Book Review: Heat Lightning

Reviewed By: Lynn Harnett

Heat Lightning     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
John Sandford
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller
Series: Virgil Flowers # 2
Putnam, Sept 2008

Sandford’s series regular, Minnesota state investigator Lucas Davenport again takes a backseat to his subordinate, Virgil Flowers (“Dark of the Moon”), whose terrific clearance rate seems “to derive from a combination of hanging out on the corner, [gossip], rumor, skepticism, luck and possibly prayer.”

In this second star turn Davenport rouses Flowers from his second ex-wife’s bed to call him to a murder scene. It’s an execution-style killing, patterned on one he’s already working. In each case the men have been tortured, shot, and left with a lemon stuffed in their mouths at veterans’ monuments. Flowers suspects a list, a vendetta perhaps, and soon a third body shores up his suspicions.

Point of view switches to the killers from time to time, a professional pair with dispassionate intensity and a growing list. Trying to get a step ahead of them Virgil ferrets out a Vietnam connection and begins tracing it back through alcoholism, money, opportunism and viciousness. There’s a woman, of course, and a lot of friendly schmoozing, a bit of thoughtful fishing and a few flashes of brilliance before the action-packed climax.

Laid-back, witty, and likable, Flowers is a pleasure to spend time with.

Lynn Harnett

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Lynn Harnett

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.