Heat Lightning: Virgil Flowers 2

By John Sandford

The second Virgil Flowers novel by internationally bestselling author John Sandford

'When the going gets tough, try to unload it on that f****** Flowers'

On a hot, humid summer night in Minnesota, Virgil Flowers gets a call from Lucas Davenport. A body has been found near a veterans’ memorial in Stillwater, Minnesota, with two shots to the head and a lemon in his mouth. That's strange.

What's stranger still, however, is this: two weeks ago, a body was discovered... with two shots to the head and a lemon in the victim's mouth.

Davenport needs a man he can trust on this case, and there's no one he trusts more than Virgil Flowers. Flowers becomes convinced that someone is keeping a list—with many more names on it. And when he discovers what connects them all, he’s almost sorry. Because if it’s true, then this whole thing leads down a lot more trails than he thought it did—and every one of them is booby-trapped.

But even Flowers has no idea how strange things are going to get.

* * * Praise for John Sandford and the Virgil Flowers novels * * *

‘Along the way to the satisfying ending, Virgil displays the rough humor and rough justice that make him such an appealing character’ Publishers Weekly on Deep Freeze
 
‘A knowing portrait of small-town life layered into a very well plotted mystery. Virgil understands that, in small towns, no one ever outgrows high school... One of the very best novels in a superior series’Booklist (starred review) on Deep Freeze

‘Add a gripping storyline, a generous helping of exquisitely conceived characters and laugh-out-loud humor that produce explosive guffaws, not muted chuckles, and you’re in for the usual late-night, don’t-even-think-of-stopping treat when Flowers hits town’ Richmond Times-Dispatch on Deep Freeze

‘An outstanding novel’ Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Escape Clause

‘Perfect entertainment’ Kirkus Reviews on Escape Clause

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Mar 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781471181986

John Sandford

John Sandford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist John Camp. He is the author of thirty Prey novels, four Kidd novels, twelve Virgil Flowers novels, and six other books, including three YA novels coauthored with his wife Michele Cook.

Reviews for Heat Lightning

[dickmanikowski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Virgil Flowers. 'Nuff said.

[carol420 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport spend a lot of time together in this novel. It's hard to tell Flowers apart from the younger Davenport. Also present are many Davenport regulars like Sloan, Shrake, Jenkins, Carol and the flirtations but innocent Sandy. Once I started reading this book, I couldn't stop. If you are any kind of Lucas Davenport fan you won't be disappointed by this book.

[thejeanette · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Of course, four stars in the brain candy category is not the same as four stars in the great literature category, but I really enjoyed the ride while reading this book. This is the second in Sandford's new Virgil Flowers series, and I liked it more than the first one, Dark of the Moon. Good plot with lots of little kinks and curves, and Sandford's trademark guy humor. Also many familiar characters carried over from the Lucas Davenport series, so I felt I was hangin' with my old friends. I especially loved the way they resolved their dilemma with the Homeland Security guys near the end of the book.

[sunnysd_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bodies are turning up propped against soldiers' memorials around Minnesota. Dead, tortured, with lemons stuffed in their mouths. Virgil Flowers doesn't have much to go on, but he's pretty sure the trail leads back to Vietnam....Another eminently readable outing by that f'en Flower.

[crazybatcow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The sexism is very subtle, but it's there. It's the kind of insidious stuff that most readers might think is "normal" (and perhaps it is) but... Women really aren't there just for the entertainment and sexual proliclivities of men. Seriously. They can have thoughts and plans that have nothing to do with some studly man looking to shag them. I noticed this in Sandford's other books too so I guess it's a writer overlaying his personal attitudes on his characters rather than a character "development".And there are a couple odd (out of place) references to God's will (etc) that seem to be there to show that Flowers is a Christian (at least this is the only point I can get from it). Maybe if they weren't just added in like footnotes and were actually part of the story, they wouldn't have been as jarring... or maybe if Flowers actually acted like a Christian and didn't think of other people, especially women, in terms of how much use they are to him... I guess the plot was fairly engaging, but, unfortunately, the victims have so few (okay, none) redeeming qualities that I didn't really care if they were killed or not. Or if the "bad guys" got away or not. Maybe this ambiguity was intentional, but it didn't give me any sense of investment in the story's conclusion.Anyway... I finished the book, and already had the next in the series on my shelf so will read it, but... I don't think I'll carry on with this series, or this author. Even though the plot was kinda interesting, Flowers holier-than-thou-and-by-the-way-when-will-we-shag attitude is just too annoying.

