John Sandford Jumps on the Da Vinci Code Bandwagon with Storm Front
It seemed like any other summer day for Virgil Flowers: the Minnesota BCA agent was performing a little busywork around his home base in Mankato. He was bracing criminal genius (and stone fox) Ma Nobles about fake barnwood when he got the call from Lucas Davenport. The assignment? chaperone an Israeli antiquities expert who was tracking a local Lutheran minister accused of making off with some old rock from an archaeological dig. No big deal, except this "old rock" just might be the find of the century; maybe the millennium - perhaps even the Christian Era. Virgil was amused - not unusual, since Virgil is oft amused - at least before his curiosity got the better of him. Seems that the previous week in Israel, the vacationing minister had made off with an artifact (an ancient stele) inscribed with a history that could set the Judeo-Christian world on its ear. The guy soon reappeared at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for treatment of his terminal cancer, then deopped out of sight - with the stele - again. All of a sudden there seem to be somewhere between two and five people including a knife-waving Turk, a front man for Hezbollah and a reality TV version of Indiana Jones; all caught in a bidding war for the artifact. Oh, yeah, and the Israeli antiquities expert was more expert with a 9mm than with archaeology… can you say, "Mossad"? A rousing game of Hide the Stele ensued, Virgil (as is his wont) engaged in a rousing game of hide the sausage, someone got kidnapped and a couple of people were shot - though none seriously. Could Virgil find the missing Reverend before a) he shuffled off this mortal coil or b) the stele disappeared? Well, we're talkin' about "That Fuckin' Flowers," so it's a safe bet that he'll get his man - not to mention his woman - and have a helluva good time in the process. Storm Front is the sixth Virgil Flowers novel (Shock Wave, Dark of the Moon) from the pen of prolific Minnesotan John Sandford, who also authors the Lucas Davenport (Fill in the Blank) Prey series. Davenport, Flowers' titular boss, is a minor character in this series; mainly playing a grump answering the phone early in the morning. It isn't the only Storm Front out there, but this one shouldn't be confused with the first Harry Dresden novel from Jim Butcher or the first Derrick Storm novel from "Richard Castle." In Virgil Flowers Sandford's created a sort of upper Midwest version of James W. Hall's Thorn (Dead Last); an ageless outdoorsman who excels at his craft in part because he's in tune with his neighborhood. Where Thorn is dark and brooding, however, Flowers is more the happy-go-lucky type, with blond surfer-boy looks and a closet full of punk and grunge band t-shirts. Friend and foe alike, however, judge the book that is Virgil Flowers by its cover at their risk. He's deeper on many counts than he appears, and for Storm Front he proves it once again. Expect a novel that isn't a by-the-numbers police procedural, one that leavens the usual suspense with a healthy dose of fun. Don't come expecting graphic violence or sex, but do come expecting a good time. all content copyright © 2001 to present by scmrak
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