69. Storm Front - John Sandford

#7 Virgil Flowers

Audio read by Eric Conger

8 unabridged discs (9.5 hrs)

2013 Penguin audio

384 pgs. (HC edition)

Adult mystery

Finished 11/4/2014

Goodreads rating:  3.81

My rating:   3-I liked it

TPPL

Mostly in and around Mankato, MN...but the beginning and ending took place in Israel

1st sentence/s: "His bags were packed and sitting by the door.  Nobody thought that was strange because four diggers were jammed into each small living suite.  With two tiny bedrooms feeding into a tiny kitchen area and even tinier bathroom there was hardly any place to keep clothing, so they kept it in their bags."

My comments:  This installment DID seem different. I listen to these read so well by Eric Conger, who has become the "voice" of Virgil for me, but the story seemed disjointed and even appeared to have some small parts missing. I liked the mystery - a lot - but the plot jumped so quickly from character to character and locale to location that at times I didn't even try to follow it, just went with the flow. Virgil's quick humor was present and very much appreciated. His lust for "Ma" was SO Virgil, but it never quite fully went into why he was so taken with her, other than she was ... built ... and perhaps because she had an IQ of 151? Of course, that was just slipped in, and I'm thinking this would matter to our Mr. Flowers. Okay, so maybe not on par with other Virgil Flowers books, but since I want them to keep on comin', I won't complain too loudly..... (And 3-stars means I DID like it.)

Goodreads book summary:  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—an inscribed stone 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.