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In Heat Lightning
, the second book featuring Virgil Flowers, Virgil is under pressure to solve a series of murders of Vietnam vets before the Republican National Convention descends upon the Twin Cities.Those readers of Sandford's "Prey" series who are a bit tired of the annoying sexism of Lucas Davenport will not get any respite from the new series featuring Virgil Flowers. Virgil is a younger, four-times married version of Davenport at whom apparently no woman can wait to throw herself. If you can overlook that, which I can after a hardy roll of my eyeballs, this new series is quite good. The cases are nothing stunningly original, but when you're looking for a quick and entertaining murder mystery, these are, so far, a dependable choice.
Virgil Flowers made his debut in one of the "Prey" books -- I forget which one -- but he was a strong enough character to carry his own stories. Lucas is a secondary character in both novels and lends the feeling of community to this spin off. That is what makes it appealing to me. It has made Sandford's fictional world larger and more believable. And I liked the touch of referring to the RNC Convention being here. As a resident of the Twin Cities, it's always fun to read about events that actually happened here and places I'm familiar with in Sandford's books.
Want to start at the beginning? The first Virgil Flowers novel is Dark of the Moon
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2 comments:
I saw Heat Lightening at Costco today, but I didn't realize it has a new character in it. Thanks for the info - I'll definitely want to start with Dark of the Moon
Bermudaonion ~ I'll be curious what you think of them. Sometimes we get so used to a character that it's hard to make the mental switch. Having Davenport actually make appearances in these helps.
Lezlie
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