Friday, November 9, 2012

Mad River by John Sandford

This is the 6th in the Virgil Flowers series (with a smattering of Lucas Davenport). I do enjoy Flowers as much as I do Davenport but I'm going to make a bold statement and say -  Davenport isn't adding to the story at all anymore. He needs to go and let Flowers stand on his own. We're 6 books in, Virgil has shown what he's made of and people like it.  Phase out Lucas a bit and let Virgil run!

This book was interesting in that it's a crime spree spurred on by a crime ending in several crimes. All by different people. We start out a with a Bonnie and Clyde (and extra Clyde) group robbing a rich lady's home. Things go badly and one of the daughters is killed.

But did they go badly? Or was that how it was supposed to go?

B&C&eC are on the run and killing people left and right (crime spree spurred on by crime). Flowers is called in to get this under control, because at this point, at least 5 people are dead in a matter of days.

As he digs, Flowers realizes that it's probable that the daughter's estranged husband may be behind her death.

Nothing is concrete except for Bonnie and Clyde and extra Clyde (Becky, Jimmy and Tom) and that ends as well as the real Bonnie and Clyde did. A lot is actually left unresolved and it makes Flowers angry and the reader frustrated. But in real life, things don't neatly tie up and get a case closed stamp.

Good Flowers book, but not the best.

No comments: