John Sandford
Dark of the Moon (2007)
Author: John Sandford
Genre: Mystery (Police Detective)/Suspense
Plot Summary:
When a retired doctor and his wife are found brutally murdered in a small Minnesota town, Virgil Flowers of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is called in. When another retired businessman is burned alive as Flowers drives into town he tries to find a connection to the two. As more people die Flowers investigates their past in hopes it will help him stop the murders and catch a revengeful killer. SPOILER: Is it the farming scheme that caused many families to loose their land, the sex scandals from the 1960's or the death of a young pregnant woman over 30 years ago that is driving the murders? As Flowers starts to tie the past together he finds himself the target of the killer and even his high school friend Sherriff Stryker and the sheriff's sister Joan, who Virgil begins dating, become possible suspects. Throw in a preacher who might be running a meth lab and a newspaperman that might have a connection to the dead woman from 30 years ago and Flowers has more than enough suspects.
Geographical Setting:Rural Minnesota and South Dakota
Time Period: Present Day (2007)
Appeal Characteristics:
Virgil Flowers, who was originally introduced to readers as a co-worker of Lucas Davenport in Sandford's Invisible Prey, is at home in the books frame of the rural community of Bluestem. Bestselling author Sandford develops a detailed and interesting character in Flowers who is both a loner who enjoys the desolate drives along I90 in western Minnesota as well as a three times divorced BCA agent who quickly falls for the Sherriff's sister. He likes to give out information to "make things happen". Flowers, who wears rock band t-shirts to fit his mood, is in his element in the small towns near where he grew up. Even more than the characters, the storyline is key in this book, with the investigation of the many suspects and the discovery of how their lives intersected many years ago. The tone of a police procedural is not as well felt as in other police series due to Flowers working alone but the pace is rollercoaster fast from the murders, to the investigation, to Flowers romance, to the killer's thoughts, all combining to make for a compelling read.
Read-alikes:For a suspenseful mystery try another of John Sandford's books Invisible Prey. This is book 17 in his longer running Prey series and the book that first introduced the Virgil Flowers character. The strong character development and fast pacing found in Dark of the Moon are also found in this series. In Invisible Prey Detective Davenport looks for the killers of wealthy art collectors while working on a politically sensitive sexual abuse case. Another series featuring a detective on the hunt for serial killers is Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series. Book one is The Bone Collector where quadriplegic Rhymes uses his mind to figure out the clues the killer is leaving that points to the next victim. Deaver's well developed characters, insight into the killer's mind and rollercoaster pacing makes this a good read. Readers will also enjoy Along Came a Spider by James Patterson. Police psychologist Alex Cross helps the FBI when two people are kidnapped by a serial killer. Secondary character development of Cross's family and the fast pace of the investigation make this first book in the series a page turner. Michael Connelly's The Black Echo is another detective series, this one featuring Harry Bosch, an LA detective who, in this first book, searches for the killers of a fellow former Vietnam vet. Bosch's well developed loner character and fast paced investigation make this a good read. For readers who enjoyed the small community setting and local characters in Dark of the Moon try Tony Hillerman's first book in the Leaphorn/Chee series The Blessing Way. Detective Joe Leaphorn travels across Indian reservations in the Four Corners area while he investigates deaths that seem to be tied into Native American witchcraft. Even with Hillerman's extensive introduction to Native American life the story still moves at a good pace and the characters are well developed and engaging.
Red Flags: The above mentioned books contain some language, mild sex scenes and vivid murder/torture descriptions.
Rules of Prey (1989)
Author: John Sandford
Genre: Suspense (Hard-Edged)/Mystery (Police Detective)
Plot Summary:
Louis Vullion, a struggling lawyer, likes to kill brunette women. He plans his murders very carefully and loves to leave notes on the victims outlining his rules. The rules include statements like "never follow a pattern", "never murder someone you know", and "never take the murder with you". All in all, you'd think he'd be next to impossible to catch. The detective assigned to the case, referred to as the "maddog murders", is Lucas Davenport. Davenport is an eccentric detective who moonlights as a games designer and a successful gambler. He drives a Porsche, and he keeps a bevvy of women on a string. The maddog case has him flumoxed, and it takes some clever detective work (and some not so legal manuevering) to turn this potentially cold case hot. SPOILER: Davenport attempts to draw out the maddog by setting up a reporter as his next victim. When the maddog learns of the trick, he decides instead to go after Davenport's latest female friend, a woman who happens to be the only survivor of the maddog's attacks.
Geographical Setting: Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
Time Period: Contemporary (1989)
Series: the Prey series, Book 1
Appeal Characteristics:
The tone is dark and gritty. It's winter in the Twin Cities, and even the occasional excursion to Lucas's north woods cabin fails to break the tension. Sandford does a good job with characterization. It's hard to call Davenport likeable, but he is honest, and none of the women he's leading on are lead to believe they're anything more than temporary company. Davenport will not be tied down. There are a handful of strong secondary characters, and the reader can look forward to see the relationships that Davenport has with these folk being fleshed out in future books in the series. The pace is fairly relentless (like the best suspense should be), and while it took me a while to warm up to Davenport, I was drawn further into the story with each turned page. The setting is Minneapolis, but this doesn't seem crucial except for the proximity of the great north woods, which may become a factor in later novels. Sandford's writing style is loose. He's not literary, but he writes a tight novel with little excess and realistic dialogue. There's a bit of humor, but Sandford's book are definitely darker-toned suspense/thrillers.
Read-alikes: If you really enjoyed Rules of Prey, then continue the series with Shadow Prey in which Lucas Davenport attempts to solve the brutal slayings of public officials known for their prejudice against Native Americans while, yet again, become entangled in numerous romances. As of 2008, there are 18 books in the series. Sandford also writes a series of crime/caper novels. The first in that series is The Fools Run. If you like the grim tone of Sandford's Davenport novels and don't mind a change of scenery, try the Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. Start with the first in the series, Black Echo, in which the murder of one of Bosch's war buddies leads to the discovery of a far more sinister criminal plot. If you're looking for more detective stories set in Minneapolis, then try Chuck Logan (a favorite of Sandford's). Logan's Phil Broker series follows the exploits of a former undercover Minneapolis detective. The first book in the series is The Price of Blood, in which Broker attempts to track down 10 tons of missing gold for the daughter of an old friend (a little bit more international intrigue, perhaps, than the Lucas Davenport novels). Therasa Monsour also writes thrillers set in Minnesota; however, her protagonist is a investigative journalist, not a detective, though she does share a love of the outdoors with Lucas Davenport. Monsour's Paris Murphy series starts with Clean Cut wherein Paris works with partner Gabe to solve a series of prostitute slayings in St. Paul. James O. Born is a former special agent with Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The details of his novels are very authentic. Try Shock Wave, a stand-alone, hard-edged suspense novel that finds Agent Bill Tasker trying to track down a stolen Stinger missile. Finally, try the Lincoln Rhyme series by Jeffrey Deaver. Deaver's fast-paced psychological thrillers differ from Sandford's in that the protagonist is wheelchair-bound, but the protagonist is just as strong--if not more charismatic--than Davenport. Start with The Bone Collector, in which Rhyme pits his wits against a demented serial killer.
Red Flags: some strong language; results of graphic violence (some of a sexual nature) is described, but the perpetration of it is rarely described in detail; sexual acts are intimated but not graphically described.
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