Book 1), Dark of the Moon (A Virgil Flowers Novel

The mystery isn't perfect, the solution is not without holes, but the author is a pro. The pages turn and it feels good. Sanford is looking for new creative outlets, maybe Kidd could get another shot.

JOhn Sandford isthe one thriller writer who never disappoints the reader - a new main character, a wonderful plot line , a bit of hanky panky to liven up the story - what more could you ask for- read it is one sitting and cannot wait for the next Virgil Flowers adventure

The mystery isn't perfect, the solution is not without holes, but the author is a pro. The pages turn and it feels good. Sanford is looking for new creative outlets, maybe Kidd could get another shot.

JOhn Sandford isthe one thriller writer who never disappoints the reader - a new main character, a wonderful plot line , a bit of hanky panky to liven up the story - what more could you ask for- read it is one sitting and cannot wait for the next Virgil Flowers adventure

I like John Sandford's Lucas Davenport but just started reading the Virgil Flowers series. Virgil has a different way of investigating his criminal jobs, but the end result is the same with the bad guys getting their comeuppance..

Even though I've always been a big fan of Sandford's books built around Lucas Davenport, I thoroughly enjoyed the new Virgil Flowers character and the plot in Dark of the Moon. Some of that enjoyment sprang from the realization that Lucas, his habits, and effect on plots has become somewhat hackneyed. Virgil was different and in being so, was refreshing. Hope Sandford gives us more about this character.

I found the storyline to be well paced with some good twists and turns. The authior was clever in showing the reader possible bad guys/gals including the real one/s. The characters were interesting but could have been a little more dynamic. Terry Segerberg

Virgil Flowers is no Lucas Davenport! Plus, too many questions left unanswered. Why were the victims all facing the same direction? Who planted the gun in the boot? John Sandford has done much better in the past. Let's hope he does better in the future.

I really enjoyed Dark of the Moon. I am glad to see John Stanford create a new character. I have enjoyed reading all of Mr. Stanford's books. I think it is time to retire Lucas Davenport and move on to someone new. I would and have recommended Dark of the Moon to someone.

John Sandford's "Fool's Run" has a lot funny lines, crazy characters, unique places - that I'm familiar with- But also a lot of good philosophical observations about us crazy humans, and about how complex people are everywhere, sad, arrogant, steadfast, confused and the whole lot of human qualities that endear us to each other. Ha Thanks for a great story. Most of all I can't predict what will happen next....I hate that about a book...the author's got to be smarter than I am to get me to read the next book and John has done that for sure. Kay

I haven't read Sandford in a long time and thought I'd try him again. Maybe it's just because I'm a woman, but I found his book a bit too much on the raunchy side. I guess if his audience is male, then this book might be great, but I found it a bit overtly lewd.

The actual story was very good, no complaints there. It was interesting to see Virgil Flowers as the main character in a story. He seemed like he would be worthy of having his own spin-off series. I hope that happens.

My complaints are with the physical condition of the book itself. I spent a few extra bucks and got a hardcover edition. The book looked liked it had been stored outside and had been exposed to the elements. Many pages had obvious water stains...at least I HOPE they were water stains, the front and back cover were warped, the inside covers were torn, showing evidence that the original exterior cover had been peeled off, and so far I have discovered one page that actually had a hole in it.

I just have one question. Is the store selling badly used books and trying to pass them off as new?

I admit I was worried that no man could compete with Lucas Davenport and I was right but Virgil is close and also different enough that I didn’t have any issues with confusing the characters. I love the “Prey” series and was looking for another dark mystery to start. Dark of the Moon didn’t disappoint and I adore Virgil. Maybe I just have a thing for Minnesota detectives.

I was very happy at how fast the mystery took off in this book and also how there was very little down time from Virgil investigating the case. You don’t really get a lot of insight into how Virgil’s brain works but you still see movement with the case as he works through the townspeople. Virgil is very social and as he communicates with the characters the author does a great job of using this to help the readers get to know each of the characters and suspects. There are a lot of them and for an audiobook this was sometimes confusing if you didn’t catch all the names.

The story lost a star with the side subplot. Virgil had figured the case out and even we readers knew who it was but the author took us on a side trip for no reason that just dragged the story out way beyond where it needed to be. Plus the only issue I really had with Virgil is that he really is a manipulative ass and seems to enjoy it. Granted it helps him with the case but still even with those he seems semi-close to he is manipulative. He is very much the case comes first kind of guy.

Author John Sandford's newest detective series beginning with 2007's, "Dark Of The Moon", features a new protagonist who works for Minnesota's BCA named Virgil Flowers. As a senior investigator for Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Flowers has a diverse background. Virgil has a degree in ecological science with a minor in creative writing . Virgil also has a craving for chasing women. Married and divorced several times Virgil is pretty sure he's meant to be free and single. Most of all it's important to remember that Virgil Flowers works for the head of Minnesota's BCA who is author Sandford's iconic detective Lucas Davenport. Davenport sends Flowers to the tiny town of Bluestem to investigate the double murder of local town Dr. Russell Gleason and his wife. Mounted onto a large stick with both eyes shot out Gleason and wife somewhere along the line really made someone upset. The seemingly laid-back and long haired Flowers usually rolls into town quietly wearing a variety of rock-n-roll tee shirts working under the radar to keep suspects off balance. (Like a younger Columbo ?). Most of the time Flowers doesn't carry his gun around with him. The day Virgil hits town a huge fire destroys the home of Bill Judd Sr. killing him in the blaze. Everything in the town revolved around Bill Judd. Rich and ruthless, Judd for decades has had everyone in the town under his thumb. Since Judd's wife died of a heart attack in the early 1960's Bill forced himself to use many women for unwanted relationships. It seemed likely that whoever had murdered the Gleasons also killed Judd Sr. While getting to know the suspects in this town Virgil begins to cultivate an intimate relationship with the town sheriff's sister Joan. While all signs point to a crazy white power preacher being behind the murders Virgil sees something else. In a very well crafted thriller running just over 370 pages, "Dark Of The Moon", is all but impossible to put down. As author John Sandford introduces us to these off beat and unique characters of Bluestem, Virgil Flowers has no shortage of crazy theories to investigate. Virgil a number of times must call his boss Lucas Davenport for support and administrative help. However Lucas would rather Virgil just stop bothering him and solve these crimes. With a very odd conclusion that I had a hard time see coming this one was an outstanding thriller. With crackling dialog and banter similar to Lucas Davenport novels, Virgil Flowers is still unique and colorful to be sure. Five stars out of a possible five stars for, "Dark Of The Moon", the first book in a soon to be iconic series. With ten books in the Flowers series I'm excited to jump into book two. Check Virgil Flowers out- Do not miss !

Both my wife and I read the book sometime ago and then found this CD at our local library. Since we listen to books on CDs while working jigsaw puzzles and traveling we thought we would give this one a listen. The CD was well produced with a good reader and was as enjoyable listening to as it was reading the book.

I've read most of John Sandford's work over the years. It took me awhile to warm up to the Virgil Flowers character but I have to say that he grows on you. The author has developed a rather strange, in many ways, character here and Virgil, or "that f***ing Flowers" is sort of a counter to the more traditional Davenport of the Prey series. One thing that new readers will find alarming and odd is that Virgil, when investigating a crime, will talk about the crime to just about anyone who will listen. Most of the cases Flowers is involved in are located in rural areas - in small towns, and by the end of the story Virgil has talked about the case to just about everyone in earshot. This is his particular method and the author makes it work. This I found odd when I read the first Flowers book but I can now see the method to his madness.

Virgil is always assigned the most difficult cases and this one is no exception. In this story we have Virgil pitted against a survivalist cult, a town who absolutely despises the first murdered victim, a sheriff and his sister who may or may not be suspects...well I suppose you could say that there is no lack of folks in this small town who are valid suspects and not lack of folks with motives. All a twisted tangle for our laid back detective to sort out.

It would seem that this work has a co-author. I have no idea who this guy is but I could not tell where his work left off and the writing of Sand ford began so this fact did not bother me all that much.

Another quirk this work held, like many of past Sandford novels, is that the reader will find that the primary murdered victim was less likable that most of the suspects. You could quite well see why the guy was done in.

I am giving this one five stars simply because I enjoyed the read. It is a fast read and I was entertained for two evenings...what more could I ask?

Both my wife and I read this book when it was first published and both of us liked it. After a few years we came across this CD in our library and decided to listen to it while working on jigsaw puzzles and traveling. This is a well produced CD and the reader is excellent.

I've read most of John Sandford's work over the years. It took me awhile to warm up to the Virgil Flowers character but I have to say that he grows on you and he is now one of my favorites of the various Sandford characters. The author has developed a rather strange, in many ways, character here and Virgil, or "that f***ing Flowers" is sort of a counter to the more traditional Davenport of the Prey series. One thing that new readers will find alarming and odd is that Virgil, when investigating a crime, will talk about the crime to just about anyone who will listen. Most of the cases Flowers is involved in are located in rural areas - in small towns, and by the end of the story Virgil has talked about the case to just about everyone in earshot. This is his particular method and the author makes it work. This I found odd when I read the first Flowers book but I can now see the method to his madness.

Virgil is always assigned the most difficult cases and this one is no exception. In this story we have Virgil, a town who absolutely despises the first murdered victim, (one of several victoms, a sheriff and his sister who may or may not be suspects...well I suppose you could say that there is no lack of folks in this small town who are valid suspects and not lack of folks with motives. All a twisted tangle for our laid back detective to sort out.

Another quirk this work held, like many of past Sandford novels, is that the reader will find that the primary murdered victim was less likable that most of the suspects. You could quite well see why the guy was done in.

This was a library find.

I've read most of John Sandford's work over the years. It took me awhile to warm up to the Virgil Flowers character but I have to say that he grows on you. The author has developed a rather strange, in many ways, character here and Virgil, or "that f***ing Flowers" is sort of a counter to the more traditional Davenport of the Prey series. One thing that new readers will find alarming and odd is that Virgil, when investigating a crime, will talk about the crime to just about anyone who will listen. Most of the cases Flowers is involved in are located in rural areas - in small towns, and by the end of the story Virgil has talked about the case to just about everyone in earshot. This is his particular method and the author makes it work. This I found odd when I read the first Flowers book but I can now see the method to his madness.

Virgil is always assigned the most difficult cases and this one is no exception. In this story we have Virgil pitted against a survivalist cult, a town who absolutely despises the first murdered victim, a sheriff and his sister who may or may not be suspects...well I suppose you could say that there is no lack of folks in this small town who are valid suspects and not lack of folks with motives. All a twisted tangle for our laid back detective to sort out.

It would seem that this work has a co-author. I have no idea who this guy is but I could not tell where his work left off and the writing of Sand ford began so this fact did not bother me all that much.

Another quirk this work held, like many of past Sandford novels, is that the reader will find that the primary murdered victim was less likable that most of the suspects. You could quite well see why the guy was done in.

I am giving this one five stars simply because I enjoyed the read. It is a fast read and I was entertained for two evenings...what more could I ask?

