Night Prey (Lucas Davenport #6)

I found this to be one of the best in the Prey series with Lucas Davenport. Yes I did read a number of them out of order.
Mr. Sandford gives the reader a fast paced read in which the action and police procedural process never stops. There are no breaks in the plot; no wasted dialogue. Just a well written book with nicely developed characters.

That said, the novel is not a whodunit. The reader knows from the beginning who the antagonist is. That leaves us with a police procedural, good detail and the twisted mind of a very manic killer to read through. Not a chore by any means. Knowing the bad guy from the onset doesnt affect the quality of the novel whatsoever. Night Prey is a very well done page turner.

Lucas Davenport faces down yet another crazed killer in this installment of the Prey series. What’s interesting about this one is the Connell character- a detective obsessed with finding the killer…before she dies. She’s a terminal cancer patient working a case which is quite different from any story I’ve read before. The killer himself is twisted but very smart in how he goes about his murders. He’s obsessed with a woman he watches from afar and they do become very close, well, in HIS MIND anyway. Davenport is getting over being shot in the throat from Winter Prey and often toys with the scar on his throat, but his surgeon girlfriend tends to ease his pain. I’m really liking this series. Each new book offers a cool new killer, interesting cases to solve and good supporting casts for Davenport.

Good character development of the antagonist, and an interesting plot line. The addition of Davenport dealing, less than successfully, with the terminal illness of one of the investigators is a bit of a different aspect of his character development. Good depiction of the pressure of public panic and political necessity that often push police so hard that they aren’t able to take the time to really understand the facts they are gathering, leading ultimately to delays in identifying the killer. Good book, recommended.

It took me awhile to get into the character of KOOP, but once I did as with all of Sandford’s books it took on a life of its own. I really like the way he introduced “WEATHER” into LUCAS’s life and the fact that he doesn’t make him a saint just because he’s with her now. I like the fact that it shows he’s human. I know his books have been out for years and I guess that’s part of what amazes me, because he always has fresh characters, ingenious plots, and they’re never the same in any of his books. I really liked Megan O’Connell’s character in this book. All in all another great book for Mr. Sandford! ***For those of you who listen/immersion reading or just enjoy the audible version, the narrator Richard Ferrone is fantastic!!!!! I noticed he narrates all of Sandford’s books. He sounds just like you think Lucas Davenport should sound.

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.

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