Dark of the Moon

By: John Sandford

Narrated by: Eric Conger

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Virgil Flowers kicked around for a while before joining the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. First it was the army and the military police, then the police in St. Paul, and finally Lucas Davenport brought him into the BCA, promising him, "We'll only give you the hard stuff."

He's been doing the hard stuff for three years now, but never anything like this.

In the small town of Bluestem, a house way up on a ridge explodes into flames, its owner, a man named Judd, trapped inside. There are a lot of reasons to hate him, Flowers discovers. In fact, he concludes, you'd probably have to dig around to find a person who doesn't despise Judd.

And that isn't even why Flowers came to Bluestem. Three weeks before, there'd been another murder, two, in fact, a doctor and his wife, the doctor found propped up in his backyard, both eyes shot out. Flowers knows two things: this wasn't a coincidence, and it had to be personal.

But just how personal is something even he doesn't realize, and may not find out until too late. Because the next victim may be himself.

©2007 John Sandford (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

Critic reviews

“A book that will keep you turning pages, guessing, and completely immersed - and engrossed - in whatever Sandford wants to throw at you. It’s a great ride, and Sandford proves that sometimes it’s not the character, it’s not the series, it’s the writer.” (The Post)

“An adrenaline rush peppered with laugh-out-loud moments." (Booklist)

After reading....

... Lucas Davenport I turned with no great expectations to Flower. I looked at the reviews and they were not as good as Davenport.

I must say Dark of the Moon is one of Sanford’s best books. I really recommend it.

Most Enjoyable

This is an excellent book. The story is good; the characters are well developed and the plot progresses at a good pace. What really makes this book "a must" is the narration. The narrator's voice is highly "listenable" and he does a superb job of adapting his tone and inflections to differentiate the various characters. Overall, the story keeps the listener engaged and eager for the next chapter.

Like a wheel of fortune of suspects

If you could sum up Dark of the Moon in three words, what would they be?

small town suspects

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

Not quite the edge of my seat as there was not enough action to warrant that until certain parts of the book. However, the character development and flow of the plot was good. I liked the dialogue and thought it was realistic.

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed learning how the main character put all the clues together.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

It used to be a quiet little town.

Any additional comments?

I am willing to listen to another in the series. I did like the narrator.

No continuity from the old “Prey” books

He worked for Lucas on the police department working narcotics/vice. He does not fit the latest bio.
The new series stories do not carry the wow factor of the Prey stories.

Virgil Flowers... yummy

I wasn't sure about another main character, but lookout Lucas... Virgil is cool.

Just OK for John Sandford

But I consider just ok for John Sandford to still be pretty good. I'm not in love with the Virgil character. He's just ok. But I already know he grows up a little as time goes on since I've read all these books, so that makes him easier to put up with in his introductory stage. The narrator is not Sandford worthy, but he didn't ruin it the book either.

Narrator ruined the book

I enjoy John Sanford books...especially the Prey series. I wanted to like this series but the narrator really ruined the book. Tone, pace, and character distinctions were all terrible. Won’t continue with this series unless I can find another narrator.

Good story, narrator will put you to sleep

The story was pretty good. could have been better though, too many "he said"s. The narration was clear and well paced, but so monotonous that it was hard to maintain attention on the book.

Very enjoyable listen from the beginning to end

Another great book with Virgil Flowers as the "man".
This book grabbed me right at the start and kept me interested to the end, with one event after another. As in his other books about Virgil Flowers, John Sandford uses his humor through out the book and sometimes had me laughing out loud at things that Virgil would say. Eric Conger did a great job narrating as well, he had just the right tone in his voice to fit the situation or person.

Will Virgil run out of clean concert T-shirts?

Before the killer goes down. Even narrator Eric Conger seemed to bore with the t-shirt collection. But then narrator Conger may be a bit boring with his monotone clipped delivery style. This is my third Virgil Flowers but first audible version. Without a spoiler, I'm not sure why this killer didn't stand out more like a sore thumb to everyone. Good subplot with a character who reminded me of Boyd Crowder in the Justified TV series but that's based on Elmore Leonard's books. Sandford writes a captivating mystery and I like Virgil but this one is not going to be my favorite.