"Heat Lightning"

"Heat Lightning" is another riveting book by John Sandford in his Virgil Flowers series.  I seem to have detected a pattern in Sandford's books - we know from the beginning of the book who the villain is because we hear what he or she is thinking and planning but we don't yet know their names.  As Flowers works to uncover who is behind a crime, we learn more about who is doing it as we follow the sleuthing techniques of Flowers.  However, that is where the similarity seems to end.  So far I have found each book to be a unique story plot and they are always complex in their telling and in their unraveling. 

In "Heat Lightning" Virgil Flowers is brought in again by his boss (Lucas Davenport) to find out who is killing older men and dumping their bodies at war memorials with lemons stuffed in their mouths.  As Flowers investigates, he begins to look for the connection that these men have to one another.  Since they do/did know one another, why have they been selected to be murdered -- and in some cases tortured -- and can he stop the killings before more victims are discovered?  As he races against time to stop the killings and prevent more deaths, he also is trying to figure out a motive and who might be behind the scenes orchestrating everything.  Flowers may be young but he is brilliant -- no wonder Davenport depends on him for his toughest cases.  It's a very complex tale thus also a very satisfying read!  pazt