MT Review: Deadline (A Virgil Flowers Novel)

I've finished "Deadline" the 8th book in his Virgil Flowers series by John Sandford.

The thrilling new novel in the #1 New York Times–bestselling series.

In Southeast Minnesota, down on the Mississippi, a school board meeting is coming to an end. The board chairman announces that the rest of the meeting will be closed, due to personnel issues. “Issues” is correct. The proposal up for a vote before them is whether to authorize the killing of a local reporter. The vote is four to one in favor.

Meanwhile, not far away, Virgil Flowers is helping out a friend by looking into a dognapping, which seems to be turning into something much bigger and uglier — a team of dognappers supplying medical labs — when he gets a call from Lucas Davenport. A murdered body has been found — and the victim is a local reporter.

Product Details
Series: A Virgil Flowers Novel (Book 8)
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (October 7, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399162372
ISBN-13: 978-0399162374

My Review:

3/5

MT Review: Storm Front (A Virgil Flowers Novel) Hardcover

I've finished "Storm Front" the book in his Virgil Flowers series by John Sandford.

The thrilling new novel in the #1 New York Times–bestselling series.

In Israel, a man clutching a backpack searches desperately for a boat. In Minnesota, Virgil Flowers gets a message from Lucas Davenport: You’re about to get a visitor. It’s an Israeli cop, and she’s tailing a man who’s smuggled out an extraordinary relic — a copper scroll revealing startling details about the man known as King Solomon.

Wait a minute, laughs Virgil. Is this one of those Da Vinci Code deals? The secret scroll, the blockbuster revelation, the teams of murderous bad guys? Should I be boning up on my Bible verses?

He looks at the cop. She’s not laughing. As it turns out, there are very bad men chasing the relic, and they don’t care who’s in the way or what they have to do to get it. Maybe Virgil should start praying.

About the Author

John Sandford was born John Camp on February 23, 1944, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He attended the public schools in Cedar Rapids, graduating from Washington High School in 1962. He then spent four years at the University of Iowa, graduating with a bachelor's degree in American Studies in 1966. In 1966, he married Susan Lee Jones of Cedar Rapids, a fellow student at the University of Iowa. He was in the U.S. Army from 1966-68, worked as a reporter for the Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian from 1968-1970, and went back to the University of Iowa from 1970-1971, where he received a master's degree in journalism. He was a reporter for The Miami Herald from 1971-78, and then a reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer-Press from 1978-1990; in 1980, he was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and he won the Pulitzer in 1986 for a series of stories about a midwestern farm crisis. From 1990 to the present he has written thriller novels. He's also the author of two non-fiction books, one on plastic surgery and one on art. He is the principal financial backer of a major archaeological project in the Jordan Valley of Israel, with a website at www.rehov.org. In addition to archaeology, he is deeply interested in art (painting) and photography. He both hunts and fishes. He has two children, Roswell and Emily, and one grandson, Benjamin. His wife, Susan, died of metastasized breast cancer in May, 2007, and is greatly missed.

Product Details
Series: A Virgil Flowers Novel (Book 7)
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (October 8, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399159304
ISBN-13: 978-0399159305

My Review:

4/5

MT Review: Silken Prey [Hardcover]

I've finished "Silken Prey" the book in his Lucas Davenport series by John Sandford.

Product Description

The extraordinary new Lucas Davenport thriller from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner.

Murder, scandal, political espionage, and an extremely dangerous woman. Lucas Davenport’s going to be lucky to get out of this one alive.

Very early one morning, a Minnesota political fixer answers his doorbell. The next thing he knows, he’s waking up on the floor of a moving car, lying on a plastic sheet, his body wet with blood. When the car stops, a voice says, “Hey, I think he’s breathing,” and another voice says, “Yeah? Give me the bat.” And that’s the last thing he knows.

Davenport is investigating another case when the trail leads to the man’s disappearance, then — very troubling — to the Minneapolis police department, then — most troublingly of all — to a woman who could give Machiavelli lessons. She has very definite ideas about the way the world should work, and the money, ruthlessness, and sheer will to make it happen.

No matter who gets in the way.

About the Author

JOHN SANDFORD is the author of twenty-three Prey novels; six Virgil Flowers novels, most recently Mad River; and six other books. He lives in California and New Mexico.

Publisher Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (May 7, 2013)
Language English
ISBN-10 0399159312
ISBN-13 978-0399159312

My Review:

Lucas Davenport is an Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent who is asked by the State Governor to investigate why child porn was found on a leading Senate Candidate's office computer days before the election.

Porter Smalls is a Republican who is running for the US Senator position who is leading in the polls when he is hit with child porn on his office computer. The Governor despite their opposing views doesn't believe that Porter would hurt his chance of winning the US Senator position.

