Heat Lightning (A Virgil Flowers Novel, Book 2)

Great reading. I want the whole series!

Virgil Flowers was a secondary character in Sandford's Prey series. A couple of years ago, the author decided to split Flowers off and make him the central character in a new series. Sandford drops hints that what's going on is that he just wants to keep writing, and Lucas Davenport might be getting too old to be the center of a series of books along the lines that he's been writing. Virgil's younger than Lucas, so he can keep the series going longer.Virgil's an interesting guy. He sort of drifted into being a cop. He's sort of counterculture, rarely wears a suit, has long hair, and wears a series of amusing t-shirts with strange themes which occasionally induce interesting reactions from those he comes into contact with, other cops, witnesses, victims, suspects. He often forgets his gun. In spite of all of this, he's a very good detective, and his "closure rate" is near perfect. So he's an interesting character for a series like this, and you really enjoy the scenes that involve him.In this story, Flowers is called in to investigate a series of murders happening all over Minnesota. The killer, whoever he is, is professional enough to kill without being seen, but strange, too, in that he's leaving a lemon in each dead body's mouth. When Virgil begins to investigate, he discovers that several (but not all) of the victims served in Viet Nam during the war there, and decides that the killings might be related to the war. Also perhaps involved is a local academic, a Viet Nam war scholar who has made many enemies over the years with his anti-war editorials and books. He even had a Vietnamese wife (who has since died) and their daughter lives with him. Virgil thinks something interesting is going on, and investigates...with interesting results.I enjoyed this book. Plot, characters, and action are all well-done, and the story's interesting. The ending was something of a surprise, though pretty believable. I would recommend it.

I liked the mix of characters. There were spots of confusion and it was difficult to keep things straight. Overall very good reading

The Virgil Flowers Series by John SandfordI’d read all Sandford’s “Prey” novels then decided to order the most recently released Virgil Flowers one. That lead to my ordering all the rest of this series. After they’d all arrived, I put them in publication order. Beginning with the first of the series,I began a John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers series reading marathon. If you’re a mystery/thriller fan you’ve probably read Sandfordand know what to expect. Excellent character development, good descriptions of people and places, interesting story lines, plots with twists and turns, real life, although not for the sensitive to vulgarity, conversations and page-turning, have to see what happens next stories. Rather than get into the storyline of each book in the series, since so many other reviews have already done that, I think that pretty much says it all. The one thought I had after completing each one was…”How does he come up with all these different story lines?” If you like reading mystery/thriller books, I highly recommend John Sandford.

An absorbing, suspenseful, almost-plausible read. John Sandford is a consummate pro, and a shrewd and cynical observer of our times. But after 30+ of his novels, I'm starting to anticipate his moves: he hasn't come up with a new style of villain for a while.This is still better than anyone else I know of could do, but I miss the "Holy &#%!" I used to get. If you n haven't read him before, this is five stars. If you have, it's solid and satisfying, but not a revelation. Yeah, I'm being too demanding. How many rabbits can you ask a man to pull out of one hat?

Virgil is working a murder, a man tortured and 2 shots in the head. Left at a veterans memorial. About 2 weeks later another with the same MO but different city. During the investigation Vietnam and a trip in 1975 rises to the top of the list of why 5 men have been murdered and more will be if not stopped.Worth the time to read a very good novel.

as a big fan of the prey series, i am trying to talk myself into the virgil flowers books. i'm still not sold. heat lighting is a big step up from dark of the moon, which i thought was scattered and implausible (the main problem being shoddy detective work) but is still far inferior to the best of the prey series. the issue may be that flowers, the protagonist, is a little bit of a cardboard cut-out. he likes to hang, digs the ladies, and wears rock shirts everyday (which, altho i have a few myself, is a little ridiculous) and seemingly every woman, in both flowers books, is into him. sandford doesn't provide any material to back up these characteristics so flowers remains more of a sketch than a fleshed out character. i was also bugged by the sloppy/lazy detective work. flowers doesn't run background checks on potential suspects because they seem to be ok guys. he dates the daughter of another potential suspect (which i think he also did in dark of the moon). he takes time off from a murder investigation to go fishing for a few hours. would a top-flight detective really behave this way? i just don't buy it.that said, i am willing to suspend disbelief somewhat when i read good suspense fiction and sandford does deliver some excellent tense scenes, some good dialogue and a passion for his established characters (davenport, making an appearance, included). the book was a fast read and had enough moments to make it worthwhile. but at end of the day, it was more mediocre than memorable.

John Sandford never disappoints. Not sure at this point which is better, Davenport series or Flowers series. Always great, either way.

I won't go into plots, but just give an opinion of the Virgil Flowers and Luke Davenport series of books. I have read nearly all of them and if you want stories of murder and mystery these are for you. Virgil Flowers books are sometimes funny, dark humour I suppose and although very fancyable he has flaws, Davenport has the trappings of a wealthy man, but these stories start with a simple crime but not what it seems, then throws in more and more darkness, danger and all is lost, but not so, as they delve into what is behind the reason they were called in the first place. A cracking good read

As always a top quality and enjoyable read

Virgil gets mixed up in some heavy stuff but survives again.

I always enjoy John Sansford's books. His wicked sense of humour and his well constructed plots make for a most pleasant reading experience. This book tells the story of an unusual case for country cop Virgil Flowers, involving retribution from mysterious killers for Vietnam war era misdeeds by some American former soldiers and mercenaries. As usual, our friend Virgil has some heated exchanges with some spicy ladies while trying to figure out why, who, what and when. There is a fair amount of action in this book which I found to be a pleasant cliffhanger. Enjoy.

This book is for all those who are getting tired of Lucas Davenport and his domesticated boring ways and who are looking for a tough rugged cop to cheer for again. The fantastically named Virgil Flowers premiere appearance in "Dark Side Of The Moon" was depressingly boring which was ominously bad so I approached this book nervously. But ten pages in, I knew I was onto a winner and I was hooked to the very end.This book reminded me a lot of the early Prey books, when Davenport was unmarried, a bit reckless and a skirt chaser. Flowers is nowhere near the thug that Davenport was (he goes to bed thinking about God!) but nevertheless, this book was packed full of action and there was never a dull moment to be had.The plot is that a group of men who served in the US Special Forces in Vietnam are being targeted for execution by an assassin. One by one, they are being killed and no-one knows the reason (except the victims and they aren't in the mood to talk to the police). As they are each gunned down, the killer puts a lemon in their mouth which is what the Vietcong do when they kill their enemies. As each one dies, the surviving members of the group get even more scared and paranoid about their personal security and safety.Obviously the state police are investigating the murders and Davenport sends in Virgil Flowers to take over the investigation. He quickly focuses on a pacifist university professor with strong ties to Vietnam who may or may not be a CIA agent, the professor's daughter who may or may not be falling in love with Flowers, two Vietnamese businessmen who may or may not be Vietnamese Intelligence agents, a Vietnamese Consular official who may or may not be the head of his intelligence service in the US and several former Vietnam soldiers who may know why these former special forces soldiers are being targeted.But the bodies are stacking up fast, the assassin is relentless and he has a knack for knowing where Flowers is at all times - and he is now coming for Virgil Flowers - because Flowers is starting to learn too much and certain highly placed people have ordered his removal.If you like the Prey books, you'll definately love this book. It has Davenport (and his annoying wife and family), Rose-Marie Roux, the Minnesota Governor, Davenport's cop colleagues and all the other familar faces - and a brilliant story.Get this book now.