Invisible Prey (Lucas Davenport #17)

I actually had to force myself to finish this book because I could not believe so many readers actually celebrate this author.

I have read almost every single book by Connelly, Coben, Baldacci and Grisham – not to mention countless others – and there is no way I would place this author in their league. Not even alphabetically. Sorry. Maybe his stuff gets better later – dont know, not interested.

The characters are poorly constructed, the plot(s) ridiculous, and the conclusion abysmal.

So why did I give it 2 stars? Because hes been able to get this and other books published – and that is truly an accomplishment.

This was, as usual, a non-stop story with lots of action. I don’t think the criminal element, which we always get to know, were very interesting people. That is one thing that makes this authors books unique – you know the bad guys as well as the “good” guys. I really like the Virgil Flowers books too but I get tired of him not wanting to carry a gun. He should not be a police officer feeling that way. He is fun & funny though &, as Weather says, has a cute butt.

I am an ardent John Sandford fan. I recently purchased and read the complete Prey series and then the complete Flowers series in order, and I’m only sorry I’ll have to wait for the next book in both series. Sandford is a novelist with the rare ability to carry over characters and plot elements with complete believabiity while allowing both to develop in interesting, unexpected but natural ways – the only other “serial” novelist who does this nearly as well is Anthony Trollope, and he avoids murders. I re-read these books with pleasure as great or greater than the first reading because the fast-paced narrative and unexpected plot developments pulls you to read fast the first time; the second or third you can pay attention to atmosphere (he’s great on significant landscape detail), character growth, and situation development. Sandford writes like a real novelist, not like someone trying to impress academia with his literary exclusivity.

Mystery readers are mystery readers, and I’m one of them. That said, I’m picky. The violence can get too up-close and personal, or too intense, and it puts me off. I can’t explain how my standards work, because some of these bad guys are pretty darn bad, but somehow Sandford doesn’t gross me out. Even more, the general mood of some murder mysteries can just be so grim that they’re no fun for me to read, and that is where Sandford shines. Yes, they’re crime novels. Murder mysteries. The first thing that happens is somebody gets killed. Usually some more people get killed before it’s over. However, within that context the characters get off lots of wisecracks among themselves, go off on philosophical tangents, and have real personalities, real selves, that make the books great fun to read and, for me, to reread.

Mr. Sanford never disappoints. So glad I bought the kindle so I am finally able to go back and catch up on the series I have so enjoyed for most of my adult life. Thank you for providing intellectual reading that both young adults and mature adults alike can enjoy.

There is only one small piece that bothered me in the book and I will be going back to previous books to see if I read it wrong before mentioning it further…. maybe in my next review. Anyway, please, take the time to enjoy this and all the John Sanford books out there.

BAS

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