As Davenport investigates he soon finds out that Bob Tubbs is a member of a conspiracy to bring down Porter Smalls and has disappeared (everyone believes he has been murdered). With the help of Kidd a combination of an artist and computer whiz he uncovers the other members of the conspiracy which includes the beautiful and wealthy Democratic candidate Taryn Grant. She is a narcissist with an over sized ego, ambition and uses dirty tricks to get what she wants no matter who gets in the way.

This was a very fast paced read with some interesting characters with intriguing twist and turns. I loved that Kidd and his wife Lauren (formerly a cat burglar LuAnn) and Virgil returned to help in the investigation.

4/5

MT Review: Mad River (A Virgil Flowers Novel) [Hardcover]

I've finished "Mad River" the 6th book in his Virgil Flowers series by John Sandford.

Product Description

Bonnie and Clyde, they thought. And what’s-his-name, the sidekick. Three teenagers with dead-end lives, and chips on their shoulders, and guns.

The first person they killed was a highway patrolman. The second was a woman during a robbery. Then, hell, why not keep on going? As their crime spree cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, some of it captured on the killers’ cell phones and sent to a local television station, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers joins the growing army of cops trying to run them down. But even he doesn’t realize what’s about to happen next.

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (October 2, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399157700

My Review:

Three teenager killers Jimmy Sharpe, Becky Welsh and Tom McCall go on a killing spree in Bonnie and Clyde fashion.

Lucas Davenport sends his best investigator at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Virgil Flowers to help various law enforcement agencies to track them down.  As Virgil investigates further more bodies show up and he learns the deadly motive to the killings.  Notorious hardcore Sheriff Lewis Luke is Virgil's liaison in Bare Country where the killer's parents live.  Virgil realizes that Jimmy's homicidal urges are encouraged by his girlfriend Becky and Tom McCall is a dragged into the mess as a participate.

This book had great character development for everyone involved including the villains (their family history and personal life) and we even see Virgil interact with his parents (they are very close).  It was great to see Davenport, Shrake and Jenkins helping in Virgil's investigation.

5/5

Bad Blood: a Virgil Flowers novel [Hardcover]

I've finished "Bad Blood" the 4th book in his Virgil Flowers series by John Sandford.

Product Description


The brilliant new Virgil Flowers thriller from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author.

One late fall Sunday in southern Minnesota, a farmer brings a load of soybeans to a local grain elevator- and a young man hits him on the head with a steel bar, drops him into the grain bin, waits until he's sure he's dead, and then calls the sheriff to report the "accident." Suspicious, the sheriff calls in Virgil Flowers, who quickly breaks the kid down...and the next day the boy's found hanging in his cell. Remorse? Virgil isn't so sure, and as he investigates he begins to uncover a multigeneration, multifamily conspiracy-a series of crimes of such monstrosity that, though he's seen an awful lot in his life, even he has difficulty in comprehending it...and in figuring out what to do next.

About the Author

John Sanford is the author of twenty Prey novels, most recently Storm Prey, and ten other books. He lives in Minnesota.
 
Product Details
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1st Printing edition (September 21, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399156909
ISBN-13: 978-0399156908

My Review:

Storyline:  To find out why Jacob Flood was killed and why Bobby after being arrested why did he hang himself?  Coakley reaches out to the Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for help.  She gets Virgil Flowers who has reputation of being a lockdown investigator.  Virgil and Coakley get a whiff of sexual abuse involving a girlfriend/friend of Bobby's.  The case now includes a local church where the members close ranks.  They both find a woman that fled the influence of the church 8 or 9 yrs ago.  She agrees to become a key witness to the case which opens up corruption within the police deputies, multiple murders and a tradition that goes way back from generation to generation.

Characters:  I really liked Coakley because she's very level-headed and doesn't panic in situations, a kick-ass heroine and she treats her fellow policeman/woman with respect!  I really like Virgil because he's always thinking through situations, also doesn't panic during these situations, sexy, humerous (loves the lines he says) and has a great relationship with his friends and boss!

Romance:  I really liked the romance between Virgil and Coakley because they really understand each other (not just about personal life but also about the case and the people involved).

Killer(s):  The killers are quite screwed up and have no remorse on killing or doing bad things to people! 

4/5

Rough Country (Virgil Flowers Series #3) - ARC

I've just finished reading "Rough Country" the 3rd book in his Virgil Flowers series by John Sandford.

Synopsis

John Sandford's "truly captivating" (Richmond Times-Dispatch) new hero goes north to solve a puzzling murder-and finds that the country is very rough indeed.

Publishers Weekly

Near the start of bestseller Sandford's winning third thriller to feature Virgil Flowers of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (after Heat Lightning), Virgil gets a call while muskie fishing from his boss, Lucas Davenport (the hero of Sandford's long-running Prey series). Lucas orders Virgil to look into the shooting death of Erica McDill, an ad agency exec from Minneapolis and a big supporter of the Democratic Party, who was staying at the Eagle Nest Lodge in nearby Grand Rapids. A talk with lodge owner Margery Stanhope turns up unusual details: Margery's clientele is mostly lesbian; an all-female rock band is involved; guests who are so inclined can buy young men for an evening's pleasure; and financial reasons could explain the murder. It's a complicated case, but Virgil is up to the task, and, as always, he's funny, smart and tough when he needs to be—and catnip to the ladies. 

