and one of her only friends.  There are more plot twists in this novel than a pretzel has bends.  Larsson could have wrapped up a bit sooner, but generally, it was a good read.  It makes me a little sad that Lisbeth Salander has only one book left.  She's one of the more interesting characters that I've read in awhile and definitely series worthy material.  Three scandalous body piercings out of five.