A great Sandford novel. | Dark of the Moon

Another excellent job by this writer | Dark of the Moon | John Sandford

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	• Dark of the Moon John Sandford Putnam Adult, 2007 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 80 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A LIttle Mayhem on the Prairie

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."

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A great Sandford novel.

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.

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Another excellent job by this writer

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.

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John Sandford Does it Again with Phantom Prey

Phantom Prey is an excellent book. As always, John Sandford has you sitting on the edge of your seat as you read this book. I could not put it down and read the book through the night. Absolutely worth a lost night of sleep! Check it out, because you won't regret getting this book!

Good Start To Another 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 Amazon. 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.

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