[bookmarque · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Virgil Flowers is a different animal from Davenport, but just as engaging. With Davenport getting on in years, I think it was a good idea to start another series featuring a younger cop. Flowers is a social investigator. He solves crimes basically by bullshitting with people. It's quite different from the way Davenport works and I think Sandford does a good job keeping the two distinct from each other. Reading them out of order doesn't seem to matter. This is the one with the shootout with the Vietnamese gang referred to in subsequent installments. I found the action (specifically the shootout) to be oddly muted. I don't think I've noticed that in the Flowers books before, and it certainly isn't present in the Davenport novels. The violence isn't as gratuitous or richly described the way it is with say, Lehane, but its not glossed over either and while the assassination scenes were depicted with some detail, the shootout wasn't and it seemed odd...I even wondered if I'd somehow skipped it, but I didn't. The old Vietnam connection was an interesting one and I think Virgil's detachment from that time and those events helped keep him unbiased about the crime and the criminals. One of which is easy to spot. Calling him a criminal isn't really accurate, but he was hinky from the start and I wasn't shocked at his role. That was ok, the book had other surprises for me and was fun as usual. I am dubious about our government's role in the whole deal, but it makes for a nice conspiratorial touch. And the ending, well, let's say that maybe Sandford is keeping something in his back pocket for later. Who knows who will walk back into Virgil's life.One thing for sure is that Flowers isn't drawn nearly as deep as Davenport. I guess he'd have to have people in his life for that. Davenport's complex family connections and brush with depression round him out as a human, not just a cop. While some of it seems to blunt his effectiveness both as an investigator and as a hard-driving leading man, it seems to make Flowers seem less there than he is. Less vital and substantial. Virgil is way less invested in his investigations, too. He takes things way less personally than Lucas does. Also, I think when Sandford domesticated Lucas, he missed his old Lothario and so made that the central feature of Virgil's life; the next roll in the hay. Now he's got Lothario back, he can't seem to make Virgil into anything else. Sure, he's got his fishing, part-time writing and his t-shirts, but the guy's life is basically an empty shell. I like him though. Maybe he'll pick up some baggage along the way that will make him more interesting and give him a bit more heft.

[ecw0647 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really like the Virgil ("Fucking Flowers") Flowers series. I've read several of the Lucas Davenport books by Sandford and find the Flowers books to have more humor and interest. They are also perfect for listening to while putting up snow fence. I have about 800 feet of snow fence to put up along my lane. For those who don't know what that involves, it means driving fence posts into the ground with a post driver weighing about 20 lbs, unloading rolls of wooden snow fence and then attaching the fence to the posts. It's always done when the weather is shitty (cold and windy and the field often muddy) and for someone my age probably inviting a heart attack. Takes me usually about 4-5 hours so I find a good book to listen to and take my time (I used to get done in about 3 hours.) The Flowers series, read by Eric Conger is perfect. Occasionally, I'll pause and laugh out loud.The plots are rather routine. In this one a series of murders is being committed. All the dead had been in Vietnam at the same time, although not in the military. The bodies each have a lemon duct-taped in the mouths; several had been slowly tortured. Fine, the investigation is interesting and makes sense, but it's the character of Flowers (who knows his Aeneid) and his relationship to the other cops that I really like. It's obviously not a spoiler to say Virgil gets his man/woman.

[amf0001 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I trying to figure out if I would like these books more if I hadn't read the Davenport series. It just feels to me that Virgil is Lucas light. There isn't a substantive difference between the two, and Virgil, frankly, isn't as smart as Davenport. I saw the 'twist' at the end, coming a mile off, and it annoyed me that Virgil didn't. The person with the most detectiing capacity in this book was Lucas's old friend the Nun. The plot centeres around 2 men who are killed and displayed conspicuously at war memorial sites with a lemon in their mouth. Virgil is told of a Vietnam connection and the rest of the book is spent figuring out a) who is going to be killed next and b) why are they being killed. I didn't mind them being killed but the collatoral damage seemed rather high. So, Sandford is always readable but this is definitely a second tier outing for me. A library loan, not a keeper...

[susanamper · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Having married off Lucas Davenport in the Prey series, Sandord has no character to engage is sexual peccadillos, so he has a new series and a new detective. Virgil Flowers is a terrible name, and the character is charmless. A mystery with its origins in Vietnam could have been solved on p. 5 if Flowers had done what any detective would do and check out people's identities. But there would then be no reason for this book, and that would not be such a bad thing. Every 20 or 30 pages, Virgil talks to Lucas on the phone who tells him about 20x throughout the book, "get the job done." I am not sure why Davenport is dragged into this series in a cameo appearance; it only reminds readers that the Prey series is much better than this new one.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Digital audiobook narrated by Eric Conger.From the book jacket Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers is only in his late thirties, but he’s been around the block a few times, and he doesn’t think much cann 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 when the phone rings. It’s Lucas Davenport. There’s a body in Stillwater, two shots to the head, found near a veterans’ memorial. And the victim has a lemon in his mouth.This is the second book in the Virgil Flowers series, which is a spin-off of Sandford’s extremely popular Lucas Davenport series. I haven’t read the first book in the series, but I don’t think I was missing much by jumping in on book number two. In his trademark style, Sandford gives us plenty of twists and turns in the plot, a few red herrings, and some subtle clues that are easy to miss. Flowers is an extremely likeable character – and the ladies certainly like him (witness his bedding one of his ex-wives), but he’s no pushover. He’s also smart, decisive, deliberate, and resourceful. I love the dialogue; Sandford definitely has a gift for writing believable back-and-forth exchanges. The action is fast and furious, and while I figured out the culprit some time before Flowers did, the ending is still satisfying for the thriller/mystery genre. Eric Conger does a fine job narrating the audiobook. He keeps the pace up and the action moving forward.

[judiex · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you like a well-written, action-packed, crime novel, John Sandford is the author for you. HEAT LIGHTNING is one of the earliest of the Virgil Flowers series. An investigator with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), Flowers is called one night to a scene where there's a body shot twice in the head found near a Veterans Memorial. The victim has a lemon wedged his mouth. The scene is exactly like one found a week earlier.As he investigates, Flowers realizes there may be more victims--past, present, or future. He sets out to try to connect the two murders. To do so he works with state and local public safety departments. When he finds the connection, he learns about a decades-old massacre in Vietnam at the end of the war.In addition to the murders, the Twin Cities are preparing for the Republican National Convention.With much difficulty, he learns the names of some other potential victims and hopes to reach them to get names of other potential victime and prevent further murders. Unfortunately, the killer seems to be a step ahead of him and some police officers are killed as well.HEAT LIGHTNING is a page turner. The violence and sex scenes are mentioned but not in much detail. Lots of f-bombs but used only among the men.Sandford's characters are realistic and he provides a lot of detail about his surroundings. There some humor such as describing a chicken pot pie is having (roughly a billion calories in chicken fat, which added flavor to two pounds of salt included with the pie..." and describing an impromptu “press conference, was held in the rotunda of the Capitol, with an oversized American flag, borrowed from a fast food franchise, hanging in the background."The book doesn’t explain why Flowers was targeted.

[debavp · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I’m getting the distinct impression that Sandford has developed an issue with dogs. I didn’t like it in Dark of the Moon.and really didn’t like it in this one, so much so that I knocked a whole star off for the needlessness of it. Otherwise, the book is Flowers all the way through and absolutely hilarious in parts. Flowers is brilliantly crafted, you still don’t really know who he is, but you find yourself thinking that you do

[bohemiangirl35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is my second John Sandford book and my first Virgil Flowers novel. It cracked me up and I had a good time with it. Went through it in a day. Virgil is a great "every man" hero. He's not perfect. I liked Lucas Davenport better in this book as well.

[thebookbabe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I pay no attention to reviews - I *LOVE* these books. Great protagonist, unusual setting, well written, love the subtle humor.

[cenneidigh · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy Virgil Flowers and hope to hear much more from this funny character. This is a great story, one full of mystery and twists and turns.

[readafew · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Virgil Flowers is called in to work another case. This one is just the same as a previous murder that resembled a hit. After the second one it really looks like a professional. The question is, who is doing this, why, and are there any more victims on the list?It starts looking like it is related to something that happened way back in Vietnam. Part of the clues that point to it is that all the victims have an orange in their mouth. Virgil ends up right in the thick of it and it takes him a while to figure out that he isn't getting close, he's so close he couldn't see the forest through the trees.This is another faced paced Sandford book and I find the Virgil books to be much more humorous than the the Davenport books, though I still enjoy them as well.

[ricday_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well-paced, good read.

[miyurose_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am a fan of Virgil Flowers, maybe even more than I am a fan of Lucas Davenport. Davenport can come off as a bit uptight and serious, while Flowers has more of a laissez-faire style, and a good deal of recklessness. When we join him in this story, he is investigating a series of murders where the victims are left at Veterans’ memorials with lemons in their mouths. Soon, a connection to the Vietnam War emerges, and Flowers travels the state of Minnesota chasing down leads. Along the way, we see his trademark affinity for troubled women, and he finds himself fooled on more than one occasion. And that’s why we love Virgil… He’s not perfect. The state of Minnesota is also the perfect backdrop for this outdoorsman, and I feel like I know the state after seeing it through his eyes.

[bobleino · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good story but the reader read mostly fragments rather than complete sentances. This made listening difficult and irritating at times.

[djupstrom · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Just so-so. I like the idea of Sandford setting his novels in an area I am familiar with (Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and Michigan), but this one fell a bit flat. The connections that tie the plot together were just barely holding together.

[sonicquack · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sandford gets to rewrite the Lucas Davenport series when penning new stories featuring Virgil Flowers, a younger, more spritely, enigmatic cop. He's also a ladies man, allowing Sandford to interject his vibrant narrative, consistently delivering interesting and smile-producing outlooks on relationships. The Flowers series (and this is the second) allows more freedom with the central character and this is fully utilised in Heat Lightning, where both Flowers' youth and sexual appetite are both factors in how the plot develops. The crime in question is, as usual for a Sandford novel, a series of steps to capture an anonymous killer and is potentially confusing if the book is not read in a small timeframe. The finale is of high calibre, a well choreographed set-piece which is certainly entertaining. Heat Lightning is a competent crime thriller, with interesting characters as well as smart and entertaining writing, however it's potentially too complex at times and a little dry going in the middle.

[iluvvideo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Second of the Virgil Flowers novels, this book was an entertaining read from the start. It seems Vietnam veterans are being targeted for murder. But that's not all...the bodies are placed prominently at veterans memorials with a lemon shoved in their mouths. Why are the deceased being targeted? By whom? And can Virgil solve the case before anyone else gets killed and certainly before the Republican National Convention comes to town, bringing the country's media eye to focus on Minneapolis!! I liked this book better than the first in the series, Dark Side of the Moon. The story is nonstop from the outset and the characters (especially Virgil) seem more in focus than the earlier story. Sanford weaves the plot masterfully as it works toward the solution. I Thought I'd figured it out (but of course I didn't) and kept the pages turning right until the end. I'm looking forward to more in this series.

[cmparkhurst · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good work by Sandford. Moves along and is faster paced than the latest of the Prey series. Virgil Flowers is a good character with Davenport as his mentor.

