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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.

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!

This was excellent,can't wait to read the next one.

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!

I liked it better than the first in the series, and will likely read the third.

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...

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)

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.

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.

The Girl Who Played with Fire took me by surprise. Going into this book I thought the series was going to be like most mystery series where the main characters come together to solve a new mystery in each book with some minor personal drama. It started off that way I kept expecting it to go that way but it took a sharp turn and it's because of that is what made this book my favorite of the series. You get to know a little bit about Salader's background and come to understand her personality a bit. There are lots of characters again but easier to keep up with than it was in the first book. The characters still hold onto their personalities that made them so likable in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but they become deeper. The ending is crazy and makes you want to start the next book right away.

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.

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 :)

Also pretty dark, perhaps even more so than the first one, but another gripping read, to be sure.

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.

I would have liked to see Blomkvist kick ass in the film, as he does in the end of this book.

This is the middle book of this addictive series. It can (but shouldn't ) be read independently of Dragon Tattoo, but it is the first part of a continual story that ends with Hornet's Nest.

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.

I give up. I just can't do it. I'm halfway through it and feel as though I've hit a brick wall. The beginning was riveting, but I swear to god, nothing has happened in 100 pages. The thought of forcing myself to read any more fills me with dread. I quit.

Like the first book, it didn't really get exciting until the last 100 pages. The last 50 were superb! Very gripping.

I enjoyed this one more than the first and felt more of build-up in tension. The ending was a bit abrupt and absurd though. And what did the first part of the book have to do with the rest of it? Or is that a thread that was planned to be taken up again in a later book? (Think I heard/read somewhere that the original plan was for 10 books in the series.)

Still a bit mystified as to why these books have been such a huge success.

I do like the theme on crimes against women with a little superwoman heroine who tries to take them on, on her own. But both books could have done with a bit of editing, in my opinion. Maybe that is down to the author's unexpected death before the books were published? Actually I find his story more fascinating than the books themselves.

And whats with all the brand names, and the IKEA shopping list?! Has "product placement" now found its way into books as well?

The second book was as good as the first. I can't wait to read the third, though he tied up so many loose ends and answered so many questions in this one that I wonder what the last book will be about...

On another note, I was surprised/disappointed to hear John Powers on "Fresh Air" say that Larsson wasn't a great writer. But he did offer an interesting character analysis of Lisbeth Salander, which I really loved and thought was insightful:

"... But the series' real selling point is its title heroine, Lisbeth Salander, an extraordinarily vivid pop creation. Abused as a child, Salander has grown up to be tattooed, pierced, bisexual and aggressively antisocial.

Both a ferocious fighter and a genius computer hacker, Salander is defined by no man. Instead, she pointedly takes down men who are violent against women. But to be an unstoppable vessel of justice, she has to cut herself off from all normal emotion and from everyone else, even those who care about her.

So far, so good. Yet Millennium's sense of social justice reveals a dark side of liberal righteousness. These are vigilante tales, structured to fill us with such rage that we can't wait for Salander to exact her vengeance."

I think that sums up why she is such an awesome protagonist and why the books are so compulsively readable. I love vengeance!!

I wasn't completely convinced by the first instalment of the series when I read it earlier this year and was ready to drop the rest of the series down the reading cue. But after several good folk advised that I keep going, I decided to pick this up and goodness, it really was a non-stop thrill ride. We also get some insight into Lisbeth Salander's character which does shed some light on some of her actions from the first book. Yes, the plot is very reliant on coincidences that stretch credulity but it all makes for a more entertaining read. I'm looking forward to the next one.

