The Girl Who Played With Fire

As with THE GIRL WIT THE DRAGON TATTOO, I decided to read this book with my ears. Simon Vance does a nice job portraying the first book and that I decided to try it again. I still like the audio format, but the pace can be infuriating. I simply want to read faster than the reader can speak.

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE is the second book in the late Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy. The book takes place about a year after the events of the first book but thus time the focus is on Lisbeth and a contemporary crime. I wondered what the follow-up would be. It would be wise to repeat the first book's plot, but then again a change of direction can be misplayed as well.

The structure of the book is similar to the previous in that POV changes from character to character, but instead of Mikael, Dragan and Lisbeth, the police investigators, Dag, Mimmi, Paolo, and the criminals are added. This adds a layer of mystery to the story, especially when Lisbeth bows out for a significant section.

As to the plot, I guessed what the crime would be but I was deeply glad that my solution was not what played out. If I had any complaint it would be that the conclusion was rushed and a follow-on book is necessary to complete the story. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO ended with no need for a second book, you just wanted to follow the characters more. In this respect, I wish this book were more like the first.

All in all, I liked this story and have told friends about it. Now I just have to wait until October for the final installment.

Kitty Raises Hell

After finishing KITTY AND THE DEAD MAN'S HAND, I went right into the follow-up. And I must say, I enjoyed this one much more. There is a clear menace, the story advances much more, and the supporting cast is better developed. Probably my favorite thing about this series is that Kitty evolves as a character, but not as a supernatural being. She is still the same werewolf that we met in the first book - no x-ray vision, no channeling the dead, no super-ventriloquism, etc. If a new power is developed, it belongs to another character. This is good because it gives the reader new people to follow and gives Vaughn potential to change-up the story.

I have nothing more to add other than I really enjoyed this entry into the canon and would be curious to see if the final words from the bady guy turn out to be true.