by John Sandford
After being appalled by the gore and grisly detail of an earlier Sandford crimer, I avoided anything he wrote for a couple of years. I picked up his book published in 2008, "Heat Lightning", and grudgingly exposed myself to a story with gore and grisly details, but necessary to the plot, and made palatable by an absolute page-turner. .
Crime novels have moved up to the top of the genre list for obvious reasons, I think. This is not a Proust age, given shrinking leisure time, expanding work hours, and the competition of other media. "Heat Lightning" is as an excellent example of what I look for in a crime novel, fast paced, dialogue that rings true, and a plot that challenges, but doesn't require excess cerebral effort. I recommend it to other readers with my abbreviated attention span, and need to be entertained.
I'll add one more caveat to my crime novel needs, a likable sleuth. Even though Sandford's cop, Virgil Flowers has music tastes for obscure rock, and near hippy sensibility beyond my understanding, I like his moves and randy wit. Sandford doesn't just tell us that he is respected as a crime solver, but provides evidence with the remarks of the supporting cast, mainly his superior, Lucas Davenport, and fellow members of the Minnesota State Bureau of Crime Apprehension. Mercifully, the acronym, BCA, suffices to help us keep track through most of "Heat Lightning".
It's close but not formula stuff to find Virgil in bed with Janey at the outset of the story, a "compatible" sex partner, but "incompatible" in her taste for Celine Dion, in deciding that "fried tofu strips were better than bacon". or in being repelled by Virgil's dedication to fishing because she knew that "fish felt lip pain." But when I read that Virgil "liked her, but only for a couple of hours at a time", I sensed a recognizable guy that has a good attitude; that will keep things light even in the most gruesome circumstances.
Just when Virgil is concluding his two hours with Janey, the cell phone on the nightstand goes off, waking Janey who displays her incompatible side by complaining, "You left the cell phone on, you goddamned moron."
It's Lucas Davenport with instructions to get out to a crime scene where a tortured body has been found at the foot of a Veteran's Monument, a lemon stuck in the mouth of the corpse.
Janey tells Virgil, "Don't let the door hit you in the ass." as he hurriedly dons his T-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots, and leaves to begin solving serial crimes begun on a hot, humid Minnesota night. Heat lightning flashes while he speeds to answer the call to duty.
Sanford maintains the plot with writing that doesn't strain, and seems effortless at bringing characters to life in the exceptionally interesting places found in the lake country of Minnesota The mystery is pealed back in well timed removal of layers. Virgil Flowers never fails to inform and entertain with his dialogue and cop smarts.
Heat lightning is flashing again on the final page, as a very satisfying crime novel is concluded.
Reviewed by Don Mac Brown
Crime novels have moved up to the top of the genre list for obvious reasons, I think. This is not a Proust age, given shrinking leisure time, expanding work hours, and the competition of other media. "Heat Lightning" is as an excellent example of what I look for in a crime novel, fast paced, dialogue that rings true, and a plot that challenges, but doesn't require excess cerebral effort. I recommend it to other readers with my abbreviated attention span, and need to be entertained.
I'll add one more caveat to my crime novel needs, a likable sleuth. Even though Sandford's cop, Virgil Flowers has music tastes for obscure rock, and near hippy sensibility beyond my understanding, I like his moves and randy wit. Sandford doesn't just tell us that he is respected as a crime solver, but provides evidence with the remarks of the supporting cast, mainly his superior, Lucas Davenport, and fellow members of the Minnesota State Bureau of Crime Apprehension. Mercifully, the acronym, BCA, suffices to help us keep track through most of "Heat Lightning".
It's close but not formula stuff to find Virgil in bed with Janey at the outset of the story, a "compatible" sex partner, but "incompatible" in her taste for Celine Dion, in deciding that "fried tofu strips were better than bacon". or in being repelled by Virgil's dedication to fishing because she knew that "fish felt lip pain." But when I read that Virgil "liked her, but only for a couple of hours at a time", I sensed a recognizable guy that has a good attitude; that will keep things light even in the most gruesome circumstances.
Just when Virgil is concluding his two hours with Janey, the cell phone on the nightstand goes off, waking Janey who displays her incompatible side by complaining, "You left the cell phone on, you goddamned moron."
It's Lucas Davenport with instructions to get out to a crime scene where a tortured body has been found at the foot of a Veteran's Monument, a lemon stuck in the mouth of the corpse.
Janey tells Virgil, "Don't let the door hit you in the ass." as he hurriedly dons his T-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots, and leaves to begin solving serial crimes begun on a hot, humid Minnesota night. Heat lightning flashes while he speeds to answer the call to duty.
Sanford maintains the plot with writing that doesn't strain, and seems effortless at bringing characters to life in the exceptionally interesting places found in the lake country of Minnesota The mystery is pealed back in well timed removal of layers. Virgil Flowers never fails to inform and entertain with his dialogue and cop smarts.
Heat lightning is flashing again on the final page, as a very satisfying crime novel is concluded.
Reviewed by Don Mac Brown
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