John Sandford: Mad River (2012, Simon & Schuster, Limited)
400 pages
English language
Published July 12, 2012 by Simon & Schuster, Limited.
"Bonnie and Clyde, they thought. And what's-his-name, the sidekick. Three teenagers with dead-end lives, and chips on their shoulders, and guns. The first person they killed was a highway patrolman. The second was a woman during a robbery. Then, hell, why not keep on going? As their crime spree cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, some of it captured on the killers' cell phones and sent to a local television station, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers joins the growing army of cops trying to run them down. But even he doesn't realize what's about to happen next. "--
"The next novel in the #1-bestselling Virgil Flowers series"--
"Bonnie and Clyde, they thought. And what's-his-name, the sidekick. Three teenagers with dead-end lives, and chips on their shoulders, and guns. The first person they killed was a highway patrolman. The second was a woman during a robbery. Then, hell, why not keep on going? As their crime spree cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, some of it captured on the killers' cell phones and sent to a local television station, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers joins the growing army of cops trying to run them down. But even he doesn't realize what's about to happen next. "--
"The next novel in the #1-bestselling Virgil Flowers series"--
not QUITE as cop-happy as I'd expected, but still very into the fetishization of the routines of police work as noble and salt-of-the-earth
not QUITE as cop-happy as I'd expected, but still very into the fetishization of the routines of police work as noble and salt-of-the-earth
It starts with a robbery gone wrong. Jimmy, Becky and Tom are three teenagers with no future. When Jimmy kills Agatha O’Leary, daughter of a wealthy family, the trio go on the run, leaving a swathe of murders in the wake. Virgil Flowers of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is called in to track them down before anyone else is harmed. Soon he discovers there’s more than meets the eye.
Mad River is the 6th book in the Virgil Flowers series however this is the first book by John Sandford that I have read and it worked well as a standalone novel. At first glance this book sounded like an episode of Criminal Minds; there are killers on the loose and we and the authorities know perfectly well who they are. The race against time across Minnesota was gripping and kept good pace. What it was lacking was the …
It starts with a robbery gone wrong. Jimmy, Becky and Tom are three teenagers with no future. When Jimmy kills Agatha O’Leary, daughter of a wealthy family, the trio go on the run, leaving a swathe of murders in the wake. Virgil Flowers of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is called in to track them down before anyone else is harmed. Soon he discovers there’s more than meets the eye.
Mad River is the 6th book in the Virgil Flowers series however this is the first book by John Sandford that I have read and it worked well as a standalone novel. At first glance this book sounded like an episode of Criminal Minds; there are killers on the loose and we and the authorities know perfectly well who they are. The race against time across Minnesota was gripping and kept good pace. What it was lacking was the more psychological aspect. What really tipped them over the edge other than a crappy life? I did start to feel a little sorry for Becky, and perhaps even Jimmy at the end, enough to care what happens to them.
I didn’t find Virgil a very engaging protagonist. Perhaps reading the series from the start gives him more of a personality and the character development has already been done but, other than his job, I couldn’t tell you much about him. There’s a sort of on/off relationship which seems to just be plonked in and doesn’t have much relevance to the plot.
Despite its flaws, it was still an enjoyable read and whilst I wouldn’t run out to read the whole series, I wouldn’t avoid his other books in future either. I just need a bit more character to my characters.