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

“Dark of the Moon” is Book 1 of John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers series. Virgil work for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. His boss is Sandford’s Lucas Davenport. In this first installment, Virgil is on the case of a serial killer whose victims are all residents of Bluestem, MN. Bill Judd, Sr. is the first victim and as the case develops it all seems to revolve around him. While working on the Judd case, Virgil uncovers a methamphetamine ring based in a religious compound. Virgil finds himself with way too many suspects and not some pretty vague clues. Will he be able to unwind this twisty knot?

This book was full of action and thrills but you’ll need your thinking cap on to follow all the twists and turns. I thoroughly enjoyed it even though it took me a few chapters to warm up to Virgil. He’s a rebel but not in the “fly in the face of authority” way. Virgil is persistent in his pursuit and his quirky habit of reviewing a case but thinking about it as a story was a unique take on the investigative process.

Mystery and thrill lovers will enjoy this book but I don’t think it’s appropriate for younger readers as there are some graphic scenes throughout. I will definitely be reading more in this series.

This is my first experience with a John Sandford novel, and it was quite enjoyable. The main character in this one, Virgil Flowers, is a bit like Jack-Reacher-lite -- smart, irresistible to women, tough, and a bit lacking in inner life -- but unlike Reacher, he's attached to a law enforcement unit and he's in a specific place (rural Minnesota). The plot is an effective variant of an Agatha Christie type of plot. That's to say, we're in a small town where everybody knows everybody, and it's clear pretty early on that the murderer must be local and therefore very much in plain sight. Sandford handles this aspect of the plot very well, and as with Poirot or Miss Marple, we get a consideration of all the possible suspects, and the probabilities of the possible guilt of each is weighed. I won't say more about the details of this in the interest of not spoiling things for non-readers.

This traditional plot is grafted effectively on to more sensational and 21st century elements -- one of the suspects is involved in the production of meth-amphetamines, and that means that the Federal Drug Enforcement makes an appearance. So we have another common detective story trope -- the interaction of the local police and the Feds. In fact, there are three levels of law enforcement at work: the local police in the rural community (can they be trusted?), Virgil Flowers, who works for the State of Minnesota out of the Twin Cities, and the aforementioned Feds. Sandford keeps all these balls in the air quite effectively, and he manages a very un-Agatha-Christie-like big shoot up at a crucial point in the novel. There's also another familiar theme -- the crime in the present has roots quite far back in the past, in the 1960's in this case. One thinks of Peter Robinson's very different novel "Children of the Revolution, " where also the '60's have a lot to answer for. Add to the mix efficient crisp dialogue, sexy women . . . it's pleasant entertainment.

Book is a series of interrogations by investigator Virgil Flowers punctuated with two major action scenes and several minor scenes with some tension in them. If you like stories consisting of the protagonist driving to a small town, asking a suspect or a witness a string of questions, then driving to another small town and asking a suspect or a witness some questions, and in between having sex, then you'll like this book.

Some of the backstory took place in the late 60's. I was surprised that dope smoking, LSD tripping, coke snorting, and sex orgies, etc. found its way to high schoolers and 20-somethings in rural western Minnesota in that era.

Virgil Flowers is a guy in his mid-late thirties that wears tee shirts featuring classic rock bands from the 70's and 80's. I did not find this to be credible. I simply don't believe a person would be interested in the music from an era before he was born or when he was a toddler growing up in rural western Minnesota.

The murder mystery consists of determining the real name of the murderer, which is given the nickname "Moonie" in the first chapter. Unfortunately, the author does not leave a trail of clues for the reader, rather the reader is forced to deduce the identity of the killer by process of elimination. Author also uses the trite convention of having the protagonist be a budding novelist and having him write the mystery he's trying to solve as the mystery in his novel, even down to using the same character's names. I don't think I'll be reading any more Virgil Flowers stories.

I've read a couple of John Sandford novels in years past, and generally find him engaging in the moment, but maybe a little weak in the bigger picture. His stories are pretty compelling and hook you and reel you in. His characters are salt-of-the-earth types, if you can ignore a certain level of baked-in misogyny (which is pretty much always there). Overall, they're good reads, though not particularly memorable.

This is my first Virgil Flowers novel -- and the patterns are all present... a series of murders in the small town, possibly tied to a decades-old mysterious death. A cast of locals who are at once appealing and, in some cases, suspect. There's a local love interest with "the fourth best a** in Minnesota" (Sandford's words, not mine). And there are several brutal, ritualistic murders in rapid succession. Virgil Flowers is in town investigating another crime, but quickly ends up involved with the new murders. His involvement with the local law enforcement agency (and later with a national agency) feels entirely believable and unforced. His relationships with several other locals, love interest included, feel a little less natural. The circumstances surrounding the crimes are just ambiguous enough to keep things interesting, but Sandford's plots (and characters) are no where near as deep and dimensional as, say, Dennis Lehane's or even Lee Child's (whose Reacher is another Ronin character similar to Virgil Flowers).

In the end, I enjoyed Dark of the Moon and will probably work my way through the series unless something else captures my attention -- but I also didn't end it with the kind of "gotta read the next one right now" feeling I've enjoyed with the best of this genre.

As a fan of mystery/thriller novels, I am always looking for great new series to read. Despite numerous recommendations, I have never read a novel by John Sandford. To date, he has published 21 novels in his popular "Prey" series, but I decided to begin with his more recent series, featuring Virgil Flowers.

Flowers is not your run of the mill detective. He keeps his blonde hair at a surfer length, wears "band" t-shirts, and has a kind of bad boy reputation. Despite these quirks, Virgil Flowers knows how to get the job done. Three years ago, he was hired by Lucas Davenport of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to help solve "the hard stuff". When he gets sent to the small town of Bluestem to investigate the gruesome murder of a local doctor and his wife, he is thrust into the center of the "hardest" one he has ever faced.

Upon his arrival, Virgil witnesses the home of Bill Judd Sr. explode into flames, killing the local business man and leaving Flowers to believe that the apparent arson, now murder, is connected to the town's other recent events. With the assistance of the young Bluestem Sheriff, Jim Stryker, who is desperately seeking the approval of the town for reelection, Flowers uncovers a decades old conspiracy of financial fraud, lustful infidelity and a possible drug operation that threatens to rock the sleepy town. Add to all of this a psychotic serial killer, and you've got one exciting novel.

John Sandford seems to have found the perfect balance of plot, character, and setting that makes his novel compulsively engaging. In Virgil Flowers, Sandford has imagined an oddball protagonist that you can't help but root for. Sandford's simple prose keeps the story moving while still providing enough description to give the reader a sense of the small town setting. I felt the ending was a bit rushed, but the clever twists and interesting characters make this novel worth reading. I look forward to encountering this character in the other four novels in this series. After reading this, I have to agree that John Sandford produces strong thrillers, and perhaps I will try to tackle the 21 volume "Prey" series in the near future.

Dark of the Moon is the book that introduces Virgil Flowers, the second major series character to be created by John Sandford. Virgil is an investigator for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is run by Lucas Davenport, Sandford's better-known protagonist.

Virgil is pretty laid-back for a cop. His wears his hair long and his standard uniform is a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt sporting the name of some (often) obscure rock band. When he needs to dress it up for a special occasion, he throws a sport coat on over the tee-shirt. Married and divorced three times before we even meet him, Virgil is attractive to the ladies and is more than a little attracted to them. Virgil leaves the CSI aspects of an investigation to others; his technique is to drift into town, chat up the locals, and stir the pot a bit. Once he sets things into motion, he watches the pieces fall into place and eventually grasps a solution to the problem. Most of Virgil's cases take place in the state's smaller towns and Virgil is assigned to assist the local sheriff's office which is often overwhelmed by a criminal problem more serious than the locals usually see.

In this case, a particularly brutal murder occurs in Bluestem, a small rural community. Virgil is driving in to assist when he comes across a roaring house fire. Bill Judd, the richest, and perhaps most hated man in town, has apparently died in the fire, and it's clear that the fire did not occur accidentally. Virgil realizes that the two crimes must be connected and begins probing into the history of the town and of the victims, looking for a connection that might point in the direction of the killer.

Virgil finds any number of such connections in a tiny town that appears to have a surprisingly robust sexual and economic history. And almost immediately, he finds himself in a relationship with a very attractive woman who has a number of tangled ties to the victims herself. Before Virgil can deduce a solution, other Bluestem residents will fall victim to an especially clever killer and it will take all of Virgil's physical and mental agility if he's going to save the day.

This is a fun read and an excellent beginning to what has turned out to be a very entertaining series. There's lots of action and a very clever, convoluted plot. As in the case of Sandford's Prey novels, featuring Lucas Davenport, there's also a fair amount of wry humor that does not seem at all inappropriate, despite the serious nature of the crimes that Virgil is investigating. Sandford's legions of fans will certainly not be disappointed.

After his popular --- and addictive --- "Prey" novels, Sandford started this new series, featuring Virgil Flowers, who works as an investigator with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the agency that Lucac Davenport (of "Prey" fame) heads. Flowers is equal parts goofy and charming; a fine addition to Sandford's stable of characters. Sandford now seems to be alternating more "Prey" books with a new Virgil Flowers episode. This novel is not much different in style or tone than the "Prey" series and I enjoyed it very much. I had one friend and fellow "Prey" fan, however, who didn't like this book at all. He claimed that "this book is nothing like his other stuff" and pointed out that on the "Acknowledgment" page in the beginning of the book, it says: "This book was written in cooperation with my friend Larry Millett, an architectural writer, local historian, and occasional novelist." Well, that DOES raise questions: how much of this book did Sandford actually write? To my mind, it doesn't read much differently than Sandford's other novels. It certainly didn't strike me as the work of another writer. Since this book was published, Sandford has used a similar "written in cooperation" with credit at the beginning of each Virgil Flowers novel, but that person's name is never listed on the cover. So, the mystery of how much of this mystery that Sandford actually wrote remains ... a mystery. Nevertheless, it's a gripping, and often funny, read, and I think most fans of Sandford will like this book. I certainly did.

I listen to books on CD while I'm driving so I have a high tolerance for mediocrity....I've listened to complete books that I never would read. This falls into that category. It took me a while to plod through it even though I logged a lot of miles in the last two weeks.

I agree with many other reviewers here that the characters are undeveloped and uninteresting. The most gripping think about Virgil Flowers is his name. Other than that, he's a stock character....good looking, sexy, loves the ladies and vice/versa, willing to fight but really has a sensitive side. His attitude towards women was pretty off-putting---he never seemed to see beyond their physical attributes...maybe that's why he was divorced three times. Sorry, I just didn't care that much about Virgil. (The romantic scenes sounded like they were written by a jr. high boy.)

His lady of the moment, was no more interesting. I think it's safe to say this was not a character-driven plot. It was all supposedly plot driven. I'm not really a mystery fan so I guess my comments should be taken with a grain of salt. I know good writing though and this wasn't it. There are so many characters and so many subthreads and it's terribly long and after a while, I really didn't care.

This was my first John Sanford novel. As other have said that this is not up to his usual standard I may try him another time. Only on audio, though.

Agatha Christie used to say that she regretted making Hercule Poirot as old as she did when she started writing novels featuring him as a detective. He was a Belgian police inspector who was in England as a refugee from the First World War, and he just never left. He was also, in the first books, almost retirement age. By the time she was writing her later books he would have been, chronologically, about 120. She just ignored it, but it bothered her.

