Book Price Comparisons
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 fun police procedural There is one case that Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Chief Lucas Davenport likes very much; watching the home of Heather Toms whose husband Sigites "Siggy" is on the run from the police for drug dealing. Siggy fled after making bail, but Lucas believes he will return for his wife and their child, as he loves both of them very much. Heather keeps her shades open giving the surveillance cops a peep show when she strips and breastfeeds. Davenport leaves this scene when his wife Weather is asked by her friend Alyssa Austin to have him look into the case of her missing and presumed dead daughter Frances. Alyssa came home one day, found the alarm off, Frances gone, and blood splattered all over the house. Frances was into the Goth scene; her friend Fairy egged on by Loren kills three people who the pair believes are connected to Frances' death. As Lucas investigates, he finds this is one of the most bizarre cases of his career as people are not quite as they first seem and those he thinks might have a grudge with Frances prove innocent. Putting aside the obvious issue that Lucas is not earning chief pay as the boss needs to take care of resources (funding, people, equipment and supplies, etc) while strategically planning instead of field work, fans will enjoy his latest police procedural. The protagonist is shot at and overworked with a load of paper waiting at the office, but none of that prevents him from working both cases. Neither inquiry intersects as each is separate as they run parallel subplots. PHANTOM PREY is a riveting work in which readers will need to know who the killer is and if Siggy will come home. Harriet Klausner  murder mystery This book lacked Sanford's usual immediacy and suspense. It is not up to his usual writing, in my opinion. Lucas never lets me down. OK, right off the bat I'll say that this book kept me up until the early morning hours, it was that good, but I'll also say this story may not be my favorite of the Davenport stories. It's good, it's intriguing, it's fun as only Sandford can make cop work fun, but the last two Prey novels were so very fine -- heck, what author is capable of hitting a grand slam every time he comes up to bat? This book would be a triple -- and that's the rarest hit in the ball game, ain't it? What's right: Lucas. Lucas. Lucas. And Del's back, hallelujah! The cop jokes. The stake out. The governor's Ferragamo socks. Letty. References to Virgil Flowers. Oh, shoot, Sandford just nails the flow of the story and all of the little details that make these people come alive for me. Minneapolis-St. Paul just lives in my mind because of Sandford. I sometimes think I could go there and drive around, and not only recognize locations in the books but I would also know how to get from one location to another without a street guide or GPS. What's wrong: Nothing wrong, exactly, just a couple of things felt slightly out of kilter to me. And it's hard to voice what those are without writing spoilers. There was one character who logically should have been closely examined from the get-go in regards to a murder. And another character, a main character, was something of a disconnect for me, in how she became what she was. See? I can't be specific without writing spoilers, darn it. Sum total: This 18th entry in the Prey series still shows plenty of the sass, vigor and originality that has made this series last so long. Sandford is quality consistent and this is still a solidly fun read. IMO, there's no such thing as a bad Lucas Davenport story. (And you know, I only noticed two proofing errors this time around. Either Sandford's team is improving in this regard or the story was so good that I just missed any others.) fun police procedural There is one case that Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Chief Lucas Davenport likes very much; watching the home of Heather Toms whose husband Sigites "Siggy" is on the run from the police for drug dealing. Siggy fled after making bail, but Lucas believes he will return for his wife and their child, as he loves both of them very much. Heather keeps her shades open giving the surveillance cops a peep show when she strips and breastfeeds. Davenport leaves this scene when his wife Weather is asked by her friend Alyssa Austin to have him look into the case of her missing and presumed dead daughter Frances. Alyssa came home one day, found the alarm off, Frances gone, and blood splattered all over the house. Frances was into the Goth scene; her friend Fairy egged on by Loren kills three people who the pair believes are connected to Frances' death. As Lucas investigates, he finds this is one of the most bizarre cases of his career as people are not quite as they first seem and those he thinks might have a grudge with Frances prove innocent. Putting aside the obvious issue that Lucas is not earning chief pay as the boss needs to take care of resources (funding, people, equipment and supplies, etc) while strategically planning instead of field work, fans will enjoy his latest police procedural. The protagonist is shot at and overworked with a load of paper waiting at the office, but none of that prevents him from working both cases. Neither inquiry intersects as each is separate as they run parallel subplots. PHANTOM PREY is a riveting work in which readers will need to know who the killer is and if Siggy will come home. Harriet Klausner | |||||||||||||
