Bad Blood

A Virgil Flowers Novel

By: John Sandford

Narrated by: Eric Conger

Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Thriller Award for Best Hard Cover Novel, 2011

The brilliant new Virgil Flowers thriller from the number-one New York Times-best-selling author.

One late fall Sunday in southern Minnesota, a farmer brings a load of soybeans to a local grain elevator - and a young man hits him on the head with a steel bar, drops him into the grain bin, waits until he's sure he's dead, and then calls the sheriff to report the "accident". Suspicious, the sheriff calls in Virgil Flowers, who quickly breaks the kid down...and the next day the boy's found hanging in his cell.

Remorse? Virgil isn't so sure, and as he investigates he begins to uncover a multigeneration, multifamily conspiracy - a series of crimes of such monstrosity that, though he's seen an awful lot in his life, even he has difficulty in comprehending it...and in figuring out what to do next.

Stemming crime: listen to another Virgil Flowers novel.

©2010 John Sandford (P)2010 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Flowers is a fun character, smart and honest with a healthy supply of cynicism and snark...a thoroughly engaging, suspenseful, satisfying story.” (The Washington Examiner)

“Sandford’s exciting fourth thriller to feature Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent Virgil Flowers. [His] biggest...case to date.” (Publishers Weekly)

"A Pandora’s box of multiple murders, criminal behavior…and revelations of deviancy that go back generations. As usual, Sandford delivers a great mystery with action, suspense, humor, and, yes, sex. Virgil always gets his man, but he also gets the girl. Good reading.” (Booklist)

Keeps You Interested

John Sanford is one of my favorites to listen to while driving down the road in my truck. This story is interesting throughout, but is a bit of a roller coaster ride towards the end when everything goes full throttle. Some might find some of the subject matter a bit disturbing, but basically all you can say is..."It's out there" and in the world of crime most any rock will get kicked over eventually to expose all kinds of nasty dealings.....A good reader also makes this a really good listen....

my first Sandford

First time author for me that I discovered on Audible. Turns out he and I were at the Univ of Iowa at the same time, way back when. This was a crime thriller set in rural Minnesota. It was interesting and engagin, was well written and had a good, fast pace to it. Was it the best crime thriller ever written? No. But it was good enough that I know I'll give the author another try.

Typical Sandford

If you could sum up Bad Blood in three words, what would they be?

Entertaining and easy listening.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Somewhat. There are no real low points.

Which scene was your favorite?

None really.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, if I could have.

Any additional comments?

Typical Sandford. For anyone with a Midwest (especially Minnesota) background, Sandford nails, as always, the local flavor. For me, even though the subject is dark, the local knowledge makes me smile.

As mentioned, Sandfords subjects can be quite dark and frightening but there is enough local humor injected to keep it entertaining.

A good listen. I prefer the Virgil Flowers series over the others. The Virgil Flowers character has a lot more depth than the others.

Awesome as always!

I’m so torn between Virgil and Lucas, so I listen to one and switch to the other! On to Lucas❣️

How do you decide to quit a story?

I have read several Virgil Flowers books and understand why his character is much admired by listeners. The best part of this book was keeping up with the character.

Yet, I can't recommend the listen because I lost almost all interest once John Sanford revealed the identity of the killers and the mystery before I even reached the half-way point of the book. I enjoy true whodunits and want the go through the gradual reveal of clues. I listened for another hour or so, but my mind kept wondering and I wasn't willing to re-listen to parts I missed. I finally threw in the towel. Do you do the same? Under what circumstances do you stop listening to a book that used up a valuable credit?

I will say that Eric Conger did his usual outstanding job with the narration of this series.

Good murder mystery

The story has twists and turns with surprising plot. It was well done.Very good reader

I love John Sanford, I love Virgil Flowers

Virgil Flowers is as entertaining a character as Lucas Davenport. Perhaps even more so now that Lucas is all "settled down".

Bad Blood

This is one of the best cop stories I've listened to this year. The characters are well developed and it's easy to follow the narrator, who has great timing and made me giggle a bit at the writers funny stuff. I don't want to give anything away but I'd recommend this one for sure.

Perfect

Perfect in every way. going for the next Virgil Flowers story. i am hooked looking for the next adventure.

Good book, bad timing

It was my first John Sandford's book. And it will not be my last. I liked the strong characters and the good plot. It has a fast pace and the author don't linger in irrelevant details. But, the reason why I didn't give it a five star was because the author disclosured the killers and the mystery too soon. Otherwise it would have been a great book.