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 One of his better Prey books Nov 20, 2009
John Sandford has been writing the Prey novels for so long that I don't think anyone, at this point, even wonders what the titles mean anymore. At best they have a little bit to do with the plot; often, they just sound cool. They're fairly interchangeable, at this point. Thankfully, the books themselves aren't: they're distinctive, intelligent, and interesting. Wicked Prey (the title could have applied to any of the books in the series) is one of the better entries that Sandford's penned, an amusing look at the Republican Convention and the things that might (could) happen while it occurs.
First, Lucas Davenport has to deal with a group of thieves. They have, in the past, specialized in armored car robberies, but the guards are getting more sophisticated, the cops are getting better at catching the people who rob them, and they killed two guards in New York, so the robbers decide to change targets. They have a woman who organizes the jobs for them, and she's devised an interesting way to get money from people, without anyone the wiser. It involves things going on at the Republican Convention (the author makes it clear that the Republicans were chosen only because that's who they got the info on; it also helps that the author sets his books in the Twin Cities), and the people being robbed will have reason to conceal what's occurred.
Simultaneous with this, a pimp who blames Lucas Davenport for all of his troubles has decided to stalk him, and see whether he can do something, presumably involving Davenport's foster daughter. And piled on top of that there's a crazy with a .50 caliber rifle wandering around town. He's apparently sighting the gun in for a shot that looks to be almost half a mile, which (if he can make the shot) would be almost impossible to prevent, in terms of assassinating a prominent person; remember, John McCain is going to be at the convention, so everyone's nervous.
This was an amusing Prey novel, with an interesting bad guy, one who's not all bad. He's a bit like Robert DeNiro's character in the movie Heat, a working class guy who is generally moral and upstanding, it's just that he robs people, and occasionally kills them. I enjoyed the story and would recommend it.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Not making the grade Nov 14, 2009
I've read every Prey book (in order) since "Rules of Prey". Sure there have been a few speed bumps along the way in terms of quality and consistency, but the last two novels have fallen flat on their faces.
"Wicked Prey" was full of needless, plodding passages that did nothing to advance the narrative or shed any particular light on the characters. If I were a using this book as the basis for a screenplay I'd have run out of red ink crossing out entire meaningless sections. There were only short burst of urgency. And even those seemed forced and contrived. Instead of saying, "I couldn't put it down", it would be more accurate to say, "I couldn't pick it up".
And, wow, talk about an abundance of distracting, unnecessary (almost embarrassing) sub-plots. If you changed the title and the characters' names and gave "Wicked Prey" a blind read, you would NEVER know it was a Sandford novel, let alone a Prey book.
Let's face it Lucas has gone soft. His recent actions (or lack thereof) go beyond maturing and evolving. And he's not even the focus of attention any more. [As a disclaimer, The only time I think this approach worked was in "Certain Prey" when much of the story line featured Clara Rinker.]
And the Letty plot was completely unbelievable. I had to back to the beginning of the book to double-check her age. 14 years old???!!! And she's a savvy journalist-in-training who's taking on psychopaths. All the while, stealing from, lying to and betraying anyone who loves and trusts her. Bad form, John.
I had read some time ago that Sandford's son (who ran the website) was helping dad write the Prey novels. Well, let's put junior back online and drag dad out of retirement. Sorry to be harsh here, but I so looked forward to the purchase of each hardcopy and now I simply feel...let down.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Master of guy diolog Nov 13, 2009
I have read them all, and this one is the best. Integrating the story with actual events and personalities in the form of the Republician National Convention ups the interest and entertainment value. The story line was great, the action was classic Sandford. The bad guys were very bad, but a couple drew a little empathy from the reader. Developing the character of Letty, and turning her into a young female Lucas is fun to read, but plants some trepidation in the reader because we know what can happen to a Davenport, and she's "just a girl." But! By far the most entertaining part of this and other Prey novels is the diolog. Nobody, and I mean nobody, captures guy talk like John Sandford. I keep finding myself laying in bed laughing out loud at two o'clock in the morning.
Another thing I really enjoy about Sanford is how he lets his three different series, the Prey novels, the Virgil Flowers series and the Kidd stories intersect. Now, what would be the topper, would be for Lucas to just brush up against Lee Child's Jack Reacher, and have Child write the same encounter from Reacher's point of view into a Jack Reacher story.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Good Davenport book Nov 10, 2009
This is a good one . I , personally , get tired of reading the same sort of cops and criminals novels after a while . This was an all around good one and one of the better ones I've read in a while . Recommended for fans of this genre .
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Not the best Davenport adventure but that's ok... Nov 08, 2009
I have read each and every Prey book as they have been published and always look forward to the next installment. Wicked Prey was a bit of a dissapointment for me. It almost seems like the characters have become somewhat empty characatures of themselves and the once exciting fast moving action is just 'same old same old' and more predictable. The storyline with Hetty was for the most part unbelievable at best and ludicrous at worst. Lucas's son is just something that is referred to in passing. Gone for the most part are the interesting cast of usual suspects (Lucas's pals) except for few brief cameo appearances by Del and Rosemary. Ok, one of the regulars gets whacked, so I guess THAT was something........
The first 10 or so books rocked, plain and simple......... But I feel perhaps the author is just cranking them out now and the excitement and originality that attracted me to this series in the first place is on the wane.
STILL, it IS another Prey adventure and I am a loyal reader. Maybe the next book will give me the 'Lucas Davenport fix' I am looking for.
ON last note: Be prepared for lots of gratuitous sex and violence, if you haven't read any of these before. (ok, more violence than sex)
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