As far as sequels go, The Girl Who Played With Fire (TGWPWF) ups the anti in pretty much every way. This time round, our girl of the title, Lisbeth Salander, is on the run after being implicated in the murder of three people, all of whom happen to be involved in the exposing of Sweden’s sex trafficking business. As with it’s predecessor, everything is far from what it seems and what follows is a labyrinth thrill ride that, whilst having a certain element of disbelief, jumping the shark if you will, come the final reveal (something The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (TGWTDT) managed not to do), the journey there is much faster paced and thrilling till the cliff-hanger climax.
So why only 4 points instead of 5? Well again, like TGWTDT, this one suffers from a workman like prose that almost hinders the story. Think Dan Brown but not quite as ridiculous. Also, the first 200 pages are just flat out dull, with Salander taking a year long break in Caribbean that includes a sub-plot that not only goes nowhere but also does nothing to add to the main narrative. Larsson also seems obsessed with the mundane. Frankly, I don’t give a tinkers fuck what Lisbeth decided to buy in IKEA whilst refurbishing her apartment, yet Larsson, in the books most painfully dragged out sequence, spends pages telling us.
But, after putting up with the boredom, I was rewarded with a hugely entertaining piece of pulpy modern crime fiction. The twists are satisfying, the plot progression seems almost pitch perfect and there are plenty of characters you love to hate. I don’t think it’s as good as the first one (although that itself was scuppered by it’s final 100 pages) but it’s also quite a bit different.
There will be a good long pause before I move onto the final chapter, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest. In the meantime I might indulge in some more James Ellroy, having just purchased his Underworld USA trilogy.
4/5
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