100. Bloody Genius by John Sandford

#12 Virgil Flowers
read on my iPhone bought it on Audible
narrated  by Eric Conger
Unabridged audio (10:21)
2019, G. P. Putnam's (Penguin Audio)
384 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery, from a series
Finished 10/14/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.33 - 6,989 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: contemporary Minnesota state university

First line/s:  "Barthelemy Quill led his companion through the murk and up the library stairs towards his personal study carrel."

My comments:  I've got to admit that I had figured out the bad guy pretty early on, although I was surprised I did - just a little too much foreshadowing I guess.  And I'm still not happy about Frankie, don't know her at all, not enough, not for Virgil.....

Goodreads synopsis:  Virgil Flowers will have to watch his back--and his mouth--as he investigates a college culture war turned deadly in the latest thriller from #1 New York Times-bestseller John Sandford.
          At the local state university, two feuding departments have faced off on the battleground of PC culture. Each carries their views to extremes that may seem absurd, but highly educated people of sound mind and good intentions can reasonably disagree, right?
          Then someone winds up dead, and Virgil Flowers is brought in to investigate . . . and he soon comes to realize he's dealing with people who, on this one particular issue, are functionally crazy. Among this group of wildly impassioned, diametrically opposed zealots lurks a killer, and it will be up to Virgil to sort the murderer from the mere maniacs.

97. Holy Ghost by John Sandford

Virgil Flowers #11
read on Audible borrowed from TPPL
2018 G P Putnam's Sons
373 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery/Series
Finished 12/3/2018
Goodreads rating:  4.21 - 8068 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: Contemporary rural Minnesota

First line/s:  "Wardell Holland, the mayor of Wheatfield, Minnesota, was sitting in the double-wide he rented from his mother, a Daisy Match Grade pellet rifle in his hands, shooting flies."

My comments:  Hanging out with Virgil Flowers always leaves me in a happy place.  I love love love the way that Eric Conger reads these books.  I don't think reading them myself would be half as enjoyable.  Sometimes it seems like Virgil and his crew do more bumbling around that they should, but it always adds good reading and humor to the story.  This story had more sad killings than I would've liked, but kept me engrossed and interested from beginning to end.  Another good one, John Sandford.

Goodreads synopsis:  Pinion, Minnesota: a metropolis of all of seven hundred souls for which the word "moribund" might have been invented. Nothing ever happened there and nothing ever would—until the mayor of sorts (campaign slogan: "I'll Do What I Can") and a buddy come up with a scheme to put Pinion on the map. They'd heard of a place where a floating image of the Virgin Mary had turned the whole town into a shrine, attracting thousands of pilgrims. And all those pilgrims needed food, shelter, all kinds of crazy things, right? They'd all get rich! What could go wrong?
          When the dead body shows up, they find out, and that's only the beginning of their troubles—and Virgil Flowers'—as they are all about to discover all too soon.

50. Escape Clause - John Sandford

Virgil Flowers #9
listened to on Audible
read by Eric Conger
2016, GP Putnam's Sons
400 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished 8/24/17
Goodreads rating: 4.21 - 10,751 ratings
My ra ting:  4.5
Setting: Contemporary Minnesota

First line/s:  "Peck popped a Xanax, screwed the top back on the pill tube, peered over the top of the bush and through the chain-link fence, and in a hoarse whisper asked, "You see the other one?"

My comments: 

Viva Virgil Flowers! My favorite serial good guy. Eric Conger is definitely the voice of Virgil Flowers. Add in John Sandford, who created Virgil, and you have a perfect trinity. I could listen to Virgil problem-solving and telling about his escapades for days on end. The beginning of this (book 9 in the series) started out just a tiny bit slowly. However, I didn't despair because I knew it would get more interesting quickly. Yup. There were two main plot lines happening - a personal one involvi Viva Virgil Flowers! My favorite serial good guy. Eric Conger is definitely the voice of Virgil Flowers. Add in John Sandford, who created Virgil, and you have a perfect trinity. I could listen to Virgil problem-solving and telling about his escapades for days on end. The beginning of this (book 9 in the series) started out just a tiny bit slowly. However, I didn't despair because I knew it would get more interesting quickly. Yup. There were two main plot lines happening - a personal one involving Virgil's girlfriend, Frankie and her sister; and one involving his job as the head investigator into the robbery/kidnapping of two endangered tiers from the Minnesota Zoo. Both got stickier and stickier and it's Virgil's job to keep his head above water and his paces closer and closer to the perpetrators. Good reading

Goodreads synopsis: Whenever you hear the sky rumble, that usually means a storm. In Virgil Flowers’ case, make that two. The exceptional new thriller from the writer whose books are “pure reading pleasure” (Booklist)
          The first storm comes from, of all places, the Minnesota zoo. Two large, and very rare, Amur tigers have vanished from their cage, and authorities are worried sick that they’ve been stolen for their body parts. Traditional Chinese medicine prizes those parts for home remedies, and people will do extreme things to get what they need. Some of them are a great deal more extreme than others -- as Virgil is about to find out.
          Then there’s the homefront. Virgil’s relationship wi th his girlfriend Frankie has been getting kind of serious, but when Frankie’s sister Sparkle moves in for the summer, the situation gets a lot more complicated. For one thing, her research into migrant workers is about to bring her up against some very violent people who emphatically do not want to be researched. For another…she thinks Virgil’s kind of cute.
          “You mess around with Sparkle,” Frankie told Virgil, “you could get yourself stabbed.”
           “She carries a knife?”
           “No, but I do.”
Forget a storm – this one’s a tornado.

