Eyes of Prey (Lucas Davenport #3)

This, the third book in the Davenport series, i.e. the Prey series, and as with the first two novels the personality of the primary characters as was well as the tone of future books are being established.

In this one we find a much younger Lucas which is one of the things I like about the Prey series…the author allows his characters grow and age as each books is released. Here we find a Lucas who is establishing himself as a pretty violent no nonsense character who is not beyond bending the rules just a bit. We also find a Lucas who is a bit of a womanizer.

We have two very, very evil villains in this one both serial killers, who have teamed up and gone into business together. This creates many twists and turns and surprises in the story and at times you never really know who the bad guy(s) are and who the good ones are. As you read the book you soon realize that not all is as it seems.

Action is good here and almost non stop. Pay attention to the end because this particular story has not been finished.

It is good if you can read these novels in order of publication (something I did not do) but on the other hand each is most certainly a stand-alone novel as the author gives you plenty of back ground as each book is finished.

This is a very good series and has given me much reading enjoyment over the years.

I had read this book years ago & forgot that I had. “Eyes of Prey” is still an exciting book. I had a hard time getting housework, etc. done because it was so gripping. Maybe in a few years, I will have forgotten that I read it in 2021 & will be reading it all over again. (LOL) Main characters: Carlo Druze & Michael Bekker are the Best!!

Another very good thriller by John Sandford
The novel revolves around two sadistic, psychotic serial killers who work in tandem. One, a drug addicted pathologist; the other, a small time local actor. Their crimes are brutal and on their trail of crime is Sandfords protagonist, Det. Lucas Davenport.
The book is pretty much a page turner. It moves at a steady pace and contains no fluff. All is straightforward and to the point. Its very early on in the Prey series, but holds its own very well.

An epilogue is tacked on at the end. The main story, being ended; