Helpful Score: 5
Heat Lightning is a story about a group of Vietnam vets who are being tortured and killed off one by one. Detective Virgil Flowers is the main character and there are splashes of Lucas Davenport throughout the book. Personally, I was really disapointed in the book and had a dificult time getting to the end. I would rate it as BORING.
Helpful Score: 3
I have been a fan of John Sandford for quite some time now. I guess he is best known for the "Prey" series. This is one of the Virgil Flowers books. Flowers is a great character and Sandford is really amazing at letting the reader "see" him. I really loved this book until about 30 pages before the end. It was like Sandford just ran out of gas and started to drift about for awhile. It is a shame, because the book was really great till then.
Helpful Score: 2
Well being a big Davenport fan I figured I would probably like Flowers. It felt just like a Prey book except very boring. I hard a hard time getting into it and then kept going because I trusted Sandford to keep it interesting, alas, it never got much better and the end was just so, so. I think I will pass on Flowers he just feels like a copycat. The casual love interest in every town is believable if you are male, but as a female it is hard enough to swallow with Davenport, don't try to convince me it could happen exactly the same way with Flowers. Oh well I am gald I did not buy the book!
Helpful Score: 2
I wasn't sure I was going to like this book but once I got started on the story it just caught me and I was reading as fast as I could to find out what was going on, very well written (naturally) and grabs you from the first few pages and won't let go!
Helpful Score: 1
The latest Virgil Flowers story starts out very interesting, with unknown killers targeting several men and leaving a lemon in their mouths. The lemon seems to connect them to the Vietnam war, and Virgil realizes it's the work of professionals, which makes it harder to discover why and who is next. While the story progresses at Sandford's usual smart pace, the ending somehow fell a little flat for me, but that didn't detract much from my enjoyment.
Helpful Score: 1
This was my first exposure to Virgil Flowers, a wild child member of Lucas Davenport's flying circus, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and I found the serial murder plot average and the Flowers character fuzzy in my mind. I'm not sure John Sanford has a clear picture of him either. I suspect that as Lucas has aged and risen to power and leadership, Sanford wants to introduce a younger, hipper hero to a different demographic group than his traditional fans. If so, this is a noble attempt; but, Sanford needs to put some more flesh on the bones of his new protagonist to keep the new readers coming back!
Intriguing story by a master storyteller.
Caroline H. (cottonmouthfan) reviewed Heat Lightning (Virgil Flowers, Bk 2) on + 11 more book reviews
A really great time-filling leisure read. A complicated plot with an attractive hero and lots of action. Not believable, but fascinating.
I am reading the book right now and love it you just can not guess what is happening. I would recomend the book to all!!
One of Sanford's best.
Very good read, great plot and ending.
The series with Virgil Flowers is running right there with my favorites of the "Prey" series with Lucas Davenport.
I enjoyed this book very much. I especially like Virgil Flowers character.
Very convoluted clues that all came together near the end in heart pumping action.
What can you say about Virgil Flowers? He's tough as nails, believes in justice as it should be, looks like a hippie, and once he sinks his teeth in, doesn't let go! This book takes you from the bedroom, to an indian reservation, Vietnam, and even Canada, with a few interesting detours along the way! Flowers always gets his man...or does he? For this book, you'll have to read to the very end to find out!
Another great book by John Sandford. He just gets better and better.
Another great book by John Sandford. He just gets better and better.
I wasn't impressed. I usually read for an hour or so each night before going to sleep. . . this book kind of put me to sleep.
I generally enjoy Sandford's books so this one is no different in that respect. This is the second Virgil Flower's that I have read. Enjoy this character; somewhat a contrast to Davenport. Not much to add.
I wasn't highly impressed with the first book in this series, but I gave this one a try. I own the third book so I guess this series gets one more try from me, but really it is just ok. There is nothing that makes it stand out, nothing that make me not be able to wait to read the next.
I loved this book, but then again I love all things written by John Sanford.
Excellent read!
The story ia about murders that target certain GI's that took part in the original crime. The plot makes for a very plausible story which just keeps moving right along. I really enjoyed the book and though it took me a while to read was only because I have lots going on in my life right now.
This was my first John Sandford and Virgil Flowers book. I was not terribly impressed. Virgil seems to be the wishful image of the author - countless girls/women flock to him, he's extremely laid back ("cool"), but, of course, performs great under pressure. Oh well.
The story was not bad at all, and moved at a good pace, but the main character annoyed me, plus I found it hard to believe that the police apparently seemed ignorant of modern-day gadgets.
Several Vietnam vets are being killed in the present day and Virgil Flowers is charged with discovering the link between them.
The story was not bad at all, and moved at a good pace, but the main character annoyed me, plus I found it hard to believe that the police apparently seemed ignorant of modern-day gadgets.
Several Vietnam vets are being killed in the present day and Virgil Flowers is charged with discovering the link between them.
