A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

So Mad River is the latest installment in John Sandford's Virgil Flowers adventures.  The previous Virgil Flowers novels have been reviewed here on the blog, and you can find them by doing a search on the blog if you're interested.  This latest installment differs from previous ones by the fact that it is largely a manhunt--the culprits are known to the police, so there isn't much need for detecting much besides the whereabouts of said culprits before they drop more bodies in their bloody wake. Virgil Flowers is literally just returned from a Bahamian vacation when his boss at Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Davenport, sends him into western Minnesota to work a double murder and then the massive manhunt that ensues.  Unfortunately for Flowers by novel's end things go sideways leaving him unable to tie up his investigation to his liking. Jimmy Sharp, Becky Welsh, and Tom McCall just want to get to L.A. even if that means killing some people to get...

As you can see by the many months since the last posted review, I haven't been reading many books.  I started this book sometime during the summer.  The morning I started this book, I read the first 100 pages (it's a fast read and a page turner), and then I had to go to work and after that I didn't pick it back up again until Hurricane Sandy blew through at the end of October.  I finished another book during the storm and then finished this one while I waited for the internet to come back. Wide Open is a supernatural, suspense thriller; as far as I can tell, its Deborah Coates' first print novel, although she has two previous e-books that come up in an Amazon search.  For those who liked Wide Open (of whom I am one), there's a sequel, Deep Down , that was set for release in March of 2013 the last time I checked. Hallie Michaels returns home on compassionate leave from Afghanistan and when she steps off the plane, she's greeted by the ghost of her sister,...