Fast forward almost a century, and John Sandford created a character for a detective series, and put some years on him. Lucas Davenport has been in about 15 or 20 Prey novels now, and he's got to be getting a bit long in the tooth. Sandford decided to create some new characters, and this is one of them, a younger, more hip detective who works for Davenport in the Minnesota State Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Davenport succeeded in hiring Virgil Flowers by promising to "only give you the hard ones." His first case in a stand-alone book is indeed hard.

A couple, older, married, are murdered in a strange fashion in the tiny rural town of Bluestem. As Flowers is arriving in the evening, he sees a burning mansion and figures it must be that of a local millionaire and eccentric who legally cheated the whole county out of buckets of money, and had orgies at his house when he was younger to celebrate. Now he's been killed, too, and of course given Bluestem's size it's almost certain the killings are related to one another. Soon after Virgil's arrival, yet another married couple is killed, and things begin to heat up.

I enjoyed this book reasonably well. The main character is an interesting guy, at times sort of seemingly aimless, though it usually turns out that he has purpose to what he's doing. There are lots of secondary characters, and the plot involves everything from local politics to a white supremacist religious leader with perhaps a more sinister agenda. Flowers has a romance with a local, and spends time chasing bad guys through the cornfields of Minnesota.

I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it. It's not Sandford's best, but it's still pretty good.

Readers of John Sandford's "Prey" series might remember Virgil Flowers making some brief appearances at Lucas Davenport's side. Now Davenport has given Flowers free reign as a member of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Davenport has assured Flowers that he will only get the difficult cases.

Agent Flowers has been assigned some murder cases in the southwest corner of the state. On his way to his assignment he stops to join officials and gawkers who are watching a fatal house fire. As Flowers begins to investigate his original assignment, the killing of a doctor and his wife, the agent begins to suspect that these murders are connected to the person killed in the house fire. As more dead bodies begin to show up, the more certain Flowers becomes.

In the small town everybody seems to know everybody else's business and background. As a result there is no shortage of suspects in the murders. The murderer might even be Sheriff Stryker who called Flowers in on the case in the first place...or the Sheriff's beautiful sister who Flowers has started a relationship with.

I confess that I am prejudiced...John Sandford is among my favorite writers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The mystery is pretty good. The action is good. The one-liners thrown into conversations from time to time are entertaining. The solution to the mystery is not the tidy package that ends most novels. I suspect that is the way it is in actual police work...at least in the difficult cases.

"Dark of the Moon" is more like one of Sandford's "Prey" novels than it is the "Kidd" novels. I suspect that if you enjoyed any of the Prey novels that you will like "Dark of the Moon."

I had a lot of fun reading Dark Of The Moon, the first Virgil Flowers novel. I like the character and his easy going lackadaisical style. I like the way he ponders stuff and reaches a point where he just says, “Huh.”

This series is addictive and reading them out of order, which I’ve done, has had no effect on the enjoyment. There’s nothing key to any one story that is essential to any of the others. I like that.

The writing is top notch, as usual, though written in solid third-person, there is a little bit of head-hopping here and there. However, the narrative is so brisk I hardly noticed.

This was a fun story and I closed the book with a big smile on my face. Highly recommended.

First off, I love John Sandford books. He sets his stories in the alien universe of Minnesota. I've never been to this state, but after reading a Sandford book, I feel as if I have a good grasp of the people and culture.

My problem with this book is that the editing is rather poor with some glaring mistakes. For instance, there is a scene in which a former sheriff is about to be murdered and he reflects on his son and daughter. In the very next chapter, an officer at the murder scene points out that the former sheriff never had any children. Huh? What? What the heck? I had to re-read that section a few times to figure out that they just plain 'ole missed that one. No one was watching the store on this character detail.

I love the way in which Sandford novels become even more taut and intense in the final act. Just try putting one down while reading the third act... almost impossible. The mysteries are so-so as the books delve more into characterizations rather than intricate plotting. You will finish the last page with all the mysteries tied up into a little bow. And with Dark of the Moon, you get an extra added bonus mystery... Did the former sheriff have children or not?

Dark of the Moon is the latest book published by John Sandford, the author of the Prey Series featuring Lucas Davenport. In this case Virgil Flowers, one of Davenport's investigators, takes center stage. In investigational styles, Virgil and Lucas are polar opposites. While Lucas is edgy, with an in-your-face attitude, Vigil is laid back. Vigil understands the small town psyche and uses it to his advantage. He makes a point of getting to know the town and its people as he unearths the skeletons in their closets.

The story opens with Virgil arriving in Bluestem, Minnesota. He was sent to Bluestem to investigate the murder of an elderly couple. He arrives in time to witness a huge house fire. It was set in an effort to cover up the murder of the elderly and much hated Bill Judd. A few days later another two elderly citizens are executed. Fear overwhelms the town. They know the culprit is one of their own.

Everyone is a suspect. The Bill Judd's son, his illegitimate daughter, the newspaper editor, the Sheriff's sister, a ex-con, a born-again Christian who is using his church as a cover for Methamphetamine production and distribution, and a couple of deputies, all had a reason to hate the victims and something to gain from their deaths. It's up to Virgil to untangle the threads before the culprit dubbed The Man on the Moon, struck again.

Dark of the Moon is an excellent mystery with a host of entertaining characters. The pace alternated between `nail-biting suspense' and `settle back and enjoy the story'. The plot twisted one way and then the other before looping back around. It held my attention and kept me guessing right up until the end.

In the early twentieth-century, Sara Teasdale was something of an oddity: A poet who wrote like a Victorian, but who hadn't been eclipsed by free verse. In her sixth volume, Teasdale had smoothed out some of the flaws from her verse, but the tone is still romantic, wistful and ethereal.

The main theme of Teasdale's poetry is: love. The majority of her life's work centered on romance, even if it was restricted only to one adoring line per poem. She name-drops Deirdre, Helen, and especially Iseult as "those that love the most," and focuses on unnamed lovers whom she worships completely.

All is not the same, though -- the passion and intensity of her earlier poems have waned in favor of a quieter romantic sense, since Teasdale was increasingly disappointed in love. Quite a few of the poems are more introspective, musing on what would happen if she gave up poetry, or contemplations of nature and its beauty.

One poem near the end of the book is poignantly ironic, where Teasdale announces that "I shall live to be old, who feared I should die young." Since she committed suicide only seven years later, the final line ("... to envy sometimes the way of the early dead") seems sadder and more prophetic, as does her ponderings on a statue of a deceased nun. Not to mention that most legendary lovers she mentions met an untimely end.

At the same time, Teasdale's poetry has become less like a lovestruck teenager's, and more like a mature, sorrowful woman. There's an autumnal quality to "Dark of the Moon," with its references to falling leaves, empty beaches and "the great rain of moonlight pouring down." She also relied less on rhyme and meter, and focused more on words.

The idealistic romance and lyrical beauty that Teasdale did are alive in "Dark of the Moon," though the passion had definitely waned. Still, the autumnal beauty of her poetry is all the more striking.

This book goes lunar. A key character is called Moonie. There are references to the 1969 moon landing. There's a bit about a cheap tattoo depicting the man in the moon. A woman wears man-in-the-moon earrings. All of this inspired me to create a rating system based on the phases of the moon between the new moon (one star) and the full moon (five stars). I could only give this book a half moon (three stars).

There are just too many undeveloped characters. I wasn't able to (and didn't want to) read this in just a few sittings. It took me about a week. I often found myself looking back to identify obscure characters that I knew had been referenced earlier. Also, too many subplots and suspects. The main story concerns a psycho serial killer. But there is also a major meth operation, a gaggle of greedy/meddling octogenerians, a son embezzling from his father, a suspicious newspaper editor, and a sheriff sweating his next reelection campaign.

Working the crimes are the local sheriff's department, the DEA, and Virgil Flowers, a hotshot with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Flowers is the tough, womanizing, rock-band-T-shirt-wearing hero that author John Sandford has developed in his last few novels.

Large portions of this book were vividly written: clever interrogations, skillfully described stakeouts, and exciting gunfights. Sandford is a master at creating the atmosphere of a small Minnesota town where everybody knows everybody else's business. Unfortunately, such bursts of brilliance were often obscured by a cluttered cast.

Someone is killing people in Bluestem, Minnesota. And not in a nice way. In Dark of the Moon, Virgil Flowers, member of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), is called upon to investigate the murder of a doctor and his wife, but when a third brutal killing occurs, Virgil realizes there is a connection. As he investigates, and the bodies keep piling up, the evidence follows twisted roads in many directions and to every part of Bluestem, as the town itself becomes a critical part of his investigation. Virgil begins to suspect everyone. He sets a trap that may put innocent lives at risk . . . but is anyone in Bluestem really innocent?
As a longtime fan of John Sandford novels, and his other leading character, Lucas Davenport, I thoroughly enjoyed Dark of the Moon. Sandford's ability to construct a tangible, real world, and take the reader along with him on a wild ride continues at breakneck speed in this novel. Virgil Flowers is an appealing, good-humored hero and does his best to keep up with the wise-cracking women in his life. His penchant for wearing tee shirts advertising his favorite musical groups is an endearing quality that doesn't always sit well with his cohorts in crime investigation. Besides, "his hair was way too long for a cop's." The dialogue is snappy, the characters are well depicted and fleshed-out. Virgil Flowers promises to be as engaging and enjoyable as his boss, Lucas Davenport, hero of Sandford's "Prey" novels. My only caveat is that there are many characters involved in a complex plot - it's not a quick read and demands close attention to the details. But if you like to become immersed in mystery and suspense, Dark of the Moon is quite engaging. I recommend Dark of the Moon.

Some of the dialogue was cringe worthy and unnecessary.
Like it was written by a 13 year old boy.
For example
"Your 'johnson' is about a half-inch long. Cold water does it every time"
This is necessary? Like middle schoolers talking.
My first Sandford read. Are they all like this?
Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch is way better.
Still a good read but i took off a star for being so juvenile.

I just flat out enjoy the Virgil Flowers stories. I enjoy his attitude about life, his approach to law enforcement and his interest in the opposite sex.

Bluestem, MN seems to be having more than it's fair share of citizens murdered. Virgil Flowers has been sent to investigate a rather mundane one and arrives just in time to see the most hated man in town burned to a crisp in his house.

The local Sherrif, Jim Stryker isn't having much luck in solving the crime wave that seems to be enveloping Bluestem, but he does have a sister who possesses, in Virgil's own estimation, the fourth finest derriere in Minnesota which makes it to third place before the story ends.

Suspects abound in this novel. You can find a reason that most anyone in Bluestem would have torched Billy Judd. The other murders are a tad more difficult, but there does seem to be a thread there somewhere, if only Virgil could figure it out.

That's all I'm going to tell you. Get to know Virgil and he will take you down a long winding path and you will enjoy it every step of the way.

Virgil Flowers is an excellent protagonist. I started on the Prey books & when I had read all of them I started the "Virgil" books. Didn't think they could be as good but Sandford is such a good writer that I had to try them. In some ways I like Virgil more than Lucas. He isn't quite as egotistical & he is funnier. But I like that crazy ego & attitudes of Lucas a LOT. This book had a little too much repetition in some areas but it was definitely worth reading. Mr. Sandford is a wonderful storyteller & I wish he would write faster.

This is a capable mystery, with a reasonable plot and an attractive protagonist. It suffers, however, in comparison to it's progenitor, the Prey series. Virgil Flowers seems a fairly simple and uncomplex character next to Lucas Davenport. We don't get a lot of his background and while he's obviously a capable cop with some quirks in his character, he lacks the over the top, brooding intensity that Davenport brings to the table. The villain, also, is a fairly simple bad guy next to the complete lunatics and brilliant assassins that feature as Davenport's chosen adversaries.

In this book, Virgil Flowers arrives in a small Minnesota town to investigate the murder of an elderly couple. Three additional murders soon follow. The solution to the mystery is sidetracked by the discovery of a meth lab operating out of the town. The DEA is brought in and our hero serves with distinction in the assault. The mystery is soon solved and Virgil heads back home, where he will, I hope, remain the competent side kick in future episodes.

Virgil Flowers is a problem solver who thrives on complex crimes. He sees crime where others may not. He has friends in high places like Lucas Davenport who can make things happen. But make no mistake; with Virgil’s eyes and ears engaged & his boots on the ground bad guys better beware! He’s gonna get ya!

A good solid second series by Sandford. Virgil works under Lucas Davenport of Sandford's first series. This is a very good mystery where Virgil is working a crime and he connects it to another. He is working with the sheriff of a small town that is coming up for election before long and it looks like that won't be happening because there seems to be a serial killer loose. Virgil saves the day, figures out who is guilty and has and gets together with one of the local women while he's at it.

I can’t wait to read the next in the series. This is my first John Sandford novel. I tried the first few Lucas Davenport’s and couldn’t finish them. I’m into character’s more like Virgil Flowers. Flower’s is a laid back, sly, and intelligent guy. Writes on the side for magazines and internet articles. He’s a clever spin on a detective.

Sandford’s suspenseful pacing impressed me the most. I wanted to say this was more thriller than mystery, but it was such a darn good mystery as well. The plot was mapped out beautifully. I loved the adventurous countryside that Virgil’s accountable for.

I felt the narrative wondered a little midways through. This is my only criticism and it didn’t affect the ending. The ending was 6 out of 5 stars. It blew me away. The set up of suspense and surprise was superb. I’ll continue to read the Virgil Flowers series.

This book is a good start to John Sandford's new series featuring Virgil Flowers. I enjoyed the Flowers character in the last Prey novel. In this book, however, it was as if the reader was supposed to know all about him. As for the actual mystery, I like how it evolved until the end. It wrapped up quickly and predictably. This is not one of John Sandford's better books however for a first book in the series it is just ok. I guess the thing that I found troublesome was that in the acknowledgments, Mr. Sandford states that he had a co-writer with this book. However that writer isn't listed on the cover and wasn't mentioned by the store. I'm not sure why Mr. Sandford would need to use a co-writer but maybe this is why the book isn't up to his usual standards. It didn't flow and have the sarcastic interplay between the characters that most of his books have. I'm going to give the second book in this series a shot just because it's John Sandford when it comes out later this fall, but I'm not sure I will stay with it.

In this book, Sandford throws in a lot more non-explicit sex or sexual references. Still the plot follows many other Sandford books. Cops are good guys in general, both Federal and local. A few cops get shot and sometimes killed. Most, if not all of the bad guys are killed. Women are generally beautiful, but can you trust them? Still I like Sandford. I enjoy reading his books and will be sad when I've read them all.

Maybe I'm being too critical. Virgil Flowers has extremely strong deducing powers. He has a good humor and can laugh at himself. He has turned in two wives(Typical of todays society)and can operate extremely well with small town people. But and A big but. He is no where near Lucas Davenport. I guess I fell prey to the Prey Novels. I have read all of them and was hopeful of more of the same. I understand that Mr. Sandford can have a hard time creating a new lead character after all the other novels, but I guess his writing is so good I am addicted to Lucas Davenport. Being an aspiring writer myself I can only imagine having as many books published how hard it is to start a new lead man. I can only say as all publishers seem to say to me "Keep on writing, it will work." In Mr. Sandfords case as a well proven writer all that he needs is a little tweaking to Virgil Flowers and everything will be fine.

Perhaps I am reading too many novels in this genre, but my primary observation about Dark of the Moon, is that it is just too formulaic. The novel opens (as so many crime novels do) with a grisly murder. The protagonist develops a romance with a woman who may or may not be connected to the killings. The killer decides that the detective in charge is getting too close and tries to kill our hero (something that rarely happens in real life, but is becoming all too common in crime fiction).

There's nothing groundbreaking about Dark of the Moon. It follows the playbook to the letter, but that said; the playbook isn't necessarily terrible, it's just getting too familiar. Dark of the Moon is capably written and I think most Sanford fans will find the novel reasonably entertaining.

Dark of the Moon is a solid, if unremarkable mystery/thriller. Whether or not you choose to read this novel may depend on how many novels you read in a year. If you are a voracious reader, you inevitably read a lot of mediocre novels, and while Dark of the Moon is nothing special, it's better than a lot of what's out there. If you only read a few novels a year, you're probably more selective, and Dark of the Moon may not make your reading list.

On a completely irrelevant side note: I was pleased that Flowers wore a Modest Mouse t-shirt in the novel. I'm a big fan of the indie band. Float On!

Perhaps it is me, but I couldn't get into this book for 100 pages or more, then it got very interesting with various suspects being thrown about and I found that difficult to follow. Bits of sex thrown in to keep me going, but nothing explicit, good, don't need it. Then it eventually crashed out to the villain of the piece! Okay I suppose, but not as high as many of Sandford other great reads.

Lucas Davenport, protagonist of Sandford's "Prey" series, takes a backseat to one of his recruits, Virgil Flowers, of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, in this suspenseful, character-driven thriller. Flowers, who had a supporting role in "Invisible Prey," is a thrice-divorced, deceptively laid-back loose cannon.

Sent to the small town of Bluestem to investigate the murder of an elderly couple, Flowers arrives in the middle of a second murder. Half the town has turned out to watch a huge conflagration consume Bill Judd's house, with the wealthy, hated old man inside.

It's not likely two vicious murder scenes are coincidence though Flowers has a bit of trouble making a connection. But even the sheriff is a suspect in a place so small almost everyone had some passable reason to kill Judd. An arrogant, heartless playboy, he'd ruined many while enriching himself in a pyramid scheme years before, and he'd left behind at least one illegitimate child, along with one money-hungry legitimate son.

Laconic, easy-going and chatty, Flowers spreads information around town and waits to see what develops while he pursues a casual affair with the sheriff's pretty sister (also a suspect) and does a fair amount of deep digging himself. But it soon becomes apparent that the killer is following an agenda and the killing isn't done yet.

As Flowers himself becomes a target, the pace accelerates, the bullets fly, the chat and banter sharpen and old secrets make unseemly appearances. Smart and observant and much more of a stickler than he seems behind his casual demeanor and rock-n-roll t-shirts, Virgil Flowers is a welcome protagonist in another witty, humorous and suspenseful series from Sanford.

I picked this book up in desperation at a supermarket: I desperately needed some mind candy. I've read one or two of Sandford's "Prey" books, found them interesting enough to finish, but too disgusting to recommend to anyone. (I'm not a fan of serial-killer thrillers.) That said, I read Dark of the Moon with great pleasure. In fact, I savored many of the scenes. The characters are engaging and very realistic (one psychopath comes from Wichita Falls, TX, for instance). And best of all the story isn't set in New York City. In fact, it isn't even set in a city; it's set in rural Minnesota among ethanol farmers.

Then there's the truism that you can learn a lot if you read. One tidbit I particularly enjoyed in Dark of the Moon was the discussion of the "Jerusalem artichoke scam." It was so peculiar, I almost suspected there really had been a pyramid scheme involving Jerusalem artichokes. I can even remember once-upon-a-time buying a Jerusalem artichoke and trying to cook it, only to wind up with an inedible rutabaga-like object. So, I looked it up on the web and guess what? There really was a Jerusalem artichoke scam, and it's related to the current corn-for-ethanol scam.

Now, I admit there is a psychopathic serial killer in Dark of the Moon. But the description of the atrocities is fairly brief and not too disgusting (if you don't try to visualize the scene or dwell on it). And it really is a mystery: you really do keep guessing whodunit, and I really was convinced I had cleverly figured it out, and I was satisfyingly wrong.

I don't read many bestsellers, and the ones I do I usually don't finish. I finished this one. I would recommend Patterson's Judge & Jury for fans of Dark of the Moon, except that I wish Patterson didn't farm out his writing to partners, and Sanford seems to do it all himself (BTW, Mr. Patterson: where do I sign up?). I'm going to buy and read the first in the Virgil Flowers series, Dead Watch (Night Watch), probably in the Kindle edition--but I won't seek out a Patterson book unless its topic is enticing. This was a fun read.

I can't keep track of all the titles I've read in the Prey series, very often buying the hard cover because I can't wait for the paperback to come out. I'm usually hooked on the first page and then have trouble putting it down until it's finished, after which time I'll never pick it up again. So I always half wonder why I keep buying these books, but there must be something about them I enjoy. I guess they're like watching TV or eating fast food--to site a couple of obvious comparisons.

I actually didn't feel that way after finishing the last in this series. The quality of "Invisible Prey" was just a notch higher than usual. Normally the writing gets a bit lazy and perfunctory somewhere between the precisely constructed, intriguing beginning and the overall suspenseful story that keeps you rapidly turning the pages to see how things will eventually play out. But I almost savored parts of "Invisible Prey", especially certain unnecessary touches, such as the way the author would throw in a two or three paragraph interlude of Lucas getting up early and driving the Interstate for an hour or so to spend the morning fishing on the river in a borrowed boat. Also, the killers in this story were intelligent, interesting characters---two antique dealers, one a big man who always dressed like an effete in a fashion magazine, and a woman who was much smaller but the smarter of the two, constantly scheming and even contemplating killing her partner if it would suit her purposes.

This last book started in the same way as all the others, with one of those paragraphs that immediately pique your interest in such a deceptively effortless way that I have to quote it in its entirety: "Six garbage bags full of red cedar shavings, purchased two at a time for a dollar a bag, at midnight, at the self-serve shed at Dunstead & Daughter Custom Furniture, serving your fine cabinetry needs since 1986. No cameras, no lights, no attendant, no theft, no problem."

That's the point where I close the cover and make a snap decision to buy the book, since I've never been disappointed in the past. This time I was. I thought "The Dark of the Moon" appeared very soon after "Invisible Prey", and in fact they both were published in 2007. Another curious thing was an acknowledgment at the start in which Sanford admits he had help from another author. That might be the reason right there.

It says something that the book I finished just previous to this one was "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett, a 971-page historical novel which I read a few pages of every night before falling asleep, but had no problem immediately picking up the thread of the story the following night and never once found it confusing or tedious. This latest John Sanford was the total opposite. I constantly had to remind myself of where the story had left off; the killer was not interesting, and in a sort of whodunit style, he isn't even identified until the very end, by which time you're not sure you really care. Don't waste your money on this one.

Readers of John Sandford's "Prey" series might remember Virgil Flowers making some brief appearances at Lucas Davenport's side. Now Davenport has given Flowers free reign as a member of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Davenport has assured Flowers that he will only get the difficult cases.

Agent Flowers has been assigned some murder cases in the southwest corner of the state. On his way to his assignment he stops to join officials and gawkers who are watching a fatal house fire. As Flowers begins to investigate his original assignment, the killing of a doctor and his wife, the agent begins to suspect that these murders are connected to the person killed in the house fire. As more dead bodies begin to show up, the more certain Flowers becomes.

In the small town everybody seems to know everybody else's business and background. As a result there is no shortage of suspects in the murders. The murderer might even be Sheriff Stryker who called Flowers in on the case in the first place...or the Sheriff's beautiful sister who Flowers has started a relationship with.

I confess that I am prejudiced...John Sandford is among my favorite writers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The mystery is pretty good. The action is good. The one-liners thrown into conversations from time to time are entertaining. The solution to the mystery is not the tidy package that ends most novels. I suspect that is the way it is in actual police work...at least in the difficult cases.

"Dark of the Moon" is more like one of Sandford's "Prey" novels than it is the "Kidd" novels. I suspect that if you enjoyed any of the Prey novels that you will like "Dark of the Moon."

I had a lot of fun reading Dark Of The Moon, the first Virgil Flowers novel. I like the character and his easy going lackadaisical style. I like the way he ponders stuff and reaches a point where he just says, “Huh.”

This series is addictive and reading them out of order, which I’ve done, has had no effect on the enjoyment. There’s nothing key to any one story that is essential to any of the others. I like that.

The writing is top notch, as usual, though written in solid third-person, there is a little bit of head-hopping here and there. However, the narrative is so brisk I hardly noticed.

This was a fun story and I closed the book with a big smile on my face. Highly recommended.

First off, I love John Sandford books. He sets his stories in the alien universe of Minnesota. I've never been to this state, but after reading a Sandford book, I feel as if I have a good grasp of the people and culture.

My problem with this book is that the editing is rather poor with some glaring mistakes. For instance, there is a scene in which a former sheriff is about to be murdered and he reflects on his son and daughter. In the very next chapter, an officer at the murder scene points out that the former sheriff never had any children. Huh? What? What the heck? I had to re-read that section a few times to figure out that they just plain 'ole missed that one. No one was watching the store on this character detail.

I love the way in which Sandford novels become even more taut and intense in the final act. Just try putting one down while reading the third act... almost impossible. The mysteries are so-so as the books delve more into characterizations rather than intricate plotting. You will finish the last page with all the mysteries tied up into a little bow. And with Dark of the Moon, you get an extra added bonus mystery... Did the former sheriff have children or not?

Dark of the Moon is the latest book published by John Sandford, the author of the Prey Series featuring Lucas Davenport. In this case Virgil Flowers, one of Davenport's investigators, takes center stage. In investigational styles, Virgil and Lucas are polar opposites. While Lucas is edgy, with an in-your-face attitude, Vigil is laid back. Vigil understands the small town psyche and uses it to his advantage. He makes a point of getting to know the town and its people as he unearths the skeletons in their closets.

The story opens with Virgil arriving in Bluestem, Minnesota. He was sent to Bluestem to investigate the murder of an elderly couple. He arrives in time to witness a huge house fire. It was set in an effort to cover up the murder of the elderly and much hated Bill Judd. A few days later another two elderly citizens are executed. Fear overwhelms the town. They know the culprit is one of their own.

Everyone is a suspect. The Bill Judd's son, his illegitimate daughter, the newspaper editor, the Sheriff's sister, a ex-con, a born-again Christian who is using his church as a cover for Methamphetamine production and distribution, and a couple of deputies, all had a reason to hate the victims and something to gain from their deaths. It's up to Virgil to untangle the threads before the culprit dubbed The Man on the Moon, struck again.

Dark of the Moon is an excellent mystery with a host of entertaining characters. The pace alternated between `nail-biting suspense' and `settle back and enjoy the story'. The plot twisted one way and then the other before looping back around. It held my attention and kept me guessing right up until the end.

In the early twentieth-century, Sara Teasdale was something of an oddity: A poet who wrote like a Victorian, but who hadn't been eclipsed by free verse. In her sixth volume, Teasdale had smoothed out some of the flaws from her verse, but the tone is still romantic, wistful and ethereal.

The main theme of Teasdale's poetry is: love. The majority of her life's work centered on romance, even if it was restricted only to one adoring line per poem. She name-drops Deirdre, Helen, and especially Iseult as "those that love the most," and focuses on unnamed lovers whom she worships completely.

All is not the same, though -- the passion and intensity of her earlier poems have waned in favor of a quieter romantic sense, since Teasdale was increasingly disappointed in love. Quite a few of the poems are more introspective, musing on what would happen if she gave up poetry, or contemplations of nature and its beauty.

One poem near the end of the book is poignantly ironic, where Teasdale announces that "I shall live to be old, who feared I should die young." Since she committed suicide only seven years later, the final line ("... to envy sometimes the way of the early dead") seems sadder and more prophetic, as does her ponderings on a statue of a deceased nun. Not to mention that most legendary lovers she mentions met an untimely end.

At the same time, Teasdale's poetry has become less like a lovestruck teenager's, and more like a mature, sorrowful woman. There's an autumnal quality to "Dark of the Moon," with its references to falling leaves, empty beaches and "the great rain of moonlight pouring down." She also relied less on rhyme and meter, and focused more on words.

The idealistic romance and lyrical beauty that Teasdale did are alive in "Dark of the Moon," though the passion had definitely waned. Still, the autumnal beauty of her poetry is all the more striking.

This book goes lunar. A key character is called Moonie. There are references to the 1969 moon landing. There's a bit about a cheap tattoo depicting the man in the moon. A woman wears man-in-the-moon earrings. All of this inspired me to create a rating system based on the phases of the moon between the new moon (one star) and the full moon (five stars). I could only give this book a half moon (three stars).

There are just too many undeveloped characters. I wasn't able to (and didn't want to) read this in just a few sittings. It took me about a week. I often found myself looking back to identify obscure characters that I knew had been referenced earlier. Also, too many subplots and suspects. The main story concerns a psycho serial killer. But there is also a major meth operation, a gaggle of greedy/meddling octogenerians, a son embezzling from his father, a suspicious newspaper editor, and a sheriff sweating his next reelection campaign.

Working the crimes are the local sheriff's department, the DEA, and Virgil Flowers, a hotshot with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Flowers is the tough, womanizing, rock-band-T-shirt-wearing hero that author John Sandford has developed in his last few novels.

Large portions of this book were vividly written: clever interrogations, skillfully described stakeouts, and exciting gunfights. Sandford is a master at creating the atmosphere of a small Minnesota town where everybody knows everybody else's business. Unfortunately, such bursts of brilliance were often obscured by a cluttered cast.

Someone is killing people in Bluestem, Minnesota. And not in a nice way. In Dark of the Moon, Virgil Flowers, member of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), is called upon to investigate the murder of a doctor and his wife, but when a third brutal killing occurs, Virgil realizes there is a connection. As he investigates, and the bodies keep piling up, the evidence follows twisted roads in many directions and to every part of Bluestem, as the town itself becomes a critical part of his investigation. Virgil begins to suspect everyone. He sets a trap that may put innocent lives at risk . . . but is anyone in Bluestem really innocent?
As a longtime fan of John Sandford novels, and his other leading character, Lucas Davenport, I thoroughly enjoyed Dark of the Moon. Sandford's ability to construct a tangible, real world, and take the reader along with him on a wild ride continues at breakneck speed in this novel. Virgil Flowers is an appealing, good-humored hero and does his best to keep up with the wise-cracking women in his life. His penchant for wearing tee shirts advertising his favorite musical groups is an endearing quality that doesn't always sit well with his cohorts in crime investigation. Besides, "his hair was way too long for a cop's." The dialogue is snappy, the characters are well depicted and fleshed-out. Virgil Flowers promises to be as engaging and enjoyable as his boss, Lucas Davenport, hero of Sandford's "Prey" novels. My only caveat is that there are many characters involved in a complex plot - it's not a quick read and demands close attention to the details. But if you like to become immersed in mystery and suspense, Dark of the Moon is quite engaging. I recommend Dark of the Moon.

Some of the dialogue was cringe worthy and unnecessary.
Like it was written by a 13 year old boy.
For example
"Your 'johnson' is about a half-inch long. Cold water does it every time"
This is necessary? Like middle schoolers talking.
My first Sandford read. Are they all like this?
Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch is way better.
Still a good read but i took off a star for being so juvenile.

I just flat out enjoy the Virgil Flowers stories. I enjoy his attitude about life, his approach to law enforcement and his interest in the opposite sex.

Bluestem, MN seems to be having more than it's fair share of citizens murdered. Virgil Flowers has been sent to investigate a rather mundane one and arrives just in time to see the most hated man in town burned to a crisp in his house.

The local Sherrif, Jim Stryker isn't having much luck in solving the crime wave that seems to be enveloping Bluestem, but he does have a sister who possesses, in Virgil's own estimation, the fourth finest derriere in Minnesota which makes it to third place before the story ends.

Suspects abound in this novel. You can find a reason that most anyone in Bluestem would have torched Billy Judd. The other murders are a tad more difficult, but there does seem to be a thread there somewhere, if only Virgil could figure it out.

That's all I'm going to tell you. Get to know Virgil and he will take you down a long winding path and you will enjoy it every step of the way.

Virgil Flowers is an excellent protagonist. I started on the Prey books & when I had read all of them I started the "Virgil" books. Didn't think they could be as good but Sandford is such a good writer that I had to try them. In some ways I like Virgil more than Lucas. He isn't quite as egotistical & he is funnier. But I like that crazy ego & attitudes of Lucas a LOT. This book had a little too much repetition in some areas but it was definitely worth reading. Mr. Sandford is a wonderful storyteller & I wish he would write faster.

This is a capable mystery, with a reasonable plot and an attractive protagonist. It suffers, however, in comparison to it's progenitor, the Prey series. Virgil Flowers seems a fairly simple and uncomplex character next to Lucas Davenport. We don't get a lot of his background and while he's obviously a capable cop with some quirks in his character, he lacks the over the top, brooding intensity that Davenport brings to the table. The villain, also, is a fairly simple bad guy next to the complete lunatics and brilliant assassins that feature as Davenport's chosen adversaries.

In this book, Virgil Flowers arrives in a small Minnesota town to investigate the murder of an elderly couple. Three additional murders soon follow. The solution to the mystery is sidetracked by the discovery of a meth lab operating out of the town. The DEA is brought in and our hero serves with distinction in the assault. The mystery is soon solved and Virgil heads back home, where he will, I hope, remain the competent side kick in future episodes.

Virgil Flowers is a problem solver who thrives on complex crimes. He sees crime where others may not. He has friends in high places like Lucas Davenport who can make things happen. But make no mistake; with Virgil’s eyes and ears engaged & his boots on the ground bad guys better beware! He’s gonna get ya!

A good solid second series by Sandford. Virgil works under Lucas Davenport of Sandford's first series. This is a very good mystery where Virgil is working a crime and he connects it to another. He is working with the sheriff of a small town that is coming up for election before long and it looks like that won't be happening because there seems to be a serial killer loose. Virgil saves the day, figures out who is guilty and has and gets together with one of the local women while he's at it.

I can’t wait to read the next in the series. This is my first John Sandford novel. I tried the first few Lucas Davenport’s and couldn’t finish them. I’m into character’s more like Virgil Flowers. Flower’s is a laid back, sly, and intelligent guy. Writes on the side for magazines and internet articles. He’s a clever spin on a detective.

Sandford’s suspenseful pacing impressed me the most. I wanted to say this was more thriller than mystery, but it was such a darn good mystery as well. The plot was mapped out beautifully. I loved the adventurous countryside that Virgil’s accountable for.

I felt the narrative wondered a little midways through. This is my only criticism and it didn’t affect the ending. The ending was 6 out of 5 stars. It blew me away. The set up of suspense and surprise was superb. I’ll continue to read the Virgil Flowers series.

This book is a good start to John Sandford's new series featuring Virgil Flowers. I enjoyed the Flowers character in the last Prey novel. In this book, however, it was as if the reader was supposed to know all about him. As for the actual mystery, I like how it evolved until the end. It wrapped up quickly and predictably. This is not one of John Sandford's better books however for a first book in the series it is just ok. I guess the thing that I found troublesome was that in the acknowledgments, Mr. Sandford states that he had a co-writer with this book. However that writer isn't listed on the cover and wasn't mentioned by the store. I'm not sure why Mr. Sandford would need to use a co-writer but maybe this is why the book isn't up to his usual standards. It didn't flow and have the sarcastic interplay between the characters that most of his books have. I'm going to give the second book in this series a shot just because it's John Sandford when it comes out later this fall, but I'm not sure I will stay with it.

In this book, Sandford throws in a lot more non-explicit sex or sexual references. Still the plot follows many other Sandford books. Cops are good guys in general, both Federal and local. A few cops get shot and sometimes killed. Most, if not all of the bad guys are killed. Women are generally beautiful, but can you trust them? Still I like Sandford. I enjoy reading his books and will be sad when I've read them all.

Maybe I'm being too critical. Virgil Flowers has extremely strong deducing powers. He has a good humor and can laugh at himself. He has turned in two wives(Typical of todays society)and can operate extremely well with small town people. But and A big but. He is no where near Lucas Davenport. I guess I fell prey to the Prey Novels. I have read all of them and was hopeful of more of the same. I understand that Mr. Sandford can have a hard time creating a new lead character after all the other novels, but I guess his writing is so good I am addicted to Lucas Davenport. Being an aspiring writer myself I can only imagine having as many books published how hard it is to start a new lead man. I can only say as all publishers seem to say to me "Keep on writing, it will work." In Mr. Sandfords case as a well proven writer all that he needs is a little tweaking to Virgil Flowers and everything will be fine.

Lots of suspects - all seem to be interconnected - everybody knows everybody else - but no one seems to put it all together.
Outcome is in question until maybe 30 pages from the end - exactly the way a suspense novel should be.
Good solid read - highly recommended.

Perhaps I am reading too many novels in this genre, but my primary observation about Dark of the Moon, is that it is just too formulaic. The novel opens (as so many crime novels do) with a grisly murder. The protagonist develops a romance with a woman who may or may not be connected to the killings. The killer decides that the detective in charge is getting too close and tries to kill our hero (something that rarely happens in real life, but is becoming all too common in crime fiction).

There's nothing groundbreaking about Dark of the Moon. It follows the playbook to the letter, but that said; the playbook isn't necessarily terrible, it's just getting too familiar. Dark of the Moon is capably written and I think most Sanford fans will find the novel reasonably entertaining.

Dark of the Moon is a solid, if unremarkable mystery/thriller. Whether or not you choose to read this novel may depend on how many novels you read in a year. If you are a voracious reader, you inevitably read a lot of mediocre novels, and while Dark of the Moon is nothing special, it's better than a lot of what's out there. If you only read a few novels a year, you're probably more selective, and Dark of the Moon may not make your reading list.

On a completely irrelevant side note: I was pleased that Flowers wore a Modest Mouse t-shirt in the novel. I'm a big fan of the indie band. Float On!

Perhaps it is me, but I couldn't get into this book for 100 pages or more, then it got very interesting with various suspects being thrown about and I found that difficult to follow. Bits of sex thrown in to keep me going, but nothing explicit, good, don't need it. Then it eventually crashed out to the villain of the piece! Okay I suppose, but not as high as many of Sandford other great reads.

In a shift from his main character, Lucas Davenport who plays a minor role, this novel features one of his team who investigates on his own a vicious murderer. The opening scene is terrifying. The complicated plot unfolds slowly with lots of twists. Consistent with Sandford's previous novels, there is much tedious police work to be done in an effort to determine who the killer is. The final scene is full of surprise. The culminating moment in the novel where the villain is pursued by the protagonist is exciting. This book is a fine addition to the series by the writer. I've purchased all of his books. It's recommended to those who like this type of novel or to those who are seeking a different treatment of detective stories, or just enjoy skillful writing with original plots.

This is the first of the Virgil Glowers books, and a fun read. It's grisly murder in a small town, and parts of it wind up feeling like Greater Tuna with a higher body count. Flowers is the outsider, and the mystery stays blurry right up until the end. It starts with a big splash, then slows down quite a bit but runs downhill to an explosive ending.

I was actually prepared not to like this book. I'm a Lucas Davenport fan from the first Prey novel and didn't really look forward to the introduction of a new character to steal the Davenport spotlight. I was pleasantly suprised with how much I enjoyed Virgil's character and the plot of the book itself.

Since, obviously, Lucas Davenport isn't getting any younger, we now have a young, intelligent and witty replacement to enjoy in the Virgil Flowers character. I look forward to reading more novels focused around him.

I am a fan. I grew up in this part of the country and the portrayal of the people and the country are absolutely spot on and a great part of the charm of Sandford's writing. I read for the characters and the continuing soap opera. The plots are fun, but just a vehicle for the writing about the characters.

I've been following Lucas Davenport in the Prey series of books by John Sandford, and have particularly enjoyed his books about artist/computer wizard/con man Kidd. So I looked forward to a new series about Virgil Flowers, a troubleshooter for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. This one was pretty good, compared to books by other authors, but disappointing in that it wasn't as good as Sandford's previous series.

The plotting is engaging and the writing always entertaining, but it wasn't as gripping as most of Sanford's other books, and I found myself not caring about Virgil as much as I should. I would have really liked another Kidd novel instead of this one. I rank Sandford among the very best, and hopes he maintains the high level he's attained in the past. I'd hate to see him sinking into the blah predictability and convoluted plots that Jonathan Kellerman has begun churning out. Mr. Camp, get back to your roots!

This is the first John Sandford book I attempted to read and will be the last.

Sandford's writing style is awkward at best. He seems to use vulgar language just for the sake of using vulgar language. He also seems to write random lines just for the sake of filling out the book. Lines such as, "that was in the afternoon, in which some other things happened, but none that turned out to be important" and "we even went out twice, but not three times" literally had me laughing out loud.

The character development in Dark of the Moon is lacking. Every character seems to talk the same way, react the same way, and lack any depth.

The investigation was slow moving and as a result, the plot never had me interested or even curious.

I was born and lived within fifty miles of Bluestem. Lots of fun running through the country with Virgil Flowers! So easy to just fall into Sandford`s novels and live there again for a few hours. Very well written,if not so well proofread, cleverly developed plot lines keep me guessing but are well-designed and resolved at the end of story. Great dialogue and a fun read. Love a book I can totally get lost in.

I've only read a few of Sandford's books, and have found them to be so-so but this one was a little more suspenseful. But there were so many characters that it was hard to keep things straight. I think Virgil Flowers is a good character and I will interested to see what the
author(s)do with him in future books. I wasn't particularly happy to learn that Sandford used a co-author for this book and it wasn't revealed on the cover. Kinda dishonest. Anyhow, it was a good book and kept me occupied for a few days.

It seems like this book just plodded along with a simplistic plot and one-dimensional characters. Virgil also felt the need to share the results of two murder investigations with some of the locals while showing no discretion at all. Further, his little personal novels or diaries summarizing the day's events got to be pretty boring. Sandford needs to just stick with Davenport in his books. Everything else he's written that I've read is a real snore, in my opinion.

I just finished John Sanford's "Prey" series-read all 25 this year (binge reading!). Loved Lucas Davenport, and Virgil was in many of the books. While waiting for a new Davenport book, I decided to try the Virgil Flowers series-I feel another "binge" reading coming on!!

I read this back in 2010 and found too be a great will written mystery with the new character Virgil Flowers. I have continued to read the series and find it a very satisfying read. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys John Sanford's writing. Enjoy Reading

As the other novels about 'our friend' Virgil do, this one lopes along at an amazing pace, and soon you just want to set and see what happens! Once you are hooked on this series, you feel like you're catching up with someone you've known for a long time, hearing all about their latest escapades. And he DOES get involved in some doozies!

I listen to an audiobook on cd every week or two during my commute. The reader had a very effective voice, and the story was good, but it wasn't great. I felt the Mooney character was sort of contrived and not quite as interesting as many of Sanford's other villains. And I felt the end just arrived with little fanfare or true excitement. Sanford is a really good author. But this wasn't my favorite. I preferred the "prey" audiobooks which held me more riveted.

I had completed all the Lucas Davenport books to date and was missing his next adventures when I found this spin off series based around Virgil ! Excellent book John Stafford has a supreme command of the English language. Suspenseful, witty and gripping story....couldn't put it down. And while Lucas is now married and "settled down", Virgil picks up where Lucas left off on the dating scene :-)

This is my first time reading a Virgil Flowers novel and it seemed just a bit off. The writing was great with twists and turns filled with murder and drama. But there is just something a bit off with this book and I am unsure if that is the author's point. I will keep reading the Virgil Flowers series though.

This book was a great break from Sandford's Prey series. Sandford's last stand-alone book was a big disappointment to me (Dead Watch).

I was immediately hooked into this story and the author had me second-guessing all the way till the end. I would be interested to see if Sandford writes more books around Virgil Flowers. At some point, Lucas Davenport will not be able to deliver; Virgil Flowers might just be the perfect spin-off character (hopefully Sandford won't retire when Davenport does as well!).

Excellent read.

I just discovered John Sandford about 6 months ago and after reading several of his Davenport novels I downloaded the first Flowers book, "Dark of the Moon". I have to say that I enjoy Flowers a lot more than I do Davenport. Maybe its because I can relate to Flowers more as far as his age and interests, but I just pretty much found the Prey series boring. Cant wait to get the next Flowers book, "Heat Lightening".

I love reading Sanford, most of the time he writes with joy --- some of his dialogue and character development is amazing (e.g. Clara Rinker).

Sometimes his writing is less inspired. In this case, he uses a co-author; my guess is that it had to do with his wife's death last May. The loss of a spouse is a terrible blow.

I'm looking forward to his next 'true' Sandford novel; this one was a good airplane book, but not memorable.

'Twas a good crime story, and different from other shoot-em-ups that I've read in recent years. There were a LOT of characters to try to keep straight, tho, and that was a difficult aspect of this book, and it left me confused, (unsuccessfully/constantly) trying to remember who was who.

First, this is not another installment in the "Prey" series that features Lucas Davenport, one of the most fully developed characters in modern fiction. Second, this may be only partially the product of John Sandford. The Acknowledgment states the novel "was written in cooperation wsith my friend Larry Millett . . ." Sounds like Sandford got more than just an idea or advance reading from Sandford. If indeed Sandford has taken on a co-author, he should have the decency to tell us so forthrightly.

Virgil Flowers, a secondary character in recent Prey novels goes solo in this one. He still works for the Minnesota BCA and Lucas Davenport is his boss. But we read very litle of Lucas here and the interchange between the characters is practically non-existent.

So Flowers, the perpetual I'll-do-it-my-way guy is in Bluestem Minnesota helping out his old buddy, Sheriff Jim Stryker, find a murderer who has burned an old man to death and killed another elderly couple, shooting out the eyes of the husband.

Everyone is a suspect. The son of the old man, who happens to be the area's most hated multi-millionaire; the local newspaper editor; the Sheriff's sister (whom Flowers beds without adding to the story); the illegitimate daughter of the dead millionaire who suddenly proclaims her presence and entitlement to a chunk of the expected inheritance; a born-again Christian who used to be a criminal and maybe still is; a father-son brace of deputies who might be murderers and few others. In all, there are about a dozen primary characters, each of whom may be the murderer. Flowers, working almost alone, has to figure out who the bad guy (or gal) is.

In all, it's a good, kind of old-fashioned "whodunit". It's definitely a change from the "Prey" series. The writing is excellent, but different than what I've come to expect from Sandford. The editing, on the other hand, sucks. A couple of times, you have to reread to figure out which character is speaking. In one instance, a couple is referred to as having children - a supposed fact that is contradicted later in the book.

As a character, Flowers lacks the believability of Lucas Davenport. But it took at least a couple of "Prey" novels before Davenport started shaping up and Flowers is definitely off to a good start.

The ending is a bit of a disppointment and because I don't like "spoilers", I'm not going to tell you why. It isn't much of a disappointment, but the close reader will see what I am talking about.

On the whole, this is a good mystery, different in many subtle ways from the "Prey" series. But if you had never read a "Prey" novel, you wouldn't know the differences. Virgil Flowers is off to a good start as a character and I hope the we'll see more of him as a solo character in the future. By the same token, if Sandford has taken to using a co-author, I hope he has the decency to tell us so and to give the co-author proper credit. And I hope as well that we'll continue to see Lucas Davenport in more "Prey" novels. Davenport is still, by far, the more interesting character.

Jerry

First, this book is partly or perhaps wholly written by Larry Millett and not John Sandford so I am pissed that it is marketed as by Sandford alone on the store and via looking at the cover. This type of deception is essentially giving the finger to the reader while the author collects royalties sipping margaritas on a beach in the Mediterranean. Second, the main character 'Virgil Flowers' is uninteresting (two dimensional) and has zero character development. Third, the story is quite slow in parts and the killer evokes no emotion in the reader. All in all, this is not a Sandford-written book but rather a slow, crappy plot starring a 2d protagonist with only a scattering of a few Sandford phrases thrown-in such as a well-timed 'bite-me'. I am amazed that earlier reviewers actually found this book appealing and wonder if they also find reality TV episodes so. From now on, I will NEVER buy a new John Sandford book unless I can visually inspect the inside to determine if he actually wrote the entire thing. Why pay money to some unknown author pretending (and failing) to be Sandford when I actually want to read Sandford?

This was my first, but definately not last, John Sandford book. I was a little hesitant at first when my wife got it for me as a gift. But since the story takes place in my hometown I thought I would give it a shot.

This was book was GREAT! I really enjoyed the character of Jim Flowers and all the turns it took leading up to the killer. Once I started reading I couldn't put it down!

Definately an enjoyable read and I can't wait to begin the Prey series now.

Bluestem Minnesota is a far cry from Minneapolis or Baltimore. It's a one pump town, which makes Flowers, in his Modest Mouse t-shir,t stick out like a sore thumb. Like most Sandford novels it keeps you guessing, and this one certainly takes you for a ride. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that Virgil got more than he asked for, and it has nothing to do with what he was after. I likes most of Sandfords work, and Flowers is a nice edition, since Davenport ran his course with me. These are my airplane reading books, quick, easy reads that keep you turning the pages to see who done it.

Happy Reading,

Wilmon Benson IV
Edina, MN

I agree with others that the book may have been overwhelmed with too many characters. Nonetheless, Virgil Flowers is an excellent protagonist. He has a good mix of eccentricity and competence (much like Lucas Davenport). Lucas makes only a token appearance, but I think a new series based on Flowers will be a welcome addition for those of us who love the Davenport series. The book does a good job presenting a small Minnesota town and the people in it. Also, much of the dialogue is good and reminiscent of the Davenport books. A matter of concern is that Flowers is a lot like Lucas: former athlete, loves to alley cat around women, good with small-town Minnesotans, and so on. In future books, I would think the author(s) will need to differentiate them more. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book a lot. At the very least, Davenport fans should check it out.

With Dark of the Moon John Sanford, the author of the Lucas Davenport series, begins a new detective series with the central character being one Virgil Flowers. In this novel, the laconic Flowers tracks down the clues to solve a case that had the local police baffled. Dark of the Moon is an excellent mystery novel and as such Virgil Flowers is likely to become one of the hottest fictional detectives around.

Every Virgil Flowers novel is full of amazing tales of terrible people doing terrible things and finally getting brought to justice by Virgil, who not only is a great detective but a great outdoorsman who will teach a thing or two about fishing. Great entertainment!

This was my first of the Virgil Flowers series to read. John Sanford always writes such interesting as well as exciting and educational books. I plan to read the entire series of Virgil Sanford mysteries.

I've read every John Sandford book, and like so many readers,love the Prey series. Dark of the Moon introduces a new protagonist -- Virgil Flowers (or, as he's often referred to, "that f**'in Flowers.") Like the Prey hero (Lucas Davenport), Flowers is also with BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) in Minnesota, and like Lucas, Flowers is supernaturally cool, handsome, brilliant, successful with women, intrepid, brave ... in short, the kind of hero guys can readily identify with. Dark of the Moon is vintage Sandford -- tightly plotted, suspenseful, fun -- and the bottom line is, I read all 375 pages in one sitting. A crazed but crafty killer is murdering people at an alarming rate in a small town in Minnesota, and only Virgil can save the day. Unrealistic, maybe, but who cares? Take this one on a long business trip, but be sure to tear yourself away and make your meetings. And look for future Flowers books.

Pretty good book but I certainly hope there aren't that many awful people out there. Virgil Flowers doesn't sound too attractive yet women just can't wait to jump in bed with him. Little hard to take. This book shows a very low opinion of women by the author.

To look at him nobody would believe that Virgil Flowers is a police officer; one of Lucas Davenport's best (see INVISIBLE PREY for the case in which Flowers assisted the Minnesota Bureau of Crime Apprehension Chief). He wears casual clothing, has long hair, looks younger than his years and has a breezy amiable manner which enables him to make friends easily. He is on his way to Bluestem, Minnesota to investigate the deaths of the octogenarian Gleasons, who apparently knew their killer.

As he enters the town he sees a house belonging to the recently deceased wealthy Bill Judd. The sheriff asks Virgil to help him with the Judd murder; another eighty-something year old person killed in a horrendous fashion. Judd scammed the townsfolk with a pyramid scheme making millions so he had plenty of enemies. In a town where murder almost never occurs three in a short period of time doesn't strike Flowers as coincidental especially the age of the victims. When another couple also in their eighties is killed, Flower is certain that there is a methodical organized sociopath killer hiding in plain sight. During the course of his investigations he discovers a meth lab, a mole in the police department, and a church dealing with criminals. For one independent police officer he finds himself involved with a serial killer, townsfolk, the sheriff, a lover and the dead all lead him to the killer if he is clever to find the link.

John Sandford's latest protagonist is an adrenaline junkie living on the edge but within the rules of an excellent police officer. Flower deserves his own series because his style and methods is as good as his boss Lucas Davenport even though they are ying and yang. There are many different mysteries that tie into the storyline and they are easy to follow although the reader will be perplexed until the very last page of a very fine and exciting police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

I have read all of Sandfords Prey series and was sad about that then I saw he had a Virgil Flowers series . This is the first of the series ....loved it ...I like Flowers cool and calm attitude so opposite Davenport which I really loved as well .

I was very disappointed with this book. It was clearly not up to John Sandford's standards. I knew that it was not part of his "prey" series. However, I expected it to be as well written. It appeared to be a concept presented to the author and then half-heartedly thrown together to get it over with. The plot was loose and never held together even at the conclusion. Similarly, the characters were vague and superficial. They never felt real, they were never developed and you never got to know them. Certain of the events were extraneous such as chasing back and forth to the hospital at 100+ MPH by the main character was superfluous when he could have remained on the scene and intertwined a realistic plot.

Had this been the first of Sandford's books that I read, it would have been the last one.

Not up to the Sandford usual quality story. While Flowers is an interesting character, he has not been developed enough to be the lead in a book. A possible better treatment would have been a Davenport novel with Flowers prominently featured while developing him. The story was somewhat muddled and the ending was almost like an old Perry Mason TV wrap up, where they sat around and discussed what had gone on.

I really had to force myself to finish this one, whereas I usually can't put his books down. Bring back Kidd.

Not on the front of this book nor in the advertising does it say that someone other than Sandford wrote it, only in the "fine print" on the acknowledgements page. Here, we find that it's "written in cooperation with" Larry Millett. At least Clancy, Patterson, and others let the reader know right up front that a work is not entirely their own. This novel doesn't read like Sandford because it isn't Sandford. I stuck with it, but it certainly is not a can't-put-it-down novel. I put it down often.

I didn't like Sanford's other stand alone but decided to take a chance on Dark of the Moon and was glad I did. Virgil turns out to be a character that can support his own book. I loved the story line and how you weren't really sure of the identity of the murderer until almost at the end. Not really, definitely, for sure.

I had gotten bored with John Sandford and the Prey books (he used to be in my Top 5 authors), so this was my first Sandford book in awhile, and my first Virgil Flowers book, but it's great! A complicated plot with ever-evolving discoveries, interesting subplots, and lots of twists and turns! This book kept me guessing right up to the end! Great job!

It seems that Sandford has developed a recipe for his books. A little sex for Virgil and bang bang shoot'em up and everything is nicely wrapped up. if you read too many ion a short period of time it gets boring

The books I've liked the most by this author are the ones he's set in small towns. He nails the dynamic, culture, and characters found in these places and brings them to life. There are a few parts of the story that get bogged down and the flow of places where colons are used instead of verbs.

