Bad Blood

Written by John Sandford

Narrated by Eric Conger

On a late autumn Sunday in Southern Minnesota, a farmer is bludgeoned around the head by a teenager wielding a bat. Following the teenager's apparent suicide, Sheriff Lee Coakley is worried that she is up against a far more complicated case than she first thought, and calls in investigator Virgil Flowers. It doesn't take long for Flowers to uncover a series of crimes so monstrous that the small town can never be the same again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: W. F. Howes Ltd
• Release date: Jun 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781471201479

John Sandford

John Sandford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp. He is the author of thirty-three Prey novels, two Letty Davenport novels, four Kidd novels, twelve Virgil Flowers novels, three YA novels co-authored with his wife, Michele Cook, and five stand-alone books.

Reviews for Bad Blood

[lbswiener · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bad Blood is a good Virgil Flowers suspenseful novel. Virgil is called into help a local town with an apparent suicide only to find that it related to three other murders. Whether or not this was based upon a real crime story, it dealt with a horrible child and adult sex cult. The book received four stars in this review.

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read like a newspaper article except for the ever present Virgil sex scenes. Also a little too graphic w the pornography, which was the hook I suppose. Well written w a dash of Sandford's quips. Just a little too obvious though I did tear right through it.

[lamour_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The novel opens with a young man killing a friend in a grain elevator without explaining why. Arrested and put in jail, he is murdered in his cell by a deputy sheriff. Agent Virgil Flowers is sent to investigate what is going on and soon finds himself facing the biggest child sex ring imaginable. With the assistance of the newly elected female Sheriff Lee Coakley, slowly unravels the many rumors and leads to reach a violent conclusion that will change the lives of many women and children for the better.Violent and the sexual abuse of women and children uncovered and described may be upsetting to some readers.

[capewood · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sandford has a spinoff from the Lucas Davenport novels about one of Davenport's detectives named Virgil Flowers. Flowers mainly works outside of the Minneapolis metropolitan area. This story as about some bad business involving a religious cult in the farm towns of Minnesota. This is a good story that starts out low key with what looks like an accidental death and gradually builds to a Waco like shoot-out.

[usuallee · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is my first John Sandford novel. It will most likely be my last. There is a good book buried in here somewhere, but unfortunately the book is written in an unforgivably bland, facile, phoned-in manner. To me this seems like an obvious case of a successful writer churning out another one as fast as possible to keep the gravy train rolling. The author chooses to reveal the whodunit very early on, and because the character development is so scant that you don't care what happens to them, that means there is literally zero suspense as the book mercifully lurches to a close. I read lots and lots of mysteries and thrillers. This one was one of the weakest I've ever read.

[readafew · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Virgil was up to the task in this one. He always brings humor, even in a book dealing with such terrible crimes as the ones posed in the book. Child sexual abuse, on a grand scale, and was 'supported' by a religious cult, a really terrible topic.

[drled_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis: A young man, who everyone agrees was a 'good kid', bludgeons a farmer to death. He is arrested and subsequently found hanged in his cell. Virgil is called in when the local sheriff believes it's not suicide but murder. They find that this is just a hint of the depravity that's going on in a cult.Review: Parts of this book were hard to read, but there were lighter parts, as well. It reminds me of the Waco cult and the effect that religious group had on their children.

[carol420 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Virgil Flowers is brought in to investigate a strange murder at a rural Minnesota grain elevator. A farmer had pulled in with his truck of grain. The young man working at the elevator retrieves his baseball bat and sneaks up behind the farmer. He clobbers the unsuspecting man then tries to make his death look like an accident, but this killing was clearly premeditated. Flowers is called in to this area where murders rarely occur by the new sheriff, an attractive woman named Lee Coakley. There's clearly a spark struck between them from the start. But no time for romance yet. Crimes must be investigated.

John Sandford performs a bit of literary derring-do here. He has his wise cracking, fun loving Virgil trying to solve a case that might involve a most horrific network of pedophiles. Child abuse is not funny, but Virgil is. The combo actually works. Virgil lightens it up just enough to make all the dark parts not quite as sickening. Sandford does a splendid job on this one.

[markpsadler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the latest Virgil Flowers investigation, we follow the detective as he investigates the bludgeoning death of a soybean farmer by a local teen. When the teenager is then found hanging in his cell, a victim himself of a murderous prison guard who in turn is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Flowers has his hands full proving these where all murders not accidents or suicides.
The ensuing investigation brings to the fore a religious organization, World of Spirit, Teutonic in its nature and calling, that has been ongoing since its conception over a hundred years ago when German immigrants settled in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. At the core of its beliefs are home-schooling, segregation from the outside world and inter-family marriages. In modern times, this has led to incest, wife swapping, and with the introduction of pornography on the Internet, sexual perversion. Flowers is able to tie in the death of a teenage girl, a sect member, who was suspected of being a prostitute, into the other three murders and all hell breaks loose.
As more and more perversions are discovered as cult members scramble to cover their tracks, Flowers and the local sheriff, Lee Coakley, are carrying on their own tumble-in-the–bed affair behind the scenes, trying to keep that out of the view of the small town gossips.
A rough and tumble sexy page-turner of a thriller that will keep you involved and engaged with each turn of the page.

[tatoosh-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sanford turns in a thoroughly enjoyable read—and a decided improvement over the previous offering—in this fourth novel featuring Virgil Flowers. Here Flowers is initially drafted to investigate a case of a supposed suicide by a young athlete charged with the murder of a middle-aged farmer. The case quickly morphs into an investigation of a religious "cult" that is suspected of rampant sexual molestation of children as young as 12 years old. The plotting is suitably complex and the reader is challenged to determine how Flowers will solve the case. Gone is the fascination with obscure band t-shirts but this novel takes place in winter so I imagine the t-shirts will surface again in the next novel set in suitable weather. Virgil's irritability attraction to women is still apparent and a bit tedious. Everything considered, however, this is the best Virgil Flowers novel yet.

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

That F***in Flowers is sent to investigate a murder in very rural SW Minnesota. Very quickly, the crimes mushroom and he is investigating, not three but four deaths in a very small area. An attractive and recently divorced sheriff is locally in charge. It is ideal, well almost, he doesn't bring his boat so no fishing, as Virgil uncovers decades of spousal and child abuse within a local church group. Hooking up, in the current vernacular, with the sheriff; he exposes the the cult's activities. To which, they respond with extreme vigor and violence.

[ecw0647 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An excellent addition to the Virgil Flowers series, a series I prefer to the Lucas Davenport books which often devolve into psychobabble with Weather and Ellen.

The case begins with the baseball bat head-bashing murder of a local farmer delivering soybeans to the local mill. The killer is a well-liked football star and his actions puzzle the community, but not as much as the string of killings that follow. BCA detective Flowers is asked to help with the investigation by the local newly elected sheriff who fears her election at the expense of one of her deputies might compromise the investigation.

If you read the reviews on Amazon, the one-star comments seem to fall into a couple of groups: those who object to "bad" words and/or the subject matter (child abuse and its connection to a religious cult or it's just "pornography", a bizarre complaint indeed), and those who complain about the Kindle price (get a life folks, you don't have to buy the book.) In other words the one star reviews have little substance to them and can be safely ignored as trite.

Some of the dialogue, especially with the children of the cultish group, seemed forced and whether such a group could be as large as it was in a rural community without raising more than a few eyebrows is problematic. It's a good story. My quibbling minor complaint is that perhaps Sandford could have used the story to examine the ramifications of a mindset that teaches a belief system to children they believe to be good that is in direct opposition to normal societal values.

One line I really liked: "Nothing scares a shit-kicker like somebody shooting up his truck."

[slavenrm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As usual, I received this book from a GoodReads giveaway. It's also worth noting that this novel belongs to a genre that is normally not among those I pick up for frequent perusal. Because of this I'm reviewing a bit outside my ken.

In a nutshell, Sandford's novel is about as pulpy as it gets: gritty, action packed and completely unapologetic about it. Despite the fact that this is not a genre I tend to pick up, and I'm not likely even now to start, I did find myself dragged along quite against my will once having started. Sandford's style is marvelous and it's obvious that he's been doing writing in this vein for quite some time. Easily the best I've read in the crime-action genre.

My only real complaint is that he does tend to go over the top. His dramatic conclusion reads more like a scene from a war movie than a police action. If this sort of thing regularly occurs then I'm rather surprised there are any cops left to keep the peace.

That aside, Sandford's writing is solid and his topic engaging. For those who enjoy work in the CSI realm this is a grand example of the genre.

[thejeanette · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The further adventures of "that fuckin' Flowers." This one takes awhile to heat up, but once they start going after the bad guys it gets pretty exciting. The big showdown and final outcome is sort of like a combination of the Ruby Ridge fiasco and the raid on the FLDS Yearning for Zion compound. I give Bad Blood 2.5 stars for story, but I rounded up to 3 stars because Sandford writes so well. This one wasn't as much fun as the third installment. The subject matter is very disturbing, all the more because it's so believable. It's disgusting what people justify under the protected status of religious beliefs.

[sunnysd_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Murder, suicide? Or murder, murder... Newly elected sheriff Lee Coakley needs some back-up. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent Virgil Flowers (aka, that eff'n Flowers) like the look of her, but the case gets nastier the longer he stays in Warren County. Sanford ups the ick factor in this suspenseful thriller. Who-dun-it's no mystery. Who's going to live through it, is.

[bookscentlover · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Started superb. Pardon the cliche, a fuckin' page turner. Then at the end, lousy writing. What the hell happened?

[repb_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was surprised at the distasteful subject of this Sanford series with Flowers, normally one of my favorite characters. I found it very disturbing, overly disgusting and violent, totally unbelievable and rife with obscenities. Other than that ...

[sonicquack · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Virgil Flowers as a character goes from strength to strength and his fourth outing is one of Sandford's hardest hitting and thrilling novels yet. There is no requirement to have read any previous Flowers books, although cameos and from previous books and the Davenport series are almost obligatory. Sandford's plots have become darker recently (even though they did start with serial killers) and Bad Blood is insidious, tapping in to the horrors within a closed community. In Bad Blood the lead from an odd murder unravels something larger, with excellent character development between Flowers and Sheriff Lee Coakley, supported by Sandford's smart narrative and humourous dialogue. It's a brave break from the norm, absolutely suited to the Flowers arc and delivers shocks and entertainment in equal measure. It's a triumph from the start, adding tension throughout until the grand finale. Utterly absorbing, this dark crime thriller is Sandford on top form - and he was already one of the best.

[judithrs · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bad Blood. John Sandford. 2011. Sandford’s novels are suspenseful and exciting and his characters are very human. Virgil Flowers is becoming one of my favorite characters-he is flawed but moral and likable. He works for the state crime agency that is run by Lucas Davenport who is the main character in Sandford’s “Prey” books. He is called by a newly elected female sheriff of small Minnesota town to investigate an accident that is a murder and a suicide that is a murder. Together they uncover a vile religious cult that sanctions child sexual abuse

[bohemiangirl35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The third installment in the Virgil Flowers series takes a different approach than the previous two. You quickly find out who the villains are as Flowers, from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, assists new Sheriff Lee Coakley in investigating a jailhouse murder staged to look like a suicide. Most of the story is about Flowers and Coakley figuring out who to trust as they investigate a suspected underlying crime (which is very disturbing).The book is a little like having a country Jack Reacher in a Karin Slaughter novel. Flowers turns on the charm as he asks the town for help in finding leads and seduces the sheriff starting with his "third most innocent cowboy smile." Flowers is funny and keeps the story light-hearted. Eric Conger does a great job with narration.

[fromkin_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've enjoyed a couple of Sandford's Lucas Davenport novels, and this was my introduction to Virgil Flowers. As a character, he's rather similar to Davenport, a little more country, upstate rather than downstate Minnesota, but just as dedicated and just as willing to engage in an illegal search for evidence. But this is a very different, very dark plot. Religion as the last - or first - refuge of scoundrels. Very well paced, Sanford takes the reader through painstaking police procedural to a shattering multi-part climax. There was one surprising editing error, when on consecutive pages Sanford described a female sheriff as having blonde hair, with a touch of gray; and on the next page as having red hair. Otherwise, highly recommended.

[dickmanikowski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I never thought I'd find an ongoing crime fiction protagonist more engaging than John Sandford's Lucas Davenport, but Virgil Flowers (often referred to by his colleagues and even casual acquaintances as "that f***ing Flowers" has pushed Lucas off his pedestal.This novel is typical Flowers fare. The lone wolf investigator from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is sent to a rural town to investigate what appears to be the jailhouse murder of a suspect by a sheriff's deputy. What he discovers turns out to be a web of evil that may go back for generations.Highly recommended. Be advised, though, that there's some seriously disturbing stuff in this book

[zachmontana · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Part of the Vigil Flowers series which I enjoy. He's a cool guy and in this book gets the woman - small town sheriff asking for his help in what turns out to be a big religious cult sex thing.

