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Heat Lightning (Virgil Flowers) | 
 enlarge | Author: John Sandford
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy Used: $2.50
You Save: $24.45 (91%)
New (69) Used (52) Collectible (2) from $2.50
Rating:  49 reviews
Sales Rank: 2452
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.5
ISBN: 0399155279
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780399155277
ASIN: 0399155279
Publication Date: September 23, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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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.
Filled with the audacious plotting, rich characters, and brilliant suspense that have always made his books compulsively readable (Los Angeles Times), this is vintage Sandford.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 44 more reviews...
 Virgil Flowers's Second Outing is a Winner! September 28, 2008
Brian Baker (Santa Clarita, CA)
26 out of 30 found this review helpful
Someone's ritualistically torturing and murdering a bunch of Vietnam Vets (a subject near to my heart, as I am one), and Lucas Davenport assigns the case to that rascally womanizer Virgil Flowers in this fast-paced thriller from John Sandford.
Flowers is an engaging hero: smart, tough, witty, and ready at the drop of a skirt.
Sanford displays his usual deft skill in engaging us in the story as well as the characters, with a novel plot line, fully realized secondary characters, and dialogue that shows a true "ear" for the way people talk in real life.
This book moves like a runaway train, and will keep you entertained from first page to last.
A solid five stars.
 Virgil Flowers returns September 23, 2008
NoGoodDeed
15 out of 26 found this review helpful
The second in John Sandford's Virgil Flowers series (after last year's fun Dark of the Moon) finds the somewhat eccentric investigator assigned by Lucas Davenport to a series of murders in which a lemon wedge was placed in the victim's mouth. Flowers soon discovers that the lemon ritual was practiced by Vietnamese firing squads on their unlucky subjects, and that all of the current victims served in Vietnam. This leads him to a former 60's radical who might have CIA connections and then into the bed of the man's half-Vietnamese daughter (not surprising for the rakish Flowers.) The suspect list eventually focuses on the head of a private security firm involved with the Republican Convention taking place in Minneapolis. Although Heat Lightning is a fast-paced read with an exciting denoument, I wasn't sure I bought the ins and outs of the entire plot, and the resolution is a little tough to take. But Virgil Flowers is such an engaging character that he more than made up for the book's weaknesses.
Also recommended: A STRANGER LIES THERE - winner of the Malice Domestic Award for best first mystery, its protagonist is a former 70's radical whose part in an anti-Vietnam War action left three people dead. His past comes back to haunt him one morning in the form of a dead body on his front lawn.
 F@#%ing Flowers is back and better October 4, 2008
Lost In Kansas (Arkansas City KS)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
I am a fan of the Prey series and the Kidd books, so when Sandford came out with the Flowers series, I was worried that the author would over extend himself. I was wrong. Sandford has created a very novel character in Virgil Flowers. From his long hair and his vast collection of tee shirts, Virgil is a one of a kind cop. The story flows naturally and the characters sound real. Virgil is fully rounded person and his name is not about his personality, but his way with the ladies. The story is not one of those mysteries where the detective uses deduction or those where CSI plays a big part. In the novels it is plain old grinding it out leg work, look for clues, follow leads, dead ends, and luck. In between Virgil talking about God and picking the right band shirt, the action is simple and to the point. No facncy shooting or "wow" action, but realistic action of the normal cop. One reads these books for the Virgil Flower and not really for the msytery. A very satistfing novel.
Is This Book a Lemon? September 29, 2008
Elliott (L.A.)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
The answer to the titular question is a resounding "No!" But a series of torture murder victims are found with lemons stuffed in their mouths. Virgil Flowers, an officer with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, investigates the murders. He finds a trail leading to a gruesome crime committed in Vietnam back in 1975, when things were falling apart there for the U.S.
John Sandford writes with a wry sense of humor about the resourceful, gritty, womanizing Flowers. Flowers uncovers a conspiracy involving the CIA, high officials in the current Vietnamese government, Homeland Security, and the smuggling of stolen heavy equipment into Canada. Things are not always as they seem. The line between good and evil gets blurry.
The focus of Flowers' romantic ardor (which seems to know few bounds) is the twenty-something daughter of a leftist professor. Said professor, during the sixties, had criticized the U.S. role in Vietnam. Flowers thinks the professor knows something about the "lemon murders." While he is investigating the professor, Flowers is also "investigating" the daughter.
The book drags a bit early on, but the last three hundred pages build to a slam-bang conclusion that is full of surprises.
Sandford skillfully captures the atmosphere of St. Paul and the surrounding region in Minnesota, as well as the state's border with Canada. Flowers is an outdoorsman, and Sandford vividly weaves this into the plot via episodes set in the backcountry.
I do have one reality check on the book: If you are thirsty and a friend throws an ice-cold bottle of beer to you from twenty yards away, would you try to catch it?
Finally a Decent Virgil Flowers Story October 9, 2008
Michael Thau (Centennial, CO United States)
10 out of 15 found this review helpful
This is the first Virgil Flowers story worth reading but get it in paperback unless you have cash to burn. Actually written this time by John Sandford, Flowers is in charge of solving a string of unusual murders relating back to the Vietnam war. It is a different direction for Sandford and slightly left of center politically but not so that it is excessively annoying. Flowers is a three dimensional character for the first time so the reader may actually begin to care about him for a change. There are some humorous moments in the story and it even prompted me to buy a 'WWTDD' T Shirt... don't ask.
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