Mad River

By: John Sandford

Narrated by: Eric Conger

Bonnie and Clyde, they thought. And what’s-his-name, the sidekick. Three teenagers with dead-end lives, and chips on their shoulders, and guns.

The first person they killed was a highway patrolman. The second was a woman during a robbery. Then, hell, why not keep on going? As their crime spree cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, some of it captured on the killers’ cell phones and sent to a local television station, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers joins the growing army of cops trying to run them down. But even he doesn’t realize what’s about to happen next.

Critic reviews

Praise for John Sandford's MAD RIVER:

“The best entry in a stellar series” – Booklist (starred review)

“A high-octane thrill ride. Virgil pulls out all the stops.” – Publishers Weekly

“Wonderfully entertaining” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“The greatest strength of Mad River lies in Flowers himself. It’s hard to think of a more balanced and genial investigative hero, yet he’s still able to keep cops and bad guys alike in line. The killers’ motivations and dynamic remain riveting until the final pages.” – Shelf Awareness

“There are few events more welcome in the literary world than the appearance of another John Sandford book. Mad River is shot through with dark humor from all sides [and] the violence that is the driving force of the book ratchets up the suspense to an almost excruciating degree.” – Bookreporter.com

For Fans Only

John Sandford is my favorite mystery-thriller author. [Wouldn't mind knowing Virgil Flowers either.] So I enjoyed the book. But it's not up to par with Sandford's other books.

From start to finish it felt like Sandford was fulfilling a contract commitment and didn't have time to get inspired.

Note to Publisher: Please don't make him dumb down this series or the one with Lucas just to grind out more books!

I LIKE the social commentary, don't get me wrong. But I didn't learn anything new.

Another thing, the main characters use the same sentence structure, which I've noticed before. Breaks the spell. Maybe the next book could include disguising your identity in a sophisticated manner and Sandford could learn about changing sentence structure along the way?

You have to love Virgil Flowers

This was a great listen. There were a couple "turns" in the story I didn't see coming. As usualy, John Sandford didn't dissapoint.

another great Virgil Flowers story

Sandford has parlayed the relatively minor character of Virgil Flowers into a stand-alone character with at least as much personality as his original Lucas Davenport. I never miss one of Sandford's books and this is as good as any.

loved it

I love this whole book I love flowers that f****** flowers anyway I can't wait for the new ones come out John Sandford's got to be one of the best crime novelist I've ever read enjoy every one of his books but I do still miss Lucas Davenport on occasion

Slow start. Good finish.

Slow start laying foundation. Good Virgil Flowers story. Would recommend stories and reader. Second time listening to this series. Liked finish.