Book Review-Older Books 3

Naked Prey by John Sandford, 359 pages, published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, May 2003.

Hanging, what a place to start, two people are left dangling in an icy windstorm. Is this a thrill kill or could it be justice. But, you know when you start reading this book that Lucas Davenport will be the man to find the answers. As any reader of the Prey series knows, Davenport has the complex brain of a homicide investigator; he is also a computer game developer, a husband and father. His boss Rose Marie Roux has moved into a position with the governor and she has brought Lucas with her. He is the man to handle the complex or politically touchy cases that touch this Midwestern state. He is often left to his own devices and to his sometimes unique way of solving cases.

But, in this case it involves an accelerating killer, a whole host of investigators, and a young girl, who is often left to raise her mother and provide for herself.

Danger and intriguing twists develop throughout this book. Drug runners working hand-in-hand with car choppers fit into the mix, along with kidnapping and murders. And how many cops know how to fix it so it looks just right.

This is the thirteenth novel in the Prey series. After reading and enjoying them all, I found this novel a little slower read than usual. It primarily revolves around the case, as usual, but less with the associated characters, who are frequently as compelling in the Davenport series as the case itself. This cold and isolated landscape leads you to feel the same way about this book. Not through all of it, but some parts could definitely leave a chill. About 3/4^th’s of the way through, you know that there is now going to be a new regular in the Davenport family. And, it left me looking forward to the next one to come.

T. G. Stanton