45. Deadline - John Sandford

Virgil Flowers #8
listened to cd in the car
2014 G.P. Putnam
388 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished 7/25/15
Goodreads rating: 4.17
My rating: 3
Setting: contemporary southern Minnesota

First line/s:  "Dark, moonless night in the dog days of early August.  A funky warm drizzle left the world quiet and wet and close."

My comments:  Same old wonderful Virgil Flowers....clever and funny and smart.  This one seemed to drag a bit, though.  I do love the way that Sandford adds the perspective of the antagonist/s as well as the protagonist, but much of this seemed repetitive and unnecessary.....or maybe it was just the mood I was in as I drove....

Goodreads synopsis:  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.

18. Rules of Prey - John Sandford

#1 Lucas Davenport (a very lengthy series)

Read on my iPhone/through Kindles

1989

479 pgs.

Adult Murder Mystery

Finished 3/1/2015

Goodreads rating: 4.14

My rating: 4

Setting: Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) MN

1st sentence/s: 

My comments:  After reading (and loving) all of Sandford's books about Virgil Flowers, I decided it was time I tried out a Lucas Davenport.  My son, who has read them all, told me I should really start from the first title.  So I did!  Published in 1989, and without some of the modern technology that I've been used to having included, the story or Davenport's pursuit of Mad Dog is cleverly intricate, looking at things from both protagonist and antagonist's points of view.  Lucas Davenport is so cocky, street, savvy, and just-plain interesting that he intrigues me....but not as much as Virgil!  Rules of Prey is plot-driven and character-driven, and I look forward to more in the series written in this vein.

Goodreads book summary: The "maddog" murderer who is terrorizing the Twin Cities is two things: insane and extremely intelligent. He kills for the pleasure of it and thoroughly enjoys placing elaborate obstacles to keep police befuddled. Each clever move he makes is another point of pride. But when the brilliant Lieutenant Lucas Davenport--a dedicated cop and a serial killer's worst nightmare--is brought in to take up the investigation, the maddog suddenly has an adversary worthy of his genius.

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.

Series Synopsis - John Sandford

John Sandford (Camp)

Virgil Flowers
(I have such a crush on you, Virgil!)
Virgil is a one-man investigator that works for some sort of bureau in Minnesota.  His boss is Lucas Davenport (of the Prey series).  He always wears tee shirts - of obscure bands  - gets along great with the ladies - and uses methods that are....unusual....to get answers.  He's funny and very, very cute (at least in my head).

Although John Sandford (real name: John Camp) sets his Virgil Flowers (and his Lucas Davenport) books in Minnesota, he appears to reside in New Mexico for part of the year, And whenever I read his Facebook entry, he's listening to another musician I've never heard of.  He's definitely given the same musical attributes to Virgil!

1 - Dark of the Moon (2004) This is about multiple murders in small-town Bluestem, Minnesota.

2 - Heat Lightning (2008) This is the one about guys being shot in the head and left to be found with lemons in their mouths - the first one, at least, found at the base of a Veteran's Memorial.

3 - Rough Country (2009) Virgil's investigations take him this time to an idyllic resort beside one of his favorite fishing places - a resort that caters primarily to lesbians.

4 - Bad Blood (2010) Virgil helps small-town southern Minnesota Sheriff Lee Coaklee investigate murders that seem to be tied to a secretive, religious-cult-like church, where men marry women that are barely past girlhood.

5 - Shock Wave (2011) This is the one about Pyemart coming into a small town and building a new store...and someone keeps setting up deadly explosions to thwart it.  We're able to get into the mind of the bomber every few chapters.  This one totally keeps you guessing all along the way.

6 - Mad River (2012) Once the first murder is committed, three teenagers decide they're already in so deep, what do they have to lose, why not keep on going?

7 - Storm Front (2013) A terminally ill minister steals a stela from Israel and brings it back to Minnesota to try to sell it for millions to pay for the long-term care his Alzheimer-ridden wife will need after he dies.

8 -  Deadline (October 7,  2014)

John Sandford website
John Sandford on Facebook
Here's an article from July, 2014 that gives a great look inside some of John Sandford's "personal" stuff....

9. Dead Watch - John Sandford

This is a standalone Sandford novel

audio read by Richard Ferrone

9 discs/10 hours

2006 Penguin Audio

373 pgs.

