MixedNewsdayIf you've finished Tattoo, then nothing is going to dissuade you from picking up Volume 2 of Larsson's Millennium Trilogy ... Bit by bit, the story of Salander's unspeakably abusive childhood is unearthed, and everyone — Blomkvist, the police, the readers, even Salander — comes to understand how her character — fearless, wild, withdrawn, crude, moral — was forged ... As absorbing as it is, yet Fire falls short of Tattoo. For one, the novelty of a thriller set in modern-day Sweden has worn off ... Then too, the villains are more familiar ... There is more than a little authorial laziness. The connections between Salander's past and the crimes that Blomkvist's magazine is exposing strain credulity ... And yet, I couldn't put down The Girl Who Played With Fire and eagerly await book three.
