Shock Wave

I am a psychologist. I spend a lot of time reading and weighting about very difficult situations in which people find themselves. One way that I turn my mind off at the end of the day is by reading popular fiction. I don't need high art about which I can have erudite conversations. I need well written, fast paced stories which serve as a distraction from my day to day life.In the past year my favorite author, for the purpose of leisure reading, has been John Sandford. I enjoy both the intricate plots and psychological aspects of his novels. Of the dozen or so I have read so far, Shock Wave is my favorite. It contains the perfect combination of murder, intrigue, and mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

This was one of the best of the Virgil Flowers series , I've read. This book has many twists and turn in it. About the time you think you know who it is it comes to a dead end with that suspect. Really enjoyed the book it was hard to put down. Virgil didn't have any romance in this one, kind of hard to believe he generally finds some gal ha!

"Shock Wave" is the fifth book Virgil Flowers series. "TFV" (you have to read the book to get that one) is after a bomber who apparently wants to keep a Pye-Mart store from coming into his backyard. The requisite body count mounts, and Virgil uses his low key surfer boy style complete with rock and roll t-shirts to quietly track down the killer.There is also a secondary plot where Virgil is also trying to discover the presence of municipal corruption that led to approval of the Pye-Mart construction in the first place. This confidential investigation takes place side by side with the bomber investigation.I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I am a long time Sandford fan, and I thought the pacing was excellent. The use of two different investigations-which typically do not intersect-meant there was no down time. There were the requisite references to Virgils wardrobe, demeanor, and nickname, but consistent with the tone of the book. The owner of the Pye-Mart chain seems like a cross between Ross Perot and Ted Turner, and offers up needed levity-as well as the most unique reward I have ever encountered in a novel.Virgil does more "detecting" in this book than is usual, and Sandford comes up with some truly creative concepts in this book to move the action along. Sandford also saves time by not having the requisite Flowers love/sex interest. Also missing is the requisite gun fight accompanied by a high body count. Instead, you see trickery and misdirection to bring down the baddie.The action moves along very quickly. The writing is succinct and easy to move through. I enjoyed this book tremendously-it is a more than worthy addition to the Flowers oeuvre.

I enjoy Virgil's personality as it is weaved into the story. He is such a good "bad boy". Always gets the girl unless it is the one he wants. That makes him reach for the deeper meaning of his relationships. But with this going on in the background, to keep at it while someone is trying to literally blow him up makes him our favorite investigator.I can relate to Pyemart coming into our little town and wiping out the local small business owners with their low pricing. So sympathy for the target of these bombings never developed for me. I didn't root for the bad guy but I kept secretly wanting Virgil to find something that would make Pyemart give up on their idea of building on this favored spot. Don't destroy the businesses AND the fishing at the same time.Save the fish. I loved it all of the way through. Ready for the next adventure.

I've read every book in the Virgil Flowers series,and this is hands down my favorite. The mystery was compelling, the solution was intersting, and shock of shocks, Virgil didn't sleep with anyone in the entire book! Oh there was plenty of talk and fantasy about sex, but I felt like he is maturing as a character, and it was refreshing to have more emphasis placed on the case and other aspects of his character than just his pretty boy success with the ladies.Sanford is a gritty writer, and one not afraid to explore his character's darker corners or the damage people can do to one another in a fair amount of detail. There are some minor quibbles (an unrealistically worldly and insightful small town 18 year old jock, for instance), and a significant amount of violence, but all in all, this story was a good read, with a satisfying end.

This latest entry in the Virgil Flowers series is one of Sandford's best efforts yet. Virgil is set on the trail of a murderous bomber who is leaving a trail of destroyed lives and Virgil's boat! Cattle rustlers and horse thieves are hanged in Texas and one would think that this remedy should also be applied to any person who bombs a man's fishing boat in the "Land of Ten Thousand Lakes!" Virgil, FBI and ATF bomb experts sift through the debris and sort out a town full of suspects who all have a grievance with the new Pye Mart megastore which is coming to the area. This book grabbed me and I wasn't very communicative until it was finished. John Sandford has outdone himself with this entry in the Flowers saga and all mystery lovers will be well rewarded by reading "Shock Wave."

Virgil Flowers and John Sandford never let me down! I kept thinking I knew who the "Shock Wave" perp was, but I was wrong and didn't figure it out until just before Virgil said the name. I love Virgil's thought processes and even his musings about God before going to sleep. If you've never read a Virgil Flowers novel before, give this one a try. You really don't need to read them in order.Sandford is consistently excellent with the Flowers and the Lucas Davenport series; no "writing by committee" for him. Back in the day I bought all of James Patterson's books as soon as they came out, but no more unless they're Alex Cross novels. For his other ones I wait for the "paperback" price. (I have a Kindle.)Can't wait for the next Flowers and Davenport books!

Virgil Flowers started his career as a side character in several Lucas Davenport stories penned by John Sandford, but soon earned his solo wings. Unlike Lucas (a driven, politically savvy cop-cum-administrator), Virgil has managed a healthier work-life balance and is prone to the occasional self-indulgence; this can take the form of going AWOL for a whole day of fly fishing or fraternizing with a witness. Shock Wave is yet another great book from John Sandford. Bone-dry prose and very enjoyable dialog. Virgil Flowers is as likeable a hero as he is unlikely, in his rock-band T-shirts and folksy, laid-back manner.

I've thoroughly enjoyed Sandford's Virgil Flowers books, even preferring him to Lucas Davenport. But this Flowers seems coarser and his dialogue less interesting. There were few of those revealing moments when he became a multi dimensional character, someone you'd like to know. Maybe that's why he ends up alone and maybe it's just that Sandford is beginning to explore the downside of Virgil' s lifestyle. Either way I hope he gets on track with the next one, Virgil is too good a character to fade away.

The usual crime book

Another great book by Sandford, this time the "heroe" was one of Davenport's assistants. Crimes took place, mainly, in a small village close to Minneapolis

Sandford is pretty much Sandford. I enjoy is stuff but this isn't as good as the Prey series but it's the usual entertaining stuff he usually puts out.