I enjoyed this book until the very end ,then it left me wondering? The book did not answer why the victums had their eyes shot out and were placed facing east? One sentence said ..."how the Williamsons died" well, how did they die I didnt see that in the book?

I got a little tired of Mr. Flowers bushing his teeth, once with his finger. All in all this spin off is OK..not, IMHO up to the authors usual work.

Perhaps Flowers will bloom in the next book...hopefully.

This is the second time around reading the flower stories over the years. Always a great read. Exciting with different directions to follow. Keep it up. Looking forward to another Virgil Flowers Novel..

I've Been A Fan Of The Prey Series And Lucas Davenport For About 10 Years. Virgil Flowers Has Been In A Few Of Those I've Read. This Book Is A Fine Introduction To Flowers As The Main Guy. The Story Is Excellent And I Banged It Out In A Week. Now I Bought Heat Lightning By Sandford With Virgil As Headliner.

I have kept up with John Sanford and all of his writing. In my opinion this is a great book, the only reason for not giving it five stars is mainly because of the slow start to the book. This does change and half way through I could not put the book down. I would not recommend this as a first reader for anyone wanting to give John Sanford a chance, but it is definitely worth the read.

I have always enjoyed Mr. Sanford's writing, but in his last several novels he focused too much on "women" in Lucas Davenport's life...Along with several other authors...

I was so happy to see he is back to a very good character, who hopefully will NOT get involved with one woman, but will continue to have his sense of humor,and wonderful personality..... minus the aid of a woman...

I feel that this represents a "mid-life crisis" in the writers life, as he has to have a woman in the plot...If only they would realize their storytelling/writing is bought and read prior to their "crisis"....

signed....a woman

What a misogynistic book. Every female in his books that are over 40 years old are described as 'pretty for her age' Every one. And the ones who are 60+ years have 'ruined faces." This guy is 71 years old- who is he kidding?. This book was too predictable. I put it down half way through. Done with this author.

Not up to the Sandford usual quality story. While Flowers is an interesting character, he has not been developed enough to be the lead in a book. A possible better treatment would have been a Davenport novel with Flowers prominently featured while developing him. The story was somewhat muddled and the ending was almost like an old Perry Mason TV wrap up, where they sat around and discussed what had gone on.

I really had to force myself to finish this one, whereas I usually can't put his books down. Bring back Kidd.

Not on the front of this book nor in the advertising does it say that someone other than Sandford wrote it, only in the "fine print" on the acknowledgements page. Here, we find that it's "written in cooperation with" Larry Millett. At least Clancy, Patterson, and others let the reader know right up front that a work is not entirely their own. This novel doesn't read like Sandford because it isn't Sandford. I stuck with it, but it certainly is not a can't-put-it-down novel. I put it down often.

I didn't like Sanford's other stand alone but decided to take a chance on Dark of the Moon and was glad I did. Virgil turns out to be a character that can support his own book. I loved the story line and how you weren't really sure of the identity of the murderer until almost at the end. Not really, definitely, for sure.

I had gotten bored with John Sandford and the Prey books (he used to be in my Top 5 authors), so this was my first Sandford book in awhile, and my first Virgil Flowers book, but it's great! A complicated plot with ever-evolving discoveries, interesting subplots, and lots of twists and turns! This book kept me guessing right up to the end! Great job!

It seems that Sandford has developed a recipe for his books. A little sex for Virgil and bang bang shoot'em up and everything is nicely wrapped up. if you read too many ion a short period of time it gets boring

The books I've liked the most by this author are the ones he's set in small towns. He nails the dynamic, culture, and characters found in these places and brings them to life. There are a few parts of the story that get bogged down and the flow of places where colons are used instead of verbs.

I enjoyed this book until the very end ,then it left me wondering? The book did not answer why the victums had their eyes shot out and were placed facing east? One sentence said ..."how the Williamsons died" well, how did they die I didnt see that in the book?

I got a little tired of Mr. Flowers bushing his teeth, once with his finger. All in all this spin off is OK..not, IMHO up to the authors usual work.

Perhaps Flowers will bloom in the next book...hopefully.

This is the second time around reading the flower stories over the years. Always a great read. Exciting with different directions to follow. Keep it up. Looking forward to another Virgil Flowers Novel..

I've Been A Fan Of The Prey Series And Lucas Davenport For About 10 Years. Virgil Flowers Has Been In A Few Of Those I've Read. This Book Is A Fine Introduction To Flowers As The Main Guy. The Story Is Excellent And I Banged It Out In A Week. Now I Bought Heat Lightning By Sandford With Virgil As Headliner.

I have kept up with John Sanford and all of his writing. In my opinion this is a great book, the only reason for not giving it five stars is mainly because of the slow start to the book. This does change and half way through I could not put the book down. I would not recommend this as a first reader for anyone wanting to give John Sanford a chance, but it is definitely worth the read.

I have always enjoyed Mr. Sanford's writing, but in his last several novels he focused too much on "women" in Lucas Davenport's life...Along with several other authors...

I was so happy to see he is back to a very good character, who hopefully will NOT get involved with one woman, but will continue to have his sense of humor,and wonderful personality..... minus the aid of a woman...

I feel that this represents a "mid-life crisis" in the writers life, as he has to have a woman in the plot...If only they would realize their storytelling/writing is bought and read prior to their "crisis"....

signed....a woman

What a misogynistic book. Every female in his books that are over 40 years old are described as 'pretty for her age' Every one. And the ones who are 60+ years have 'ruined faces." This guy is 71 years old- who is he kidding?. This book was too predictable. I put it down half way through. Done with this author.

I love the Lucas Davenport series and was excited to see he had one based on Virgil Flowers. I had waited until I was caught up on the Davenport Prey series before I began this one. I like seeing Virgil in a whole different way by himself. Would definitely recommend both series!

I've been a fan of John Sanford since the very beginning. Every May I anticipate the new "Prey" book, so when I saw this book I was excited. Not so much anymore. The editing is the problem. For instance, there are two characters, Big Curley and Little Curley, in one scene only Big Curley is present, when all of a sudden Little Curley has a line of dialog. I had to go back and re-read several times to see if I'd missed an entrance.
Later Virgil is described as waking up at "shortly after 5:30" he then does 50 push ups, 50 sit ups, gets dressed, leaves the house and when his watch says 6:15, he knew he's run 5 miles. What? This may be quibbling, but its not what I's expect from a John Sanford novel.
Even Lucas's appearences don't feel right. This one reminds of the book he wrote a couple years ago when his wife was sick. Kind of a good idea, but lacking in execution.

I'm a big fan of John Sandford, and have read and enjoyed most of his "Prey" novels.

This is not one of them.

At the outset -- and others have mentioned this -- the book is not authored by John Sandford. In an unusual page titled "Acknowledgement", we learn that the book was written "in cooperation with" Larry Millett. I don't know who Larry Millet is, and I don't know what was intended by the euphemistic phraseology of writing "in cooperation with", but after laboring through the book, I think it's code-speak for "not very good".

The set-up was fine. We learn about Virgil Flowers and a couple of murders. Good stuff.

After that, everything falls to pieces. Character development is nil. Standard detective work is ignored. As an example, Virgil theorizes that the killer must have crept under cover of a new-moon darkness along a river culvert, to arrive at the murder scene. Nice theory. In a Davenport "Prey" novel, there would be cops all over the culvert, trying to find evidence to support the theory, to find the point of entry, to find how long the killer might have lingered, traces left behind, etc.

Not so here. No detective work at all. In fact, the book itself underscores its inadequacies on this point in the following passage (page 62 of the paperback):

"Where did the killer come from? Where did the gun come from? Where did he/she learn to use the gun? Why was the body dragged to the yard, why were the lights turned on? Had the killer known about the lights on the exterior, and where the switch was, suggesting familiarity with the house, or had the acts been spontaneous? And why the shots in the eyes?"

All great questions that a competent investigator would ask, and that a reader wants answered. But not a single one of these questions is answered in this book. An investigative catastrophe.

Which leads to the "unsatisfying" part of the title for this review. <Very tiny spoiler ahead> Among the main points emphasized about the murders were shots through the eyes and posing of the victims. Vivid as these plot elements are, the reasons for them were never -- and I mean never-ever -- addressed. What a disappointment.

Don't bother with this one. John Sandford has many fine and enjoyable books, but this is not one of them.

This book is a good read and typical of other Sandford books. Fast action, convoluted plot. The problem was it was too much like the Prey series and could almost have been one. The lucky thing is...I like the Prey books!!

I HAVE READ ALL OF JOHN SANFORDS BOOKS AND IN MY OPIONION HE HAS LOST HIS EDGE.
HE SHOULD PUT ASIDE WRITING FOR A WHILE AND REST HIS MIND. THIS BOOK WAS A SLOW READ. I USUALLY READ HIS BOOKS IN A DAY OR TWO. IT TOOK ME ALMOST A WEEK TO READ THIS ONE AND I HAD TO REREAD TO CATCH THE PLOT. IT WAS CONFUSING AT TIMES AND JUST PLAIN SLOW UNTIL THE END. THE LAST THREE CHAPTER WERE HIS OLD SELF. PERHAPS HE IS USING PATERSONS PLOY OF USING GHOST WRITERS. ALL IN ALL I DID NOT LIKE THIS BOOK.

ok, not great , not bad. i was not on the edge of my seat reading this book, but i didnt stop reading it either. for a small town book it had alot of names to keep up with , that sometimes got a little confusing .

Sandford doesn't measure up to Lee Childs, but he has created a good protagonist in Virgil Flowers. The plot (and the extreme action scenes) were a bit overwrought. Still, the character is a strong one and Sandford may work out the quirks in his next Flowers book.

I have not finished the book, but am enjoying the story and the character of Virgil Flowers. However, bad editing drives me nuts! On page 111 when Moonie comes to the door of Roman Schmidt, Schmidt is worrying that it is bad news about one of his children. On page 117, Stryker says they never had children.

Also, though I don't hate the book like the other reviewer, I do wonder why Larry Millett's name was not on the cover. And what does "written in cooperation with" mean?

Dark of the Moon

The usual very well written book from Mr Sanford although I didn't find it as pacy as previous stories. I still managed to read it in 2 days but felt that perhaps the author has started to run out of ideas for Lucas Davenport now that he has climbed higher up the police ladder. However, I will still purchase everything John Sanford writes because I think he is one of the best I have ever read. Incidentally my children are just as keen on him as I am!

I was very disappointed in this book. I just could not relate to the main character at all - he just never interested me. And the plot itself was boring and never captured my interest. I kept reading until the end thinking that if John Sanford wrote it (and I was dismayed to discover he was not the only author) it had to get better. I was very wrong!

I first bought this book many years ago. Her poetry is haunting and filled with images of the sea and nature. I especially loved

"The Flight" about two eagles who when one died, the other followed. Such a beautiful poet to die so young. "Appraisal" was also another of my favorites in this book. I wonder why I have heard of Plath and e.e cummings but had never heard of Teasdale.

I didn't enjoyed this novel at all. I thought the characterization of Virgil Flowers was underdeveloped. The plot was thin and slow at parts. By time I got to the end of the novel I lost interest. I didn't care who the murderer was . I wait for the next one.