This book was pretty different than what I was expecting. It’s dry and gives way too many details (even in mundane descriptions). I was hoping for some of the passion and fire central to Stieg Larsson’s books - this nonfiction tome completely missed that. Maybe I just wasn’t the right reader for this.

DNF at 15%. I can't continue it anymore.
The flow is a bit slow, it alao quickly become jumble of name that it hard to recognize.

DNF at 28%. I would have enjoyed this more and probably continued if I had a bigger interest in Swedish politics or if I read Larson’s original three book trilogy. This book would be great for the right audience but that audience isn’t me.

Author Jan Stocklassa (http://stocklassa.com) published the book “The Man Who Played with Fire: Stieg Larsson’s Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin” in 2019.

I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this book as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The book covers the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme.

Palme was assassinated on February 28, 1986, in Stockholm, Sweden. The murder went unsolved for decades. Popular Swedish mystery author Stieg Larsson had begun to investigate the murder. He compiled an extensive collection of documents about the assassination. After Larsson’s death in 2004, Jan Stocklassa continued with the investigation.

This book tells the story of the police investigation as well as the efforts of both Larsson and Stocklassa. It took nearly 35 years and dedicated journalists to solve the assassination. In July 2020 the Swedish police announced that the assassination had been solved.

I enjoyed the 11.5 hours I spent reading this 495-page true-crime mystery. This was my first true-crime book, but it read like one of Larsson’s fictional mysteries. It was a bit slow at the beginning. It also would have helped to have a map of the murder scene. One drawn by Larsson is mentioned in the book. If you like mysteries and conspiracy theories. you will enjoy this book. The cover art is OK, but kind of plain and dull. I give this novel a 4.4 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

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I knew it, I read the whole book and only came away with a best case scenario. It was a hard read at first because of all the names but this cleared up when it got to maybe 15 or so. It took him 8 years but it took me two weeks on and off, to read. But I read other books in the mean time. I couldn't get myself motivated in reading it.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review, this has not altered my opinion of this book.

The only thing that I really did not enjoy about this book was the number of names that I didn't know how to pronounce and I had slight trouble keeping them straight at times. Other than that, it was a very informative book that did bring this information down to a more manageable level. By that, I mean people who might not be fully aware of the political situation in Sweeden won't find themselves nearly as lost in this book (like me). I gained a new respect for the types of things that journalists have done and what they do in order to get a new story.

Non-fiction books are always a bit weird for me to review because I can't talk about plotholes or anything since it's a non-fiction story, but I was very happy that I was able to keep up with everything that happened with the storyline. Overall, a 5 out of 5 from me.

I read about a quarter of this and gave up. It was interesting at first, focusing on the events of Olaf Palme's murder, which I knew nothing about, but it quickly became a slog of names of associations and individuals that I couldn't keep track of, and knowing that the murder is still unsolved, I can't imagine it's really worth it to power through all that.

This is a tremendous true crime novel, based on the meticulous and detailed research made by the author, who had access to Stieg Larsson's archive from his years as publisher of the infamous "Expo" magazine. We all know Stieg Larsson as the man who was behind the publishing phenomenon of the "Millenium" trilogy, but only a few are aware of his work as a journalist which was dedicated to unmasking the extreme right in Sweden that gradually gained power from the beginning of the 1980s. Larsson began working in one of Sweden's biggest news agencies, "TT", as an illustrator and while he was working there, the unbelievable happened. The country's Prime Minister, Olof Palme, was shot in the middle of Stockholm's center as he was returning home along with his wife, Lisbet. Palme who was by nature an inquiring individual began immediately to gather information regarding the murder that soon led him to some of his own theories. The presentation of those theories is the main objective for Stocklaasa in "The Man Who Played With Fire".

