Lucas Davenport faces a living nightmare, in one of the scariest Prey novels yet from the number-one bestselling author.

Abridged CD - 5 CDs, 6 hours

This review contains spoilers!
First what is good about the book, for the most part it is well-written (except the early pages), & it intrigues the reader into thinking what the connections may be.
And then comes the ending, a killer out of the blue, who somehow has managed to completely access another person's personnel records, who somehow manages to fool everybody, & seems like super-intelligent & super-organized, which is highly unlikely. I always hated this kind of stunt. As a reader, I read a book not for "trick ending" (& even that doesn't woek very well, since the killer's detailed actions are rather sketchy), but rather to be encouraged to think, to follow the characters' thoughts & actions to guess from a variety of characters what psychological underpinnings are driving one of the characters to act that way. Otherwise it is not something I'd invest intellectually in. Agatha Christie did that kind os stunt ending but even she at least gave some idea of the culprit. And she was the first, & her Hercule Poirot was liable in his quirkiness. One more thing. So Lucas Davenport is a jock (hockey player); tech-smart (designed his own software), multimillionaire; street-smart obviously; good with his hands (built his own house); handsome; ages slower than normal human beings; & is married to a gorgeous doctor, one of the best in her field. WOW! Why not make him able to move objects with his thoughts in the next book.

This is the first murder mystery in a long time, where I didn't have everything figured out by the halfway point. I'd never read a Sandford novel before, and am very glad to have been introduced to this author.

The characters, as gritty as they are, were well developed and interesting. I'm not familiar with the Twin Cities, but the Minnesota setting is a nice break from the LA/NYC settings that so many mystery novels take place in. It had a good pace and read well.

I'm looking forward to finding more books in this series.

Man o man, this is some incredible PREY book. Its plotting, suspense, and surprises are at the very top. it also has the filthiest vile situations and scenes Sandford has ever put on the page. It also has one of the smartest, wiliest killers ever--as long as it remains hidden. The victims are about as broken as imaginable. We can only hope that Sandford did not make up all the terrible details, or he may need to be institutionalized. Then again, I fervently hope no one really had to suffer such terror and pain. From unspeakable acts the story moves into an intricately constructed thriller, from raunchiness to diabolical cleverness and criminal madness, from doubtful clues to shadow killers. A brutal ending is a necessary finish to a revolting series of crimes. Only then do you realize how banal was this evil. Not a story for children, for the weak of stomach or heart, for readers who demand socially-redeemed fiction, nor those whose reading oozes easily into their nightmares.

John Sandford is a highly acclaimed author for good reason. His descriptions are unique. Take, for example, the following quote from p.3. "Her brown eyes struck Charlie as cold raindrops, then flicked away when he turned at the impact; he was left with the impression of soft eyebrows, fine skin, and raspberry lipstick." Uniquely put. Now remove the passage and re-read the page. Nothing is lost. It's the kind of passage which critics and English professors love, but the overall impression I get is that Sandford is just trying too hard...over and over. On the positive side, the story jumps right out of the chute and rarely lets up. The twists are all there, although when the ultimate villian is revealed, I feel somewhat let down. Where were the clues which could have led me to him had I paid more attention? Why should I care about this character at all prior to his being revealed as the mastermind? It's as if a background character was chosen at random for this role. But still, overall, a good read...just not as good as it could have been. Graphic violence means that this isn't one for the squeamish.

Mr. Sanford has provided us with an excellent thriller from beginning to end. One need not muddle through a slow, descriptive beginning. The novel hits the ground running in it's story content & description very quickly. When the reader feels the suspect id clearly identified, the author takes the reader in another direction toward another possible suspect. All avenues are neatly tied together in the end, even Lucas Davenport's top 100 rock songs list. Don't miss this one