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Stolen Prey (2012)

by John Sandford(Favorite Author)

4.13 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0399157689 (ISBN13: 9780399157684)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Putnam Adult

series

Lucas Davenport

review 1: This is number 22 in the Lucas Davenport Prey Series, which continues to pack a good punch.When we met up with Lucas this time, he is out running, working to stay fit and keep up his strength and stamina. His age is beginning to show with his hair almost entirely grey at the temples and lines beginning to show on his face, but he is happy and content. The family now has an additional member, a baby girl Gabrielle now a toddler. Weather continues her surgical practice at Hennepin County Medical Center and Letty, now between junior and senior high school, has been working part time at the TV station for three years now. Lucas stops at an ATM to pick up some ready cash, and as he is mulling over his fitness level and his happy home he is robbed at gunpoint by a man and a woma... moren. He is forced to hand over the $500 and after he does, the woman who has come up behind him, drops him with a blow from behind. He hits the pavement hard, breaking his wrist in the process. As far as he is concerned the $500 is not a big problem, but the cast on his wrist he could do without. The summer has been slow and Lucas has been working on a data base he is creating, trying to understand the state’s criminal underworld. In the midst of this quiet period, a horrible crime is reported. An entire family has been brutally tortured and murdered. Even the dogs are dead. And the killers have left a threatening message on the wall, written with the blood of the victims. The crime raises some interesting questions. This is a quiet high end part of town -- how did this all happen without someone hearing something? The killers are obviously not concerned about getting caught. They have left DNA and fingerprints. And it does not look like the work of some wild madman. There is not the crazed frenzy that they would find in such a crime scene. This looks not only brutal and impersonal, but professional. Lucas is not the lead in the investigation but the BCA is pulled in peripherally because the murdered woman dabbled in local politics.As the investigation proceeds, Lucas retreats to his usual investigative techniques retreating to his office, pulling out his legal yellow pad, doodling with names, connections, and possibilities, laying them out in boxes and connecting them with dotted lines and arrows. He takes the pieces of the puzzle he has and puts together a story around them which gives him a starting place for his investigation and a number of angles with which to work. He also reverts to some of his old patterns of working outside the legal system to get the job done. As Lucas ages, it is interesting to see him change. He now has oatmeal and orange juice for breakfast instead of coffee and pastry. Clearly Weather has had an influence on him. And Letty is maturing as well. She is becoming a lot like Lucas her adopted Dad, developing a “spider sense” and the ability to do what has to be done even in times of intense pressure.Sanford brings back Vergil Flowers to chase down a case that looks simple but proves to be much bigger and far reaching than anyone would have suspected. And James T Bone, also a character from a previous book reappears and provides a helping hand. It is great to see these characters return and to watch their continued relationship to Lucas.So it is another fun ride with horse shit thieves, bull snakes, a stolen art deco sculpture, the usual meth, Lucas whining about what gravel roads do to his fine Italian shoes and being called a “sissy” more than once!Still enjoying the series, which has to be good to hold interest after so many books. Sanford continues to deliver.
review 2: The Lucas Davenport series is an entertaining crime/thriller ongoing about a special homicide investigator in Minneapolis. He gets handed the high profile and/or politically complicated cases. Lucas is smart and ruthless, two traits his various bosses are happy to take advantage of and keep their plausible deniability.This story opens with the brutal murder of an entire family. Lucas need to solve this case, made more sensitive by the fact they are well to do, while dealing with his own broken arm from a random mugging. As always, the action, pacing, characterization, and dialogue are all great. Lucas comes up with some really unique ways to get a handle on the criminals, while still going after the muggers that got his money. Lots of thrills, great action, and some wonderful characters. less

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