Biography

John Sandford began his career as a journalist using his real name, John Camp. He won a Pulitzer for feature writing before turning to mystery-suspense novels, simultaneously releasing two “first” novels under two different names in 1989.

My Review:

Storyline: I thought it was a pretty good storyline! The main killer you didn't know until near the end and there are many suspects to consider.  There were some that were lying to Virgil or not mentioning some stuff that were crucial to the case.

Characters: Most of the characters were well written especially Virgil,

Romance:  Most of the romances were of the bi or lesbian variety, not that I have anything against it as long as it's not in my face!  Virgil always has a women wherever he goes.  LOL!

Killer: The killer didn't really know who it was at first there are many suspects and why they were killing certain victims.

Glad to see some characters from Sandford's Lucas Davenport series (Lucas, Weather, Shrake, Jenkins).  Too bad didn't see Del!

5/5

Thanks so much Lydia Hirt from G.P. Putnam's Sons/Riverhead for sending me an ARC to review!

New ARC Review Book Arrived: ROUGH COUNTRY (Virgil Flowers Series Bk. 2) by John Sandford

Product Details

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (September 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399155988
ISBN-13: 978-0399155987

Rough Country (Virgil Flowers) (Hardcover)

Product Description

It's a joy to announce that John Sandford is still doing everything right," wrote the Cleveland Plain Dealer about the second adventure of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers. "Virgil acts like the best series protagonists-becoming someone we just enjoy spending time with."

Virgil's always been known for having a somewhat active, er, social life, but he's probably not going to be getting too many opportunities for that during his new case. While competing in a fishing tournament in a remote area of northern Minnesota, he gets a call from Lucas Davenport to investigate a murder at a nearby resort, where a woman has been shot while kayaking. The resort is for women only, a place to relax, get fit, recover from plastic surgery, commune with nature, and while it didn't start out to be a place mostly for those with Sapphic inclinations, that's pretty much what it is today.

Which makes things all the more complicated for Virgil, because as he begins investigating, he finds a web of connections between the people at the resort, the victim, and some local women, notably a talented country singer. The more he digs, the more he discovers the arrows of suspicion that point in many directions, encompassing a multitude of motivations: jealousy, blackmail, greed, anger, fear. Then he finds that this is not the first murder, that there was a second, seemingly unrelated one, the year before. And that there's about to be a third, definitely related one, any time now. And as for the fourth . . . well, Virgil better hope he can catch the killer before that happens. Because it could be his own.

Rich with the brilliant plotting and compulsively readable prose that are his hallmarks, Rough Country is another immensely satisfying tale by one of our very best suspense writers.

About the Author

John Sandford is also the author of nineteen Prey novels and eight other books.

Thanks Lydia Hirt from G.P. Putnam's Sons/Riverhead for send this ARC for review.

Heat Lightning (Virgil Flowers) (Hardcover)

I've just finished reading "Heat Lightning" the 2nd book in his Virgil Flower series by John Sandford.

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of bestseller Sandford's solid second thriller to feature officer Virgil Flowers of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (after Dark of the Moon), a gunman shoots Bobby Sanderson as he's walking his dog one night in Stillwater, Minn., then places a lemon in the dead man's mouth. Sanderson's killing is one in a series, and Flowers soon discovers that all the victims served together in Vietnam. When Flowers learns that Vietnamese firing squads stuck lemons in the mouths of their human targets, he pursues leads in the local immigrant community, where he hooks up with the attractive daughter of a radical professor who'd written a paper about Agent Orange. Eventually, he settles on the owner of a security company involved with the upcoming Republican National Convention as his prime suspect.

Product Description

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

John Sandford’s introduction of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers was an immediate critical and popular success: “laser-sharp characters and a plot that’s fast and surprising” (Cleveland Plain Dealer); “an idiosyncratic, thoroughly ingratiating hero” (Booklist). Flowers is only in his late thirties, but he’s been around the block a few times, and he doesn’t think much can surprise him anymore. He’s wrong.

It’s a hot, humid summer night in Minnesota, and Flowers is in bed with one of his ex-wives (the second one, if you’re keeping count), when the phone rings. It’s Lucas Davenport. There’s a body in Stillwater—two shots to the head, found near a veteran’s memorial. And the victim has a lemon in his mouth.

Exactly like the body they found last week.

The more Flowers works the murders, the more convinced he is that someone’s keeping a list, and that the list could have a lot more names on it. If he could only find out what connects them all . . . and then he does, and he’s almost sorry he did.

Because if it’s true, then this whole thing leads down a lot more trails than he thought—and every one of them is booby-trapped.