This second installment in the Millenium series is just as fast-paced as the first. Lisbeth Salander is one of the most interesting characters I have read in a long time but, that said, I have some frustrations that carry over from the first book.I have a hard time being patient with her. She is angry with Blomkvist, I get it. But, once she finds out he is still an ally, why doesn't she give him more information? I get angry when more disclosure between people could just elimate a large portion of the book. It was really annoying to me that she emailed him "Zala" but didn't explain anything to him. She is like, "you're the journalist, figure it out." WHY SHOULD HE HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT WHEN YOU ALREADY KNOW AND COULD JUST TELL HIM? P.S. you are a suspect in three murders, it might behoove you to give a little info up to help your cause.

I was pretty bored with Berger's story about moving to the Morning Post. I'm assuming this will come into play during the third book because it sure didn't come to fruition in this one.

I get annoyed when characters are "monstrously huge." Basically, my go-to is to just imagine Andre the Giant and leave it at that. Except now I have to imagine a blonde Andre the Giant wearing a suit and driving a Volvo. And who has a half-sister who is not even 5 feet tall. Which, is another thing. I don't care how trained or feisty someone is--if they are so tiny, it doesn't matter. Basically, we are supposed to believe that a world-class boxer can have a fair fight with a child-size spark plug.

Don't get the wrong idea, I loved this book. And the preceding one. Larsson weaves more characters and plotlines into a book than almost anyone and I am constantly fascinated by how he's thought of everything and what an amazing storyteller he is.

"Cuius rei demonstrationem mirabilem sane detexi hanc marginis exiguitas non caperet."-->I never knew about Fermat before reading this and I loved this quote. How amazing is that? (The quote, not that I loved it:-))

I seriously cannot wait for the third installment. Alas, I guess I will have to...because I can't read in any other language besides English.

The sequel to the late Stieg Larsson's bestseller "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played with Fire" does that most wonderful of entertaining feats: it improves on the original. Back again are journalist Mikael Blomkvist and solitary hacker Lisbeth Salander, who is more fascinating than in the first book as readers finally get an explanation for what she means when she refers to "All the Evil." After being disappointed in Blomkvist at the end of the previous book, Salander travels the world, has some body modification done, solves a mystery and saves a few lives, all before the "real" action of the book begins. Some suspension of disbelief is required, as there are any number of plot-friendly coincidences throughout the book. These don't deter, though, from the pleasure of being back in the company of Salander, along with a new cast of supporting characters as a complicated mystery of prostitution, violence and murder unfolds then folds back in on itself. A great deal of coffee is drunk, and much Billy's Pan Pizza is eaten as Salander, Blomkvist and others work in parallel and intersecting lines to discover who shot three people in one night, and why. Amazingly, Larsson managed to keep at least four plots running at different paces, and in the end ties them together. My only complaint is that the ending is so abrupt it feels like Larsson left out the final chapter. I know things are likely to be followed up in the final book in the trilogy, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest". But is isn't available stateside till May. I clearly understand now why sales from amazon.uk are so brisk, as I hardly want to wait months to find out what happens after the "end" of this book. Nonetheless, highly recommended as a thumping good read.

It was an amazing mystery novel. But it quickly went from a rated PG novel to a rated XXX novel in one fell swoop. I wasn't expecting that turn of events at all.

An outstanding book that I couldn't put down. Larsson has composed a thriller unlike most thrillers, with a somewhat unusual heroine. I only gave it four stars, however, because the ending is less than believable.

The reading of this book was bittersweet for me. I enjoyed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but this one is even better. It gives you a better background on Lisbeth Salander. One more in this series is being published; one more because the author turned in three manuscripts before his death. The quality of Larsson's writings could easily make these classic examples of the thriller genre.

This book was even better than the first one. The story was much more intricate and developed, while still moving along at brisk pace. Once again, I stayed up late reading because I couldn't put it down. It's nice to see such a strong female character, even if her talents seem a little bit unbelievable at times.

I didn't like this as well as The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo; the plot meandered too much for me and I had a hard time keeping all the characters strait. I do love Lisbeth though, she is a colorful, eccentric, strange(psycho?) woman. Can't wait to read the next/last book

Holy sh*t... bring on book #3!!