Palme's assassination ignited a vast number of conspiracy theories throughout the years mainly due to the fact that it was never solved. There are those who seem to believe that foreign intelligence services were involved, others that a hardcore far-right unit inside the Swedish police was behind the murder or that even groups as the Kurdish PKK were responsible for this terrible atrocity that stigmatized Sweden and it is called by many as "the most traumatic event in contemporary Swedish history". The above theories were named as "tracks" or "trails" e.g. the "police track/trail" or "Kurdish track/trail. Larsson embraced a theory that put the South African intelligence services on the spotlight, as Palme was outspoken against apartheid, the policy that dictated that people should inhabit specific areas depending on the color of their skin, and his overall attitude made him many enemies. Of course, there is also hinted that the South Africans were helped by native far-right Swedes who -perhaps- had connections inside the police force.

Stocklaasa offers an analytical and well-drawn account of the aftermath of Palme's assassination and also outlines Stieg Larsson's character in a way that we are not used to. Larsson was not just a workaholic, chain- smoking individual following a terrible diet, all leading to his untimely demise. He was also a passionate person who attempted many great things through his work as a journalist and seemed to be unafraid of the various threats from his extremist enemies. Stocklaasa also met with Stieg's lifelong partner Eva Gabrielsson, who has also written a biography of Stieg, and with some of his friends and colleagues, thus delivering a luminous portrait of the man to the reader.

Though this is a book that would certainly be categorized in the true crime genre, the flow of the narration is reminiscent of a quality crime -or spy- novel. It is divided into many short chapters, thus unraveling in a fast tempo and you will find it hard to put down after reading the first few pages. It doesn't matter if you are familiar with the facts and trivia around Palme's murder, this book is so much more. It would be an excellent choice if you can read "The Man Who Played With Fire" along with another classic true crime book by Jan Bondeson, titled "Blood in the Snow", a fact-based book on Palme's assassination and subsequent events.

If you are interested in the subject of political assassination and/or if you are a "Millenium" zealot, you simply cannot miss this book which will offer many insights an enlighten you in more than one way. As I've already mentioned you can read this almost as it was a fictional novel with an intricate, labyrinthine plot. The fact that all the characters and events truly exist makes it even more irresistible. "The Man Who Played With Fire" is also a must for all Scandinavian Studies and Nordic Noir scholars around the world. Furthermore, it is the perfect reference book to use when you want to learn something more about its subject. It is worthy of a solid 5-star rating.

NOTE: There is also a documentary under the same title (in Swedish: "Mannen som lekte med elden"), directed by Henrik Georgsson (2018) and its content is similar to Jan Stocklaasa book.

When Olof Palme, the Swedish Primer Minister, was assassinated on February 28, 1986, while going back home after being at the movies, Stieg Larsson, who would become world wide known years later with the “Millenium” trilogy, worked as a graphic designer and journalist for a news agency. One of his passions was investigating the extreme right groups that were growing up in Sweden, publishing a couple of books on the subject. After the death of Olof Palme he carried out a parallel investigation to the police, becoming convinced that these groups were behind the assassination. Several years after his death, swedish journalist Jan Stocklassa had access to Larsson’s huge research , becoming also obsessed with Palme’s murder and continuing the investigation.

“The man who played with fire” is the result of those investigations. While it could have resulted in a tedious essay with lots of data, names, political groups, etc. the author manages for it to read like a novel (the plot could be up there with one of Larsson’s books), taking us through the investigation carried out by Larsson and his subsequent findings years later. At the end, the author just presents his findings, leaving it up to the readers to decide what to believe happened.

When I came upon this book, the only information I had about the Olof Palme murder was that he was shot on the street after being at the cinema, so this book was a real treat, finding out about all the different theories the police and media had run throughout the years: the extreme right groups, the South African secret service…

Knowing next to nothing about Swedish politics I was afraid I would get lost in all the data presented, but nothing farther from reality. I was completely engrossed while reading, as the story had all the twists and turns you could expect of a page-turner thriller.

Thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Crossing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.