Virgil Flowers is a great character...

Apr 15, 2012

by duffbert
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Rating:

While I've grown a little cold on the John Sandford novels that feature Lucas Davenport, I'm finding I like the Virgil Flowers novels a lot. Shock Wave has Flowers tracking down a serial bomber intent on stopping a large Walmart-like store from setting up shop in a small town. Flowers is a nice mix of irreverence, vulnerability, and persistence, all wrapped together in a mind that never stops running.

Sandford does a good job in capturing the small town atmosphere where the action takes place. It's reasonably clear that someone in the town is doing the bombing, but there's a number of people who would make good suspects. Many people in town will be negatively impacted by the new store, and most would be happy to see the construction stopped. But which person would be motivated enough to kill? On top of the bombing, there's also a question surrounding why the city council approved a zoning change after initially opposing the site. Is the bombing also tied to the possible corruption? These are all questions Flowers has to figure out, and it doesn't help that the bombings are accelerating at a frightening pace.

On top of the characters, Sandford does a perfect job in making sure the killer isn't known until the very end. I was guessing the entire time, and found out it wasn't the person who I thought it was going to be. I was also impressed with the use of "crowd-sourcing" to dig up a list of likely suspects. While I don't think it's something that would be accepted very well in reality, it did present some interesting possibilities of involving others in solving a crime.

I hope Sandford continues with the Flowers character in future books. It would definitely put him back on my "read right away" list.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Library
Payment: Borrowed

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JSMaresca April 20, 2012

The review is good but the story is lacking.

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More SHOCK WAVE: A Virgil Flowers N... reviews

review by mikedraper. March 29, 2012

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

"Crimes sometimes shock us too much; vices almost always too little." Augustus Hare

Two corporate bombings in Minnesota make authorities bring top investigator, Virgil Flowers, to investigate and find the bomber. There is animosity toward PyeMart a Wall mart type of corporation. Business owners feel they'll be forced out of a job and environmentalists feel the corporation will pollute the water with adding pollutants into the water. Virgil is a somewhat nonchalant investigator. He's humorous and brings is own love of fishing … more

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review by KevinRTipple. December 23, 2011

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Virgil Flowers is back in "SHOCK WAVE: A Virgil Flowers Novel" by John Sandford

Virgil Flowers returns in SHOCK WAVE and the read is a good one. This is the fifth novel of the series and this time he is chasing a bomber. Virgil is based in Mankato, Minnesota and therefore routinely covers the southern part of the state for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. He also goes whether his boss, Lucas Davenport, sends him. Virgil has quite the reputation, not just with the ladies, and always gets the job done. The latest bombing was of a construction … more

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About the reviewer

Thomas Duff (duffbert)

Thomas Duff, aka "Duffbert", is a long-time member of the Lotus community. He's primarily focused on the development side of the Notes/Domino environment, currently working for a large insurance … more