• Bloody Genius

  • A Virgil Flowers Novel, Book 12
  • By: John Sandford
  • Narrated by: Eric Conger
  • Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (4,566 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Bloody Genius  By  cover art

Bloody Genius

By: John Sandford
Narrated by: Eric Conger
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Virgil Flowers will have to watch his back - and his mouth - as he investigates a college culture war turned deadly in another one of Sandford's "madly entertaining Virgil Flowers mysteries" (New York Times Book Review).

At the local state university, two feuding departments have faced off on the battleground of science and medicine. Each carries their views to extremes that may seem absurd, but highly educated people of sound mind and good intentions can reasonably disagree, right?

Then a renowned and confrontational scholar winds up dead, and Virgil Flowers is brought in to investigate...and as he probes the recent ideological unrest, he soon comes to realize he's dealing with people who, on this one particular issue, are functionally crazy. Among this group of wildly impassioned, diametrically opposed zealots lurks a killer, and it will be up to Virgil to sort the murderer from the mere maniacs.

©2019 John Sandford (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“[A] smartly plotted mystery.” (New York Times Book Review)

“Sandford is a terrific storyteller who can spin an intriguing tale without having to fill it with death-defying mayhem.... Armchair sleuths who are intent on solving the crime for themselves will need to be on their toes.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

“Compulsively readable.... Readers who like a bit of unrepentant wiseass in their sleuths will find Flowers fits the bill. Sandford makes blending humor and mystery look easy.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Flowers remains one of the great modern fictional detectives, and Sandford, as always, supplies amazing secondary characters, sharp dialogue, and plots that confound and amaze. A near-perfect crime novel.” (Booklist, starred)

What listeners say about Bloody Genius

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,377
  • 4 Stars
    929
  • 3 Stars
    196
  • 2 Stars
    33
  • 1 Stars
    31
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,336
  • 4 Stars
    616
  • 3 Stars
    103
  • 2 Stars
    25
  • 1 Stars
    19
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,894
  • 4 Stars
    878
  • 3 Stars
    216
  • 2 Stars
    50
  • 1 Stars
    30

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Virgil calls in some old friends...

A Minneapolis medical research professor is murdered in a University library. Virgil Flowers is called in to help when the local police hit a brick wall in their investigation. Initially resistant and not quite getting Virgil’s sense of humor, he tells the Chief of Police that he’s not interested in taking any credit when the case is solved, which at first he thinks will take a day. After all how many enemies could one professor make? In this guy’s case many. He has two ex wives and a current wife. He has money, he’s involved with prostitutes, drugs, a daughter who butted heads with him, blackmail and more. There are so many red herrings that throughout the story you change your mind about the killer at least five or more times. I didn’t see who it was until the person was actually revealed and then said Oh Yeah, of course because the clues are there all along.
Eric Conger does an excellent job narrating.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
If you found this review helpful please indicate so.
Thank You.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

80 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing addition to a great series

Found the plot uninteresting with unmemorable characters. While book just felt flat to me...whereas previous Flowers books I have enjoyed immensely.
For me it lacked the underlying wit and repartee between Flowers and those around him. This book reminded me of seeing a concert with a performer that usually highly entertains but puts on only a pedestrian performance.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Just ok.

Just ok. I've read all the Sanford books through the years and I've enjoyed the Virgil character. This book was disappointing. Not terrible, not a page Turner either. Just ok.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Ummmm... Are you there John Sanford?

As with the Davenport thrillers, I anxiously await the new Flowers installment immediately upon finishing the last. Ive been counting down the days for this one for the past month. Yuck. Where is the Virgil we all know and love? This character is not “him”. As another reviewer observed, *all* the characters are flat. The book jumps all over the place, which would have been fine if they would have followed up on any of the directions it turned. Yes, he discovers the culprit, but you’re left hanging on the several other plot lines he opens in the process, including stumbling across another murderer and his reaction is to say “meh, it’s not the one I’m personally pursuing, so screw it.” That is not Virgil’s style. And where is Johnson Johnson? Also, (***spoiler alert**) ——- is Frankie going to be pregnant for 2 years? Highly annoyed that it wasn’t included in this book... they announced it a year ago in last years Flowers novel, and “checked in” on the situation during April’s release of the Davenport installment, soooo... What gives? Anticlimactic, flat, missing the old Virgil - the depth of relationships he always develops with the characters around him, his nightly thoughts of God and “what it all means and why”, and .. well.. he’s cranky. Will the real John Sandford please stand up? Oh, and bring the real Virgil back upon your return.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not Sanford's best work by a long shot

Starts weird, and basically goes nowhere. Very limited suspense. usually love most of Sanford's books, but this one is a miss.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not up to snuff

this book is not as good as some past novels. As time goes by it seems Sanford uses more and more profanity. Even though it seems to be a sign of the times and I am far from a prude, it does not do much to add to the story. It seems authors in general are putting out too many books to make a buck, rather than the quality of some of their previous works.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

TERRIFIC!

I could not put it down. One of Sandford's best. Can't wait until the next one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Love Virgil Flowers......but not this story

I always look forward to the latest Virgil Flowers book, but this one was a huge disappointment. The world of academics is confusing (and boring) enough, but then to throw in another even more challenging story line put this book over the top. I stayed with it until the end just to find out "who did it" and that was nuts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Sad I Couldnt Finish It

SOOO many unnecessary, gratuitous references to female anatomy.... Adds nothing to story, which was quite good. Just got tired of hearing it. Some of us are still offended by trash talk. Totally unnecessary..it defined the character the first time he used it. No reason except shock value after multiple times.

Sad that such a good story was ruined by this and sorry the author felt the need to use repetitiously. Ruined the book for me.

You can do better than this, Mr. Sandford.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great characters but impossible language

There is so much gratuitous filthy language in this book that it is nearly impossible to hear. The characters and story line are great but the potty mouth kills it for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful