Mad River: A Virgil Flowers Mystery by John Sandford

Reviewed by Doris

I have been a John Sandford fan since the beginning of his Lucas Davenport Prey series.  Sandford is a master of the strong character driven police procedural with the added appeal of some humor and romance.  All of his books are set in Minnesota in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area, and they have a hard edge of graphic violence.  One of Sandford’s strongest points as a writer is his creation of the bad guy. The Prey series with Davenport has some of the most frightening killers in fiction, and Lucas does not always get the killer. A few years ago, Sandford added a new protagonist when he introduced Virgil Flowers, another BCI agent who was in some ways Lucas’ protégé who now has his own series.  Mad River is the sixth Virgil Flowers novel, and Virgil has moved away from supporting character to leading character with his own strengths and methods of solving crimes.

In Mad River Virgil is traveling his old stomping grounds of rural Minnesota where he grew up. We meet his parents and others from his past which adds more dimension to the character. He is the son of a Lutheran minister and that often leads him to ruminating about the power of God and the battles of Good and Evil. Since he usually only gets pulled into cases of multiple or particularly brutal murders, these contemplations may be what keeps him grounded. Make no mistake though, Virgil is no Bible thumper. He is often the voice of reason when situations get tense. He has an amazing attraction to women, and for that has earned a nickname that is unrepeatable here. The nickname also has to do with his amazing “luck” in solving cases. While I continue to really enjoy the Lucas Davenport novels, I find the character of Virgil has become more appealing in many ways.

Mad River begins with three young people who are angry, living on the streets, and who fancy themselves the new Bonnie and Clyde and side-kick. Becky Welch, Tom McCall, and Jimmy Sharp have a bad attitude, not much conscience, and guns. They begin their crime spree with a robbery that goes wrong. As they travel the back roads with Virgil in pursuit, they leave a trail of death. Each time Virgil thinks he knows where they are headed, things change and it seems catching the trio is not going to happen without some lucky break for law enforcement. In what appears to be an accurate depiction of small town law enforcement procedures, Sandford weaves the violence at a fast pace. Virgil finds himself questioning both his abilities and those of the officers around him, and the twist at the end is both surprising and long foreshadowed.

The Virgil Flowers novels are Dark of the Moon, Heat Lightning, Rough Country, Bad Blood, Shockwave, and Mad River. All are available at both Avoca and the Main BPL.

ARGO: Worth the Trip to the Theater

Reviewed by Doris

Antonio Mendez is a CIA operative whose area of expertise is “exfiltrading” people from ugly situations. He has to plan and then lead missions to extract people important to the US government. It is a job that few know about, no one in the CIA acknowledges and yet it is one of the most dangerous positions for a CIA operative. Sounds like the hero of a spy novel, doesn’t it? Mendez is someone who could have been invented by Robert Ludlum, but he is real and so were his missions.

In 1979 Iranian militants seized the American embassy in Tehran. Fifty-two Americans were taken hostage and held for 444 days. Six Americans escaped from the embassy before it was seized and eventually were hidden in the Canadian embassy. After months of dithering around with bad plans to save the six “houseguests,” the CIA turned to their top extraction man Mendez. Working with the governments of Canada, New Zealand, and Great Britain, Mendez devised an ingenious plan and brought out the six Americans. To protect the remaining hostages, the United States kept the role of Mendez and the CIA secret. Canada was credited with the save. Clearly without the courage of the Canadian Ambassador and his wife, the Canadian government, and a few Iranians who helped pull off the extraction, the Americans would have been executed as spies.

Why the short and not very thorough history lesson? "Argo" tells the story of Mendez and his mission in a taunt, often funny, always tense movie that is well worth a trip to the theater. Ben Affleck does a superb job as director and star of "Argo", and he along with George Clooney and Grant Heslov were producers of the thriller. I have never been much of an Affleck fan but his handling of this topic and this movie is top notch.

Plan after plan to rescue the hostages has been discarded as unworkable. Mendez finally has a flash of inspiration. He will be the Canadian producer of the movie ARGO , a cheesy science-fiction film with a “Middle Eastern vibe, “and go to Iran to look for locations for the filming. The six Americans, using Canadian passports will leave the country as his film crew. John Chambers (played by John Goodman) , the Oscar-winning Hollywood make up icon has worked with Mendez before so he is enlisted to help set up a fake movie production company. He brings in Lester Siegel (played by Alan Arkin) to help, and ARGO is on its way.  When the higher ups in the CIA and the State Department question Mendez on his plan, he tells them all the plans are bad, but ARGO is the best bad plan they have.

Using Tony Mendez’s The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA and Joshuah Bearman’s Wired  article “Escape from Tehran” as his sources, screenplay writer Chris Terrio has done an enthralling retelling of the hostage crisis. Using actual television news footage extensively to keep the timeline focused Terrio balances the story between what is happening in Tehran and Washington, DC. The politics of the situation is always there, as is the fear that begins to fray the nerves of the six “houseguests.” I have to say that even though I knew how the story ended, I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat muttering, “Hurry! Hurry!”

While the screenplay is not totally factual it tells a story of conflicts—those between countries, religions, people, and even agencies in Washington, DC.  It also shows what good things can happen when we can reach out to work together to make good things happen.  I expect to see "Argo" nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture and it so deserves it.

We have both Tony Mendez’s books The Master of Disguise: My life in the CIA (327.12 Men)  and Argo:  How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History  (955.0542 MEN) at Main.

Nevermore November Nonfiction

The cold and snow made for a smaller gathering at last week’s Nevermore, but the discussion was as wide ranging as ever. Here are some highlights:

The Joy of X by by Steven H. Strogatz is just the book for all those folks with math anxiety. He uses pop cultural references and humor to explain a wide range of mathematical concepts, including (gulp!) calculus. The book isn’t a textbook or manual; it explains basic concepts in a fun, enlightening way.

Mortality is Christopher Hitchens’ final book, which he wrote while dying of cancer. Much of the book comes from essays he wrote for various publications in his final months. Hitchens was known for his wit, intelligence, and contrarian stances on a number of subjects, including religion; dying didn’t soften him one bit. Fans admire his straightforward approach and his refusal to sugarcoat anything as well as his eloquence and lucid arguments on a variety of topics.

This led to a discussion about religion and a recommendation for the books of Karen Armstrong. Armstrong is a well respected commentator on religion. One of her best known books is A History of God, which compares Judaism, Islam and Christianity. She looks for shared beliefs among the world’s religions.

Finally, there was a recommendation for It’s Even Worse Than It Looks by Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein. Both are government scholars. They argue that partisan politics and ideological extremism have set up roadblocks to governing and, unless the two parties can work together, the country faces disaster.

What's Hot for November!

You can tell when the publishers start the fall push for books by the increased number of titles on our reserve lists!  There are a number of releases from best-selling authors, including four from the ever prolific James Patterson.  Here are the 25 most requested books:

25.  The Risk Agent by Ridley Pearson is still on the list, as fans enjoy his first new thriller in two years.

24. Private:  Berlin by James Patterson & Mark Sullivan has the exclusive private detective agency investigating a case in Germany.

23. Outrage by Arnaldur Indridason is one of the new “Nordic Noir” books in the mold of Steig Larsson. Set in Iceland, this fast-paced police procedural has a female officer on the trail of a serial rapist while trying to keep her family together.  Booklist called it “deeply compelling.”

22. Stephanie Plum is back!  Yes, the Jersey girl is back in Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich.

21. The Buzzard Table is the new Deborah Knot mystery by Margaret Maron.  A man claiming to be an ornithologist studying vultures has come to town, but Deborah has the feeling she’s seen him somewhere before.

20. Bone Tree by Greg Iles, still expected this December.

19. You Don’t Want to Know by Lisa Jackson is a thriller about a mother who thinks she can hear her dead son.  Is she losing her mind—or is there something else going on?

18. The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom has Father Time trying to teach two mortals just what time means.  Since Albom is also the author of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, you may want to have tissues handy.

17. The Last Man by Vince Flynn has Mitch Rapp in search of a CIA black ops master who may have been kidnapped.  Even worse, he may not have been.

16. Killing Kennedy:  The End of Camelot by Bill O’Reilly is the latest from the author of Killing Lincoln.

15. No Easy Day by Mark Owen is an account of the killing of Osama Bin Laden by a Navy Seal.

14. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling is her first book for adults and has nothing to do with magic. Instead, it’s a look at village life when people find themselves on different sides of an issue, dividing them along lines of class, age, and culture.

13. The Bone Bed by Patricia Cornwell is the latest in the Kay Scarpetta series has the ME investigating the death of a paleontologist and wondering exactly who she can trust.

12. The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts is the last in the Booneboro Inn series.

11. Merry Christmas, Alex Cross by James Patterson has the celebration on hold as the detective is called away to a hostage situation.

10. In Mad River by John Sandford, a teenage couple are cutting a murderous swath as they kill and steal their way across Minnesota, and stirring up a media frenzy.  Virgil Flowers joins in the hunt, but even he doesn’t know what he’s getting into.

9.  Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Paterson and Maxine Paetro is a YA mystery thriller about a teenage girl suspected of murdering her parents.

8. Winter of the World by Ken Follett is the sequel to Fall of Giants, about the fates of five families across the world as World War II is about to begin.

7. Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen is the new Rizzoli and Isles mystery.  The detective and medical examiner are called into a case involving orphans who have survived horrific home invasions.  Is there a connection between the children?

6. Alex Cross, Run by James Patterson won’t be out until February, 2013 but fans are already on the waiting list!

5. The Racketeer by John Grisham is being touted by Barnes and Noble as “classic Grisham with a touch of noir.” 

4. Delusion in Death by J.D. Robb has Eve Dallas investigating a case where a crowd was sent into a murderous frenzy by some sort of hallucinogenic drug.

3. A Wanted Man by Lee Child is the newest Jack Reacher thriller.

2. In Low Pressure by Sandra Brown, a young woman writes a novel about the death of her sister during a tornado eighteen years earlier, but the book seems to be stirring up some memories better left alone.

And the most requested book is:

Death in the Delta:  Uncovering a Mississippi Family Secret by Molly Walling, which is the true story of a woman’s search for the truth about a family secret.  Molly now lives in North Carolina, but is fondly remembered in the Tri-Cities for her many contributions.  As one patron said recently, “I still miss Molly and her wonderful bookstore.”

True Grey by Clea Simon

Melon ponders whodunit in True Grey.

Reviewed by Jeanne

Dulcie Schwartz is just starting to see some daylight at the end of her long academic tunnel. She has a hot lead on the anonymous author she’s been researching for her thesis, and she thinks she may be ready to start writing. Then the incredible happens: a visiting scholar shows up who claims to have already found the missing novel and is about to publish her paper on the topic. Dulcie is devastated. Years wasted! In hopes of finding out if maybe there’s still something left from which to carve out a thesis, Dulcie tries to contact this Melinda Sloan Harquist despite several warnings that she shouldn’t. There is a meeting at last, but Melinda is dead and Dulcie has blood on her hands—literally.


True Grey is the fifth in Clea Simon's Dulcie Schwartz series and I think the best so far. Dulcie is a bit more settled in her life. After several false starts, she’s finally making some real headway with her paper. She and boyfriend Chris have settled into a steady relationship. Esme, the willful little kitten who captured her heart after the death of her beloved feline Mr. Grey, seems to be growing up a bit. Did I mention that Esme can talk? And that Mr. Grey is also still looking out for Dulcie? Both offer help after their own fashion, but advice from felines can sometimes be a bit obscure. Like the Oracle at Delphi, one has to attach one’s own meanings to some of their pronouncements.

I especially enjoyed these little interludes with the cats, but the whole book is fun—especially if you are or ever have been a member of the Professional Organization of English Majors. Actually, anyone who’s been involved in academia will recognize how passionate people can be over things the general public would think to be totally inconsequential.  Think of the TV show Big Bang Theory,only with less slapstick and Engligh majors instead of physists.   People carve out their own areas of expertise and are focused on that to the exclusion of almost everything else, so that someone studying the Gothic tradition sniffs at someone studying the Victorian era and vice versa. Simon catches the atmosphere perfectly, even having Dulcie accept being a murder suspect with relative equanimity but being shattered to learn that she’s suspected of –GASP!—plagiarism!

Another aspect I particularly appreciate is the way Simon has the story mirror some of the material Dulcie studies, with its portents and foreshadowings which the headstrong heroine ignores. Dulcie has a good number of these both from her cats (alive and otherwise) and from her New Age mother, who calls to inform Dulcie when the signs are unfavorable. Dulcie, so intent and earnest in her evaluations of fictional situations and so heedless when it comes to real life, makes me smile in recognition. I also like Dulcie’s thoughts on the anonymous author of The Ravages of Umbria and comments on the early feminist movement as she tries to reconstruct the author’s life.

The subplot with the anonymous author remains one of my favorite aspects of the books and I’m interested in seeing how it plays out. That said, I think these books can be read as standalone mystery novels. As with most series, it’s a bit better to read in order to see the character growth but it’s not mandatory.

Full disclosure:  I was given a copy of the book-- or rather, Melon was given a copy of the book-- but it did not influence my review.

Nevermore Fiction: Casual Vacancy, Going Postal and more

“People are brought together by stories. Responsiveness is hardwired into us. We have a need for stories.”


The above is a summation of some comments at the Nevermore Book Club recently and is as good an introduction as any to this round up of fiction.

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling is her first book for adults. It’s set in a small village where the sudden death of a councilman has left a major decision hanging on who will be elected to replace him. Our reviewer was unimpressed. She felt there were too many characters and most all of them were unlikeable.

Peter Taylor is a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist who writes novels set in the South. His writing has drawn comparisons to Eudora Welty. The pace is somewhat slow but the writing is rich and evocative. Our reviewer had enjoyed In the Tennessee Country, and is currently reading A Summons to Memphis.

The Spy Who Jumped Off the Screen by Thomas Caplan has an internationally known actor being recruited to stop a nuclear arms deal. It’s a rousing thriller with an introduction from Bill Clinton.

While Simon Lelic’s The Child Who won praise from our group, his latest novel The Facility was much less enthusiastically received. This bleak picture of a future Britain in which the government has used anti-terror laws to advance its own agenda was deemed too confusing, with unsympathetic characters.

An oldie but a goodie, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd was mentioned as a book that did a wonderful job of creating characters and depicting human emotion. It’s a moving book that also incorporates facts about bees as part of its story. Our reviewer’s assessment was met with a chorus of agreement!

Another older book winning praise was Going Postal by Terry Prachett, one of the best known Diskworld novels. Prachett’s fantasy books are not only very funny, they tend to be dead-on social satires, and this one is no exception. The short version of the plot is that a forger has been found guilty of his crimes and sentenced to running a post office. The filmed was also popular in Prachett’s native England.

Frankenstein & Bride of Frankenstein

 Reviewed by Jeanne

When one of the library’s wonderful volunteers mentioned that Tinseltown was showing the original 1931 Frankenstein and its sequel, Bride of Frankenstein, I toyed with the idea of going.  After all, everyone’s seen those movies over and over, so it would just be the novelty of seeing it on the big screen, right?

Only the more I thought about it, the less sure I was that I had ever actually seen the movies. Oh, sure, I’d seen clips galore of the iconic Karloff monster, and the Jack Pierce makeup was so distinctive that the square-head and bolts look has been copied and parodied endlessly on everything from “The Munsters” to Frankenberry cereal.  But had I ever seen the entire movie all the way through?  I wasn’t sure I had.

The 1931 Frankenstein image is even used for the cover of a book of essays on the original novel.

So off to the movies I went.  It turned out this was another limited “Fathom Event,” which I note because earlier in the year I’d gone to see two versions of a stage play of Frankenstein. In times past, feature movies were usually shown as part of an evening’s entertainment which would include cartoons and newsreels in addition to previews, so the movies themselves were relatively short—about 70 minutes or so. To pad the running for this special event showing, there were interviews with Bela Lugosi, Jr., Sara Karloff, and modern master make-up artist Rick Baker.  Sara Karloff was a delight, very outgoing and funny, while Lugosi was more reserved.

Now for the main attractions:  what surprised me more was not what I saw but the amount I hadn’t seen or at least didn’t remember seeing.  Some of the sets were obviously on a back lot but that didn’t stop me from enjoying.  I didn’t remember any of the romantic back story with Elizabeth, and I’ll add parenthetically that had I been Elizabeth I would have taken off with Victor.  Not only was he more handsome, he actually seemed interested in Elizabeth.  Henry was more preoccupied with his great experiment than with his fiancé.  (Yes, the names are switched:  in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s novel, the main character is Victor Frankenstein who has a friend named Henry.  In the movie, it’s Henry Frankenstein who has a friend named Victor.)  Of course, being me I was very concerned about the kitten but it seemed to have had a lucky escape as did the hounds hunting the Monster. 

As I sat in the theatre, I tried to imagine what it would have been like back in 1931, waiting to see what would happen. It really was pretty creepy and Karloff did a great job with a role that limited his opportunities to act.  Watching it also disabused me of at least one misconception:  Henry’s assistant is Fritz, not Igor.  There were some bits of humor in the movie, but my favorite was the crediting of the novel to Mrs. Percy B. Shelley. (For the sequel, Mrs. Shelley did get her first name back as having suggested the story.) Highlights for me were the first stirrings of the Monster and, of course, Henry’s scream, ”It’s alive!  It’s alive!”

I was much less familiar with Bride of Frankenstein, so I was a bit bemused by the frame story in which Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley and Lord Byron discuss her book and are at great pains to point out how very wicked it is to even think about tampering with life.  (The first film had been censored in part because of the line from Henry, “Now I know what it feels like to be God!”)  There was a brief recap of the first film, complete with clips of characters played by other actors in the sequel. In keeping with the slightly altered tone, this time Henry has to be drawn back into creating a bride for the original Monster via a sinister former professor and the kidnapping of Elizabeth (now played by a different actress entirely.) This film had the Monster’s first words; according to Sara Karloff, her father was reluctant to have the Monster talk and had to be persuaded that it was right for the character.  This is the source of the oft quoted “Fire—bad!”  Also the film used quite a bit more humor to break the tension, most originating with Minnie the Maid who made pronouncements and mugged her way through the movie.  This film was smoother than the first, but whether that was due to the original vision or due to heavy editing, I don’t know.

If you ever have a chance to see these films on the big screen, do it.  The audience all seemed to enjoy it and I was pleased to find that the movies still had a certain amount of power.  As someone pointed out, this was before they knew how to blow things up so they had to rely on more character and plot.