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Mad River (A Virgil Flowers Novel) Hardcover – October 2, 2012

by John Sandford (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 10,832 ratings
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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.
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Previous page
  1. Book 6 of 12
    Virgil Flowers
  2. Print length
    400 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    G.P. Putnam's Sons
  5. Publication date
    October 2, 2012
  6. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0399157700
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0399157707
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Three rural Minnesota teenagers, Jimmy Sharp, Becky Welsh, and Tom McCall, are on a crime spree. It started with the murder of a store clerk during a botched robbery. Victim number two died in a car heist as they made their getaway. Then they decide “what the hell” and settle a couple of personal scores. The kids are murderous but not dumb, and they avoid capture from an ever-growing cadre of pursuers that includes Virgil Flowers from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Flowers is the nominal head of the investigation, but he struggles to keep control of the various law-enforcement agencies involved. He’s determined to take the kids alive, an end game that’s not endorsed by his associates. As the pursuit continues, he’s able to establish phone contact with Welsh. At least one of the killers has moved from abstraction to human, and Flowers becomes more determined than ever to bring them in alive. Flowers is a complex character camouflaged by his long hair, rock-’n’-roll T-shirts, smart mouth, and fearlessness. The son of a minister, he is burdened by a spirituality that subtly influences his every decision. It’s more pronounced in this case as he fights the pack’s need for revenge and, in the end, leaves readers assessing the morality of the kids as well as their pursuers. This may be the best entry in a stellar series. --Wes Lukowsky

Review

Praise for John Sandford's MAD RIVER:


“The best entry in a stellar series” – Booklist (starred review)

“A high-octane thrill ride. Virgil pulls out all the stops.” – Publishers Weekly

 

“Wonderfully entertaining” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

 

“The greatest strength of Mad River lies in Flowers himself. It’s hard to think of a more balanced and genial investigative hero, yet he’s still able to keep cops and bad guys alike in line. The killers’ motivations and dynamic remain riveting until the final pages.” – Shelf Awareness

 

“There are few events more welcome in the literary world than the appearance of another John Sandford book. Mad River is shot through with dark humor from all sides [and] the violence that is the driving force of the book ratchets up the suspense to an almost excruciating degree.” – Bookreporter.com

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ G.P. Putnam's Sons (October 2, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0399157700
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0399157707
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.54 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 10,832 ratings

About the author

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John Sandford

John Sandford

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John Sandford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp. He is the author of the Prey novels, the Kidd novels, the Virgil Flowers novels, and six other books, including three YA novels co-authored with his wife Michele Cook.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
10,832 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tracy
5.0 out of 5 stars Always great!
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2012
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I love John Sandford and all of his books. Like a lot of people I started with Lucas Davenport who is and always will be my favorite detective. I was reluctant to pick up the first Virgil Flowers novels but I'm so happy I did. Sanford has a way of making scenes in the book feel very real and intense. I feel I am right there with the characters storming a house where the "perps" might be hiding. I enjoyed this book also because of the subject matter. The antagonists are a few young adults from a bad and poor upbringing and simply because they had nothing else in their lives they ended up turning to crime. It's an interesting concept to think that these rural kids who weren't really too smart but also didn't want to go into farming or work at the local hardware store sent them on an insane journey to get money. It got me thinking how many times does this happen in life where kids think because they have nothing to do or no desire, that they spiral downward. I found the progression realistic. The local sheriff and how his police department operates is examined and challenged by Virgil. I found that part of the book thought provoking. And when it happens, I especially love the back and forth between Davenport and Flowers. Virgil clearly is an interesting character and detective. I loved getting a peek into his upbringing by spending some time with his folks. Virgil always manages a bit of "romance" during these investigations and I'm pretty sure I'd be disappointed if he didn't. Mad River is another great novel by Sandford and I for one will never let a Flowers novel pass me by.
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Jack
4.0 out of 5 stars Do I know you ????
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2024
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Vergil is a worthy protagonist and strangely his mental gymnastics appear very familiar, it's a fun read and is the reason I have read four other Virgel adventures...
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John E. Mack
5.0 out of 5 stars Good but there have been better. And contains a troubling mistatement of Minnesota law.
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2012
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Sanford is always good, so I am reluctant to give it less than five stars. If Amazon provided ten stars, I would have given it a nine, because it is not quite as good as some of his other Virgil Flowers books. Nonetheless, it does have strong characters, particularly strong villains. The plot is fairly straightforward: a couple of Bonnie and cyde types go on a killing spree and Flowers and his team manage to track them down. In the process, Flowers discovers another murder arranged by a local Millionaire. There are some interesting walk-ons, such as a particularly nasty sheriff (what does Sanford have against sheriffs? This is hardly his first despicable "County Mounty"? And Sandford's political opinions, as expressed through those characters he loathes, are starting to become obtrusive.) We also learn some things about Flowers that we did not know before (or which were touched upon so lightly that I missed them), such as the fact that he is the son of a Marshall, Minnesota minister. The action is fast, and the villains are more sympathetically drawn than their actions deserve.

