Another great Prey novel. . .

books:


	• Phantom Prey (Lucas Davenport Mysteries) John Sandford Putnam Adult, 2008 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 42 reviews view larger image
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Motivation please

When a millionaire heiress is stabbed to death in her mother's suburban residence, Lucas's wife Weather, a friend of the mother's, prevails upon Lucas to take on the case.

The dead girl, Frances Austin, was involved in the Twin Cities Goth scene, and when some of Frances's friends turn up dead, also brutally stabbed, Lucas focus's on a photo of Frances and her friends taken at a local nightclub.

I had a problem with motivation. The killer seems to have been seeking revenge because of the photo, but Sandford never bothers to tell us what gave the killer the idea that Goths were involved, other than that a so-called ghost prods him or her into it or that he or she may simply be crazy.

There are two subplots, one involving a drug dealer the BCA thinks is trying to sneak into town to see his wife, a former Edina cheerleader. Lucas and his pal Dell are on a stakeout across the street from the girl's apartment watching the girl put on a show for them. They're not sure if she knows they're there. The last subplot deals with the Republican convention which will be held in the Twin Cities this summer. This gives Sandford an opportunity to take a few shots at George W. Bush, "the worst (expletive deleted) president ever," according to Lucas's BCA boss. Lucas is worried about possible protest riots comparable to the Seattle Word Trade conference. I'm anticipating Sandford making more use of the Republican convention in his next effort.

Weather and Lucas's family as well as his friend Elle, the nun, are barely mentioned. If you will remember, Weather was reluctant to marry Lucas because she was worried he may be killed. But when Lucas is shot in the leg, she seems barely bothered.

The Washington Post refers to this version as "as fresh and entertaining as ever." Lucas is still as boyishly irreverent as ever (his main appeal in my mind) but this one isn't as good as, say, WINTER PREY.

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I love this guy

Some of John Sandford's recent books have been lacking the kick I expect from him, but this one is back up to his excellent standard. I'll read anything he writes and the Lucas Davenport books are my favorites.

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Passable.............

This is pasable but not up to the high standard set by other volumes in the series. I've been a fan of the Davenport series and have read them all ever since I picked up a copy of Winter Prey at an airport several years ago. I immediately backfilled with all the earlier books and began buying all the new ones as they came out. This one is OK, not a complete waste of time, but it's pretty well below others in the series. Whether Sandford is running out of gas/ideas I don't know. Maybe too many books or too manay charactes. Early plot while interesting has central character way too far fetched. And the fact that one of central character's cohorts ends up being figment of her troubled imagination just didn't do it for me. So while I'll put it on the shelf along with my other Sandford novels, I don't ever expect to be rereading this one.
Better next time, John, please...........

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A Pretty Good Read

Sandford remains in good form with this novel. It gave me two-to-three chuckles and introduced me to the Goth world... a new element for me in thriller/fiction stories. Sandford, when he actually writes his books, produces a story that men will enjoy. For example, Davenport's reaction to being pushed into using a crutch or cane by Merriweather is both genuine and funny. Post violence reactions were also realistic. Shooting and being shot at is a traumatic experience for people and there will often be reactions. Thus, the heroes are not 2D characters but real human beings.

I enjoyed this story. It may even have been good enough for me to re-read someday. The pace is not too slow yet there is some character development.

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Another great Prey novel. . .

John Sandford has delivered once again. Phantom Prey is an excellent book that features page-turning suspense. Lucas Davenport is a great character to root for. John Sandford's novels far surpass James Patterson and the works that other writers create for him. Phantom Prey is one of the best novels in the entire Prey series. This book is a must read. Two thumbs up from me.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Lucas Davenport has had disturbing cases before? but never one quite like this, in the shocking new Prey novel from the #1 New York Times?bestselling author.

John Sandford?s most recent Davenport novel, Invisible Prey, was hailed as ?one of his best books in recent memory? (The Washington Post); ?as fresh and entertaining as ever? (Chicago Sun-Times); and ?rivetingly readable? (Richmond Times-Dispatch). But this time, he?s got something quite special in store.

A widow comes home to her large house in a wealthy, exclusive suburb to find blood everywhere, no body?and her collegeaged daughter missing. She?s always known that her daughter ran with a bad bunch. What did she call them?Goths? Freaks is more like it, running around with all that makeup and black clothing, listening to that awful music, so attracted to death. And now this.

But the police can?t find the girl, alive or dead, and when a second Goth is found slashed to death in Minneapolis, the widow truly panics. There?s someone she knows, a surgeon named Weather Davenport, whose husband is a big deal with the police, and she implores Weather to get him directly involved. Lucas begins to investigate only reluctantly?but then when a third Goth is slashed in what is now looking like a Jackthe- Ripper series of killings, he starts working it hard. The clues don?t seem to add up, though. And then there?s the young Goth who keeps appearing and disappearing: Who is she? Where does she come from and, more important, where does she vanish to? And why does Lucas keep getting the sneaking suspicion that there is something else going on here . . . something very, very bad indeed?

Filled with his brilliant trademark suspense and some of the most interesting characters in thriller fiction, Phantom Prey is further proof that ?Sandford is in a class of his own? (The Orlando Sentinel).

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