145 of 156 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding entry in Sandford's Virgil Flowers series !, October 5, 2011
This review is from: Shock Wave (A Virgil Flowers Novel) (Hardcover)
We are big fans of Sandford, having read every single one of his Kidd, Lucas Davenport, and Virgil Flowers novels. These latter stories are similar to, but usually less violent than, the "Prey" novels, as Virgil is inclined to let the "regular" cops do most of the dirty work while he contemplates things quietly and often draws clever conclusions from just talking to people.
"Shock Wave" is aptly named, as it involves a plot about a very busy bomber who has it in for "Pye-Mart", obviously a Walmart knockoff, that is in the early construction phase in Butternut Falls (MN), and expected to destroy the local merchants and pollute the river with runoff, etc., etc. While that's not exactly an original premise, the one or two bombings per day keep everyone hopping to an insane degree, with a similar increase in suspense to the reader. Not surprisingly, there appears to have been illegal payoffs to local politicos to make the approval for the new megastore a reality; and while he's trying to discover the identity of the bomber, Virgil uncovers those crimes as well, nicely cleaning up the local scene. Meanwhile, Virgil seems to be telephonically breaking up with his new sheriff sweetheart, which slows down his tendency to womanize key characters, but that only added to the "off-screen" fun.
We don't award many books all five stars, but this one seems quite deserving -- a terrific protagonist in an exciting and suspenseful plot combine for a thrill-charged entertaining novel -- highly recommended!
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47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sandford keeps rolling, October 6, 2011
By the time they get to their 25th book in a setting (these are in the same world as his Prey books), most authors are just mailing it in (see Griffin, Clancy). Sandford continues to put out exciting, well-plotted books that make you laugh out loud at times ("I have varied interests. And insomnia."). Definitely worth a read!
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60 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shock and a little awe!, October 4, 2011
This review is from: Shock Wave (A Virgil Flowers Novel) (Hardcover)
I like this series and I like the protagonist. If you enjoyed Sanford's other stuff like
Buried Prey or my new favorite
Chaos and Kingdom you will love "Shock Wave".
Just when other authors start to wallow in their success-driven mediocrity, John Sanford is producing his best work yet. This latest edition to the Virgil Flowers series (the spin off of the Prey series) is one of his best. This series is clever where other writers' stuff can be commercial; compelling when other books can be gratuitous; and entertaining when others can be cheesy.
In this novel, the cerebral cop Flowers tackles a dastardly bomber who has it out for Pye-Mart stores (big box retailers that are clearly modeled after the Waltons' gift to the world). But is that corporate terrorist just your typical tree-hugger mad about the pollutants in his pristine Minnesota wilderness or is do the bombings have to do with dirty politicians?
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