My principal objection to the book is that it is not a mystery. Unlike his Lucas Davenport books, which have been straightforward police procedurals, the previous Virgil Flowers entries have been "whodunits," however much they involve procedural matters in the process. And they were good "whodunits," keeping us guessing until the last pages. Here, the reader knows who did what early on, and it is obvious that the rather stupid crooks will be tracked down. The only questions are how many people they will kill before they are caught and how they will manage to get their comeuppance. I hope this book does not represent a new direction. Virgil Flowers is not a sufficiently interesting character to carry the story without mystery good enough to keep the pages turning. Furthermore, Sanford is running out of southern Minnesota venues to keep the local color fresh. He needs to get back to what kept the Flowers series such an interesting companion to the "Prey" books.

One caveat is necessary. Flowers at one point in the book notes that it is not illegal to sell a firearm to a private person in Minnesota. Actually, Minnesota is fairly strict about private sales, particularly of pistols. Minn. Stat. sec. 624.7132 requires an owner who desiresxz to transfer a pistol to report the proposed sale to law enforcement and must receive permission from law enforcement before the owner can legally consumate the sale. If either the owner or the proposed transferee is prohibited from possessing the pistol, law enfocement will refuse permission and the sale of the pistol would constitute a gross misdemeanor. I know that the book is fiction, but Flowers is portrayed as both a law enforcement agent and a "good guy," and some people reading the book will take his statement of the law as gospel. Such readers may wind up violating the law because they think that Flowers' statement is an accurate reflection of it. It isn't.
8 people found this helpful
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5.0 out of 5 stars Mad River
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2024
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The trouble that only Virgil Flowers can find is front and foremost here. Riveting book, as we have come to expect from John Sandford.
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Tom Goodrick
4.0 out of 5 stars Mysteries Within Mysteries
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2012
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As you start into this book, like most of Sandford's books, you get the impression there is not a lot of action. But soon you notice that several people have been killed. One killer seems to be clearly identified. Is there another killer? My favorite super cool detective, Virgil Flowers, heads out toward the southwestern corner of Minnesota to track down the twenty-something "kids" believed to have murdered another young lady. The scene is near his parents' home but this is an area where towns are geographically not far apart but separated by vast distances socially. We see the range of social strata from dirt poor to quite well-off. The poor people see the richer people and want to get their things. We meet three young losers who think anything owned by others is fair game for them to improve the comfort in their lives. Their first crime supposedly begins as an attempt to steal a diamond necklace. But they never really have much of a chance of that. They do end up killing a woman which seems incidental but turns out to be the reason their leader has money and a gun. He was hired to kill the woman by her estranged husband. The action is mostly a search for these young criminals as they leave a string of dead bodies including the body of a cop shot during a robbery. This brings all the cops in the southern 1/3 of Minnesota looking for blood.

The cops final kill two of the young kids in cold blood. Virgil calls them out on it on regional TV as the smoke clears. Their action makes it nearly impossible for him to prove the facts in another murder. There are many amusing and enlightening views of the people in this area of the country. Remember: this is not too far removed from Gary Keilor's Lake Wobegone!
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Top reviews from other countries

Carol Wong
5.0 out of 5 stars Page turner
Reviewed in Canada on April 21, 2024
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John Sandford novel -- what else can I say? Perfect complement to the 'Prey' series
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Peter
5.0 out of 5 stars good book, perfect service by seller
Reviewed in Germany on February 10, 2020
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every thing ok
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Abhishek Kumar
3.0 out of 5 stars Average
Reviewed in India on August 8, 2017
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The least likeable book of the series of Virgil Flower by the author not recommended to the new readers only to fans.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in Australia on October 28, 2019
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Best story I've read for some time. Virgil was a most unusual cop. No gun and unusual way of thinking, to bring in prisoners to help made it a greatt read
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Strv 74
5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you, John Sandford
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 13, 2012
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I have read all of John Sandfords books about Lucas davenport and Virgil Flowers. So far 28 books. I have never tried his series about Kidd so I cant compare to that one. Sandford is a great writer. Not only does he take a number of almost ordinary crimes and make a mystery out of that but the people in his books are for the bad guys believable and for the good ones people you like without any exaggerations.

This book is about Virgil Flowers again. He has to deal with a number of crazy teenagers that for some reason just kill people and then start to run. Maybe there are to many killings but each one of them is explained in a logical way. We get to follow Virgil in his hunt for these killers but also his dealings with the media and the woman he always wanted to have. It is a very nice ride, a lot of humor but also a lot of police work and horror details. The ending is a surprise but also a nice change to the usual type of ending where everyone gets caught and punished.

Two days of easy reading and you will think that was well spent time. I look forward to the next Virgil Flowers adventure.
6 people found this helpful
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