This is the 11th book in the Prey series with Lucas Davenport. Lucas is chasing a serial killer. Just when he thinks he's figured out who the killer is, that person gets murdered. Interesting way to get rid of bad people, but it goes on throughout the book. The characters have substance and personality in Lucas' realm of friends and coworkers. Ready for the next one in the series.
Okay, I admit: I like John Sandford's "Prey" novels. This guy has developed a character, Lucas Davenport, that I think is one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. A Minnesota cop, Davenport is intelligent, resourceful,street tough and takes pleasure in his work. He isn't superman: he's just a persistent cop who encounters good and bad luck.
In "Easy Prey," a drug-addled super model is murdered at a party - along with another woman. As Davenport gets into the case, things get complex fast. Drugs are involved. Drug dealing and some very clever people doing the dealing.
Sandford does a remarkable job of never getting stuck in the ruts of his own plots. Sure, they're similar in a small way from one novel to another, but always sufficiently different to draw the reader in. And Davenport keeps growing as a person in different ways.
"Easy Prey" is another great novel from Sandford.
AMAZON.COM READER'S REVIEW
I really hope that Sandford never retires Lucas Davenport! Easy Prey is another winner in his "Prey" series and I'm reading them all!!
Successful Supermodel Alie'e Maison never had a normal childhood since her avaricious parents parleyed her beautiful looks into making them a fortune. She is now one of the richest models in the country and now Alie'e only works those fashion jobs she wants as she seeks pleasure and excitement in her life. At a Minneapolis party hosted by Sally Hanson, Alie'e enjoys the drugs and sex that flow so freely.
That ends when (...). Minneapolis Deputy of Police Lucas Davenport heads the investigation that has media and political attention due to Alie'e being the victim. For a cop this case becomes a living nightmare due to the media's sensationalizing what happened at the party. However, the case turns uglier when (,,,). Lucas has numerous suspects, but the investigation twists again when one of his own crew is almost killed by the clever perpetrator.
The Davenport books are all hard hitting, hard-boiled, and hard edged police procedurals that turn up the adrenaline pump to extraordinary levels for the reader. EASY PREY starts off in the stratosphere and never comes down even at its climax. The charcaters are fully developed and the subplots that tie back to the fast-paced story line bring them to life even as it adds fuel to the speed of the novel. Lucas remains a complex but enigmatic protagonist and fans of the sub-genre will enjoy his exploits tremendously.
Amazon.com: "Penzler Pick, June 2000: Easy Prey is the 11th mystery to feature Lucas Davenport, who began his career back in Rules of Prey as a maverick homicide detective reminiscent of "Dirty Harry" Callahan. He did things his way and was often at odds with his superiors in the Minneapolis Police Department. Since those early days, Davenport has mellowed a little, and his background as a computer game-designing, Porsche-driving womanizer has been somewhat reduced. Possibly age has become a factor, or it may be the fact that Davenport has been deputy chief since the sixth book in the series, Night Prey. The character may have changed, but the writing has remained consistently taut: the bad guys creepy, the mysteries suspenseful.
In this newest episode, Davenport is called to a house after an A-list party has taken place there. Alie'e Maison, a top model, has been found strangled, and evidence shows that she ingested drugs and recently made love--most probably to a woman. Before Lucas leaves the house, things get even more complicated: a second body is found stuffed in a closet with a deep dent in the skull. In addition, one of Lucas's own men had been at the party and is now a suspect.
As always, Lucas's own life is not exempt from complications. An ex-lover comes back into his world--a woman he has never been able to forget--and she has secrets of her own. Also making an appearance this time out is a childhood friend to whom he turns for advice about women and life. Sister Mary Joseph, born Elle Kruger, is a professor of psychology and one of the computer brains who helps Lucas design his software. He calls her Nun the Wiser, and he often turns to her for spiritual as well as more concrete advice. Lucas is going to need all the help he can get to unravel his case as secrets pile upon secrets and the ground constantly shifts under his feet.
Easy Prey is another powerful link in this chain of muscular, exciting thrillers by one of the most distinguished practitioners in the field." Otto Penzler
Solid plot....very suspenseful.