Adult Political Murder Mystery

Finished Sunday, 2/9/2014

Goodreads Rating: 3.81

My Rating: 3.5  I liked it okay

Acquired: PBS (will no trade it on

Setting:  mostly Washington DC and surrounding Virginia area

My comments:  This was an interesting political mystery that included murder, mayhem, and a questionably ethical protagonist, Jake Winter.  Jake's smart, knows his way around DC, and works for the White House - principally the President's Chief of Staff.  It always pisses me off (but never surprises me) to hear of all the shenanigans that happen on the taxpayer's dime and this one certainly was no exception.  It read fast, and I was happy to see the touches of Virgil Flowers that Sandford gave Jake.  I guess it's time for another dose of Virgil....

Goodreads Review: Sometimes, justice isn't enough.

          From the author of the number-one-bestselling Prey novels comes an extraordinary story of murder, passion, and deadly ambition——a political thriller like no other.
          Through twenty-one novels featuring Lucas Davenport, Kidd, or the razor-edge world of the Night Crew, John Sandford has been writing brilliantly suspenseful, consistently surprising thrillers filled with rich characters and exceptional drama.
           But Dead Watch sets a whole new level.
           Late afternoon, Virginia, and a woman is on the run. Her husband, a former U.S. Senator named Lincoln Bowe, has been missing for days. Kidnapped? Murdered? She doesn't know, but she thinks she knows who's involved, and why. And that she's next.
          Hours later a phone rings in the pocket of Jacob Winter. An Army Intelligence veteran, Winter specialises in what he thinks of as forensic bureacracy. Congress, the Pentagon, the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security——when something goes wrong, Winter kicks over rocks until he finds out what really happened. The White House is his main client, and the chief of staff is on the phone now.
          If Bowe isn't located soon, he is told, all hell will break loose.
          What Winter doesn't realise is——all hell will break loose anyway. And he will be right in the middle of it. Large forces are at work, men determined to do whatever it takes to achieve unprecedented ends. Before the next few days are out, Winter will discover he has to use every one of his resources not only to prevail...but just to survive.
          And so will the nation.

48. Mad River - John Sandford

Virgil Flowers #6

Audio read by Eric Conger (he is definitely now the voice of Virgil Flowers!)
8 unabridged cds (10 hours)

2012, Penguin Audio ($39.95, borrowed from TPPL)

387 pgs.

Adult murder mystery

Finished 10/22/2013

Goodreads Rating: 4.09

My Rating:  4.5 - it was a good one

Setting: southwestern Minnesota, in the prairie/cornfield area of the state very near where Virgil grew up

1^st sentence/s:  "Jimmy Sharp stepped back from the curve and impatiently waved the car by."

My comments:  This book was written a bit differently than some of the previous Virgil Flowers titles, in that every so often the setting and point-of-view switched to the bad guys.  I like this a lot.  I also liked that Sandford didn't gloss over the foibles and atrocities committed by cops, at least not completely.  When a book you're reading produces strong gut reactions...well, that's a good book!

Goodreads says:  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.

38. Bad Blood - John Sandford

Virgil Flowers #4
audio read by Eric Conger
8 cds (10 hrs)
388 pgs.
2010
Rating:  5

Setting:  contemporary southern Minnesota
I really adore Virgil Flowers.  He's a cool, REAL guy, one I'd like to meet.  He's a criminal investigator for the state of Minnesota, sent out to various parts of the state to work on crimes.  He's clever, he has his own way of investigating....many times by giving out information that many other investigators would keep close to the chest.  This selective information always gives back threefold.

In this outing, he is paired up with local sheriff Lee Coakley, an attractive divorcee.  When one murder leads to another, and then another, the investigator leads to members of a secretive local church.  When the deepest secrets seem to include older men marrying very younger...girls....they discover that sexual misconduct, incest, and abuse may go back many generations.  As much as some of the story was upsetting, the it was told well and was quite exciting and action-packed.

11. Dark of the Moon - John Sandford

Virgil Flowers #1
audio read by Eric Conger
Penguin Audio, 2007
$39.95, Paperback Swap
9 unabridged cds
10.5 hrs.
384 pages
Rating: 5

Both my husband and son have enjoyed the Lucas Davenport "Prey" series, written by John Sandford, so when Brian began this series, I decided to join him. Good decision.

Virgil Flowers works for some sort of Minnesota crime bureau under the aforementioned Lucas Davenport. He's sort of a one-man solo investigator that is sent out to rural communities to help on murder cases. When he arrives in small town Bluestem to help the locals investigate the murder of an elderly couple, he comes upon a blazing house fire. It looks like another elderly man has been murdered. This one, a wealthy schemer with a history of womanizing, is hated by just about everyone in town. Amid a smidgeon of romance and quite a bit of humor (he wears rock tee shirts everyday, chosen to match his mood and the case/s he's working on), Flowers leaks information in the right places, asks the right people the right quesitons, and flushes out the killer in style. Excellent murder mystery. Great protagonist.