[adpaton · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Sandford is a prolific and profoundly readable writer, capable of juggling plots and characters with effortless ease and Bad Blood, the fourth in the Virgil Flowers series but the first I have read, is everything a thriller should aspire to be. Lee Coakley is the new sheriff in a small Minnesota town and when called in for a series of murders she is happy to turn to Flowers, veteran of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, for help. Deliciously twisted family secrets, a delightfully perverse religious sect, official corruption, legal shenanigans and, naturally, murders, all add up to a superbly engrossing read.

[karenehall · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Somebody recently asked, “If you could have dinner with any character from fiction, who would it be?” My immediate answer: Virgil Flowers. John Sandford has written a lot of books, and I’ve read most of them. I followed Lucas Davenport religiously through the Prey books, read the standalone novels, and didn’t much care for the Kidd novels. But Virgil Flowers is my guy.Virgil knows how to get to the bottom of things, and in Bad Blood, the bottom is not only complicated, it’s a long way down. A southwest Minnesota farmer is brutally murdered at the elevator as he delivers his soybeans. The murderer, a decent young man from a good local family, confesses to the sheriff, and the next day is found hanging in his cell. When the deputy on duty during the apparent suicide is also found dead, the sheriff realizes she needs help. Though both deaths appear to be suicides, the forensic evidence suggests otherwise. Enter Virgil Flowers.Flowers loves women. Married and divorced three times, Virgil has realized he falls in love too easily and has sworn off the taking of vows. That doesn’t mean he’s given up the fairer sex, though. In this book, he finds the sheriff herself, recently abandoned by her husband for another woman, to be not only an excellent investigator, but excellent in other ways as well. Virgil’s investigative technique is as unusual as he is. Raised nearby, the son of a Lutheran minister, Virgil knows how things go in small towns. He takes the sheriff to the local café, speaks clearly enough that the locals can overhear, and garners several important leads through the resulting firestorm of rumor and innuendo. He sets traps, calls in favors, interviews locals, and uncovers a crime so old and so massive that even he has trouble believing its scope. While I’ve always enjoyed Mr. Sandford’s Lucas Davenport novels, I can understand why he’s working on this series as well. Virgil Flowers is very different from Davenport, and must be tremendously fun to write. He’s both a cerebral and a spiritual guy, a BCA agent who wears his hair long and his cowboy boots scuffed. If you haven’t tried these books, please do. You won’t be disappointed.

[norinrad10 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As a huge fan of Sandford's "Prey" books I've been slow to warm to the Virgil Floweres series. The character is fine. Kind of reminds me of Davenport if he was still single. The problem has always been the writing. This series has always suffered from the James Paterson school of get a young writer to write the majority of the book then I'll slap my name on it and all my fans buy it. The good news is that this one sounds like Sandford all the way through. The bad news is, its kinda dull. The case involves a sect up in Minnesota that engages in all kinds of sexual shenanigans and it just kind of plods along. Virgil is better developed and keeps it interesting, but hopefully next month's Prey book is a whole lot more interesting.

[mikedraper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Virgil Flowers of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is called in to a small town in Minnesota where there have been four murders.Virgil learns that Peter Tripp, an employee at a grain company, killed Jacob Flood, a farmer.Police arrested Tripp and someone killed him in his cell.When Virgil goes to interview police officer Jim Crocker, he finds Crocker has been murdered.Then Virgil learns that a young girl, Kelly Baker, was killed a while back. Her body was found in a graveyard and showed signs of extreme sexual activity.Through the investigation, Virgil learns that Flood, Crocker and Kelly Baker were all members of a church group. He has to break someone from the group into telling him about it. Then he lerns that this group is part of a multigenerational group that has been active in child rape, pedophelia, abuse and other sexual activity.The novel is well plotted and suspenseful. Virgil is a wise cracking character who is like a bulldog and keeps after the wrong doers unitl they are caught and punished.

[cenneidigh · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I love Vigil and the adventures he gets into. This one deals with a cult and the things they do. It is a sexual crime and so it talks lots about incest and rape. The mystery aspect is good and the characters are fun. This is the 4th in the series and they just get better.

[auntmarge64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A new John Sandford suspense novel is always cause for celebration. His Lucas Davenport "Prey" series is one of my favorites, but now that Davenport has settled a bit in life, Virgil Flowers, one of his team, has become the center of a new series. Sandford has his storytelling down pat and it just keeps getting better and better. You know you'll always find yourself hyperventilating and not being able to put the book down for the last third of the book.

[patrickjiv_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

That fck'in Flowers is at it again! I will never tire of reading about this character! Like this guy better than his boss, Lucas Davenport.