[missreadstoomuch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read most of the Prey book and really liked the way John Sandford has introduced a new series from the old one - I liked reading the bits with Davenport and Weather in them - like old friends! The story itself was good and I liked Virgil as a main character. It was an fast-paced and fun read.

[silkyprincess · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent; fast moving, lots of suprises

[manadabomb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sandford is turning into one of my favorite writers. I've been a fan of Davenport and reluctantly tried his other series. I didn't think he could pull off the Davenport intensity with other characters.But he does. I was wrong!! Heat Lightning is the second Virgil Flowers novel. Flowers (or "that fuckin' Flowers") works for Davenport in the Twin Cities BCA. This case covers a series of related murders where the victim is placed at the foot of a veteran's monument with a lemon stuck in their mouths. Sounds related.Flowers is a 30ish guy with an affinity for band t-shirts as his uniform. He's a pretty likable character and he interacts really well with Lucas and the rest of the BCA.Overall, a good mystery with great characters.

[tatoosh-3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sandford is arguably my favorite writer at this time and I like most of his novels. Interpret my opinion that this is one of Sanford's best books in that context.The story is interesting and in this, his second book focusing on Virgil Flowers, Sanford continues to flesh our Flowers as a character. In my view Flowers is still not as interesting as Lucas Davenport but he is a colorful character worth spending time with.The plot is interesting but not particularly intricate, and many aspects are quite predictable. I will not name characters in case some readers read this review who have not yet read the book. Suffice it to say that the identity of the Scout and Shooter are apparent early in the book as is the involvement of one of the other principle characters. Further, I was not at all surprised to learn the identity of the ringleader. The mystery in this book, then, is not who-done-it but how Virgil and the BCA team will discover the identity of the guilty parties. I also found it troubling that Virgil was not more outraged at the torture and murder of several of the victims. Only one person committed the crime that set this series of events in motion. The other targets are guilty as accessories in that they knew of the crime and "kept quiet." They are not depicted as approving and one of the victims wasn't even in town when the crime occurred. Indeed, one of the victims was so troubled that his discomfort about the crime sets the plot in motion. While Virgil seems troubled at the torture and murders, he does not express any sense of outrage to the ringleader. Indeed, he seems to end on cordial terms with the ringleader. This suggests, to my mind, a serious character flaw in Virgil's personality.I also question the view of Lucas Davenport of a detached, bureaucratic administrator, that appears in the Flowers novels. One can argue that we are seeing Davenport through Flowers' eyes but that view rings false to readers of the Prey series. Instead, it appears that Sanford's goal is to create a character in Flowers that can stand on his own when placed along side Davenport. The goal is worthwhile and achieved to some extent but in a somewhat amateurish manner. Sanford needs to take a more creative approach.

[tvnerd95 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It felt good to be back in Virgil’s world.

The solution in this story was fairly intuitive for the reader to pick up on but the author kept interested as we experienced Virgil reaching the same conclusions. I also liked a lot of the side characters in the story. The Red Lake police guys, Raines and some of the other supporting characters were good.

What I liked the most about the book was that the mystery and story setting was so different from the first one but yet I felt Virgil was still true to the character introduced in the first book. His chemistry with the Lucas, Sally and the other characters came through really well. He is just a likable guy.

My biggest complaint is that this story does involve quite a bit of Lucas and I wasn’t sure if I liked it or if I felt like Lucas was intruding into my Virgil Flowers world. The other complaint was the story lingered on well after the climax and even though I found it interesting it seemed to be an add-on versus an integral part of the story.

Eric Conger is a great narrator for me. I always feel part of the story and not like someone is just a reading a story to me.

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Early but typically enjoyable ***kin Flowers story. Dead vets dumped at war memorials begin to show up in Minnesota. Viet Nam seems to be the connecting link with ominous CIA overtones. Virgil's love of women, fishing, literary and religious quotations are all evident as he seeks to corral these strange prey.

[zmagic69 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is what I used to call an airplane book. Action with maybe a little mystery, but doesn’t require much concentration, and usually not very plausible.The author introduces his loony leftist liberal beliefs into the story.Overall a quick entertaining read