After successfully syphoning millions out of Wennerstrom’s personal assets, brokenhearted Lisbeth Salander has spent the last year island hopping, reinventing her physique and keeping her mind busy deciphering mathematical equations. But when she finally returns to Stockholm, she cannot resist hacking into ex-lover Mikael Blomkvist’s computer to see what he’s been up to.
Her interest is quickly peaked when she finds several files relating to a grand scale publishing project concerning sex trafficking, and where she finds reference to an individual from her dark past, that she thought she’d never have to face again.

Though he thought of Lisbeth often over the last year, she was after all instrumental in his take down of Wennerstrom, Kalle Blomkvist was only half surprised to find her fighting off a large man near her home. She managed to get away but left behind her book bag and keys in the struggle, which he took with him. Little did he know then, that her keys would be the answer to a country wide man-hunt for Salander, who was suddenly the prime suspect in a triple homicide.
After Salander goes underground, keeping one step ahead of authorities, and convinced of her innocence, Blomkvist conducts his own investigation, riddle with biker gangs, rogue agents, Swedish Sapo and Soviet GRU. The real answers become clearer when he interviews a man by the name of Bjorck, but so does the threat to Salander’s life.

I am always leery of the mid-way point in a trilogy, for I’m usually always propping my eyelids open with toothpicks as the author takes me on a sterile journey of facts and character points. I was however thoroughly impressed with Book 2 of the Millennium series. Larsson dove right in with death and mayhem. And though we get a deeper sense of what drives Salander, her past taking the lead, Larsson weaved an intricate puzzle where past and present go head to head in an explosive showdown that will leave you breathless and cursing.

Ironically Salander could have avoided the entire scenerio, if she could just stop hacking. What is that saying? Curiosity killed the cat…but that cat did have nine lives.