Heat Lightning (Virgil Flowers)

Location: Home » body art - tattoo » General » Heat Lightning (Virgil Flowers)

Similar Items:

•	The Brass Verdict: A Novel
•	The Gate House
•	Bones (Alex Delaware, No. 23)
•	Hot Mahogany
•	Phantom Prey (Lucas Davenport Mysteries)

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Unabridged CDs 9 CDs, 10 hours

Fresh from his spectacular (Cleveland Plain Dealer) debut in Dark of the Moon, investigator Virgil Flowers takes on a puzzlingand most alarming case, in the new book from the #1 bestselling author.

Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Virgil Flowers's Second Outing is a Winner! September 28, 2008
20 out of 23 found this review helpful

Someone's ritualistically torturing and murdering a bunch of Vietnam Vets (a subject near to my heart, as I am one), and Lucas Davenport assigns the case to that rascally womanizer Virgil Flowers in this fast-paced thriller from John Sandford.

Flowers is an engaging hero: smart, tough, witty, and ready at the drop of a skirt.

Sanford displays his usual deft skill in engaging us in the story as well as the characters, with a novel plot line, fully realized secondary characters, and dialogue that shows a true "ear" for the way people talk in real life.

This book moves like a runaway train, and will keep you entertained from first page to last.

A solid five stars.

3 out of 5 stars

Virgil Flowers returns September 23, 2008
15 out of 26 found this review helpful

The second in John Sandford's Virgil Flowers series (after last year's fun Dark of the Moon) finds the somewhat eccentric investigator assigned by Lucas Davenport to a series of murders in which a lemon wedge was placed in the victim's mouth. Flowers soon discovers that the lemon ritual was practiced by Vietnamese firing squads on their unlucky subjects, and that all of the current victims served in Vietnam. This leads him to a former 60's radical who might have CIA connections and then into the bed of the man's half-Vietnamese daughter (not surprising for the rakish Flowers.) The suspect list eventually focuses on the head of a private security firm involved with the Republican Convention taking place in Minneapolis. Although Heat Lightning is a fast-paced read with an exciting denoument, I wasn't sure I bought the ins and outs of the entire plot, and the resolution is a little tough to take. But Virgil Flowers is such an engaging character that he more than made up for the book's weaknesses.
Also recommended: A STRANGER LIES THERE - winner of the Malice Domestic Award for best first mystery, its protagonist is a former 70's radical whose part in an anti-Vietnam War action left three people dead. His past comes back to haunt him one morning in the form of a dead body on his front lawn.

4 out of 5 stars

F@#%ing Flowers is back and better October 4, 2008
11 out of 14 found this review helpful

I am a fan of the Prey series and the Kidd books, so when Sandford came out with the Flowers series, I was worried that the author would over extend himself. I was wrong. Sandford has created a very novel character in Virgil Flowers. From his long hair and his vast collection of tee shirts, Virgil is a one of a kind cop. The story flows naturally and the characters sound real. Virgil is fully rounded person and his name is not about his personality, but his way with the ladies. The story is not one of those mysteries where the detective uses deduction or those where CSI plays a big part. In the novels it is plain old grinding it out leg work, look for clues, follow leads, dead ends, and luck. In between Virgil talking about God and picking the right band shirt, the action is simple and to the point. No facncy shooting or "wow" action, but realistic action of the normal cop. One reads these books for the Virgil Flower and not really for the msytery. A very satistfing novel.

5 out of 5 stars

Virgil Flowers Rocks!! October 15, 2008
9 out of 12 found this review helpful

I bought this book because of Brian Baker's review featured here. I have followed his choices before and he and I seem to look for similar things in a book and I have come to trust his judgement. I had read one of the Prey series and for whatever reason, it didn't do it for me. So I was not inclined to read more of this author until Brian made his recommendation.

Flowers is a true character. One I would like to see more of.

However, it is Sandford's use of dialogue, the development of several of the characters in the book and that he keeps the reader guessing at about the same level those in the book are operating at, as to what people are going to be killed and why.

You know, there are some times you come across a passage that you just say: "Dang! I wish I was smart enough to write that."

Mine occurred at page 199, when Virgil had crawled into bed "...and thought about God and the people who were dead on this case...and wondered what all that was about, and how somebody like the dumb-ass preachers on TV could think this could all be part of God's plan. God didn't have a plan, Virgil believed. God had his limits, and one of them was, He didn't always know what would happen; or if He did know, He didn't care, or if He cared, He was constrained by His own logic and couldn't do anything about death and destruction. Virgil believed that God was actually a part of a rolling wave front, hurtling into an unknown future; and that humans, animals and, possibly trees and chinch bugs had souls that would rejoin God at death. Which brought him to Camus' big question, and he didn't like to think about Camus, so he went to sleep."

Now that is good. And so is the rest of it. So saddle up. A really good book is waiting for you.

5 out of 5 stars

Is This Book a Lemon? September 29, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

The answer to the titular question is a resounding "No!" But a series of torture murder victims are found with lemons stuffed in their mouths. Virgil Flowers, an officer with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, investigates the murders. He finds a trail leading to a gruesome crime committed in Vietnam back in 1975, when things were falling apart there for the U.S.

John Sandford writes with a wry sense of humor about the resourceful, gritty, womanizing Flowers. Flowers uncovers a conspiracy involving the CIA, high officials in the current Vietnamese government, Homeland Security, and the smuggling of stolen heavy equipment into Canada. Things are not always as they seem. The line between good and evil gets blurry.

The focus of Flowers' romantic ardor (which seems to know few bounds) is the twenty-something daughter of a leftist professor. Said professor, during the sixties, had criticized the U.S. role in Vietnam. Flowers thinks the professor knows something about the "lemon murders." While he is investigating the professor, Flowers is also "investigating" the daughter.

The book drags a bit early on, but the last three hundred pages build to a slam-bang conclusion that is full of surprises.

Sandford skillfully captures the atmosphere of St. Paul and the surrounding region in Minnesota, as well as the state's border with Canada. Flowers is an outdoorsman, and Sandford vividly weaves this into the plot via episodes set in the backcountry.

I do have one reality check on the book: If you are thirsty and a friend throws an ice-cold bottle of beer to you from twenty yards away, would you try to catch it?

Powered by Associate-O-Matic

T-shirts, Posters

Pentagram T-shirts, bags, etc...

Gothic Posters