Rough Country

A Virgil Flowers Novel

By: John Sandford

Narrated by: Eric Conger

Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Virgil's always been known for having a somewhat active, er, social life, but he's probably not going to be getting too many opportunities for that during his new case. While competing in a fishing tournament in a remote area of northern Minnesota, he gets a call from Lucas Davenport to investigate a murder at a nearby resort, where a woman has been shot while kayaking. The resort is for women only, a place to relax, get fit, recover from plastic surgery, commune with nature, and while it didn't start out to be a place mostly for those with Sapphic inclinations, that's pretty much what it is today.

Which makes things all the more complicated for Virgil, because as he begins investigating, he finds a web of connections between the people at the resort, the victim, and some local women, notably a talented country singer.

©2009 John Sandford (P)2009 Penguin

Critic reviews

"Rich, satisfying, and frequently hilarious.” (Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly)

"Unexpected twists...Sandford excels at all the required elements of the novelist: plot, personality, and prose. The melding is masterful and produces an exquisitely paced book at once beautiful and profane, a story that fans of both crime-novel approaches can enjoy. He makes Flowers as appealing and captivating a character as always. With a confident touch, Sandford brings it all home in Rough Country.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

“It’s a complicated case, but Virgil is up to the task, and, as always, he’s funny, smart, and tough when he needs to be.” (Publishers Weekly)

Some surprises

I did enjoy this book. I didn't expect to because of some of the other reviews I had read. I found it suspensful enough too want to get to the next page even though I figured out all the 'who-dunits' before the end of the book. I enjoy the midwest settings and the downhome 'good ole boys' fishing and drinking. I was even comfortable with the gay/lesbian aspect and I thought it was well handled and not over played or bashed in anyway. This was a 'fun listen'.

Not Bad, Not Great

The great thing is that Sanford does a great job of creating 2 different characters in Lucas D and Virgil F, I like the Virgil series but they are not all great compared to most of Lucas' stories... Virgil has a specific way of creating unrest that helps him reach his ends & his ultimate goal. I am not always convinced with Virgil's methods, especially against a really solid 'criminal crew', his weakness is so obvious & so easily exploitable if needed to keep real criminals from going back to jail... etc.... BUT his smokescreen & creation of 'chaos' thru talk & untrustworthiness from potential suspect to suspect, so in the types of conditions Lucas inserts Virgil his method works & entertaining

I also like that Virgil has a military background although I don't believe it is used enuff, even though I'm not looking for another Reacher wanna-be minus about 100 pounds & 100 Macroliters of testosterone & fighting ability but it would be more interesting if instead of just being an MP Virgil was Recon, SF, etc... but I'm just going talking nonsense... This book is not the near the best of the 6, the first couple novels are Sanford's best regarding Virgil but I'm convinced he can get back to some more 'grass-root', causing chaos, taking a completely unreadable angle to get that first lead to solve his cases... & not carrying his gun often? I can understand the t-shirts, but its book 6 & he still hasn't learned & don't think he will make book 8 with that kind of attitude esp after making the type of enemies he has plus ones that are in included by proxy for knowing Davenport..... Worth the reading, average in content

2nd Reading and still GREAT! !

Virgil is at the top of his game. This was a fun read again
Eric Conger can't be beat.

A book to hear

Would you consider the audio edition of Rough Country to be better than the print version?

I like to read, but I drive 3 hours each day and this is the best way for tme to feed the need to read. :-)

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character is Virgil Flowers, he's just like me!

Which character – as performed by Eric Conger – was your favorite?

Virgil Flowers

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

Bug bits & Men kill

Any additional comments?

I liked the story and the book...

Addicted to Virgil

Any additional comments?

I'm hooked. A friend who never steers me wrong on books and movies recommended John Sanford, so I started with the Virgil Flowers series. This is the third one I've purchased. With each one, as soon as it ends I start it over and listen again immediately. I'm going to start #4 in a few minutes, but wanted to take time to recommend this series. It's good fun, well written, and well read. Enjoy!

interesting teists

great way to spring up surprise endings always a pleasure to listen to Virgil analyze and come up with a plausible solution and just needing proof...

Virgil Flowers is great!

I love this series by John Sandford. Virgil is just the right kind of smart gilded with vunerable. I like my heros with lots of intuitiveness and just a little "misguidedness". Virgil has just the right blend. Some people may not like the background - lesbianism, but Virgil's persuit of the answers/killer is the really interesting part of this for me.

Great story line, well delivered

Sandford's writing is so good it is a pleasure to listen to. You have to love Virgil Flowers.

Another great Virgil Flowers book!

This book was a great way to pass the time. Eric Conger is easy to listen to.

Great book

This is my 3rd Virgil Flowers book and the best yet. I look forward to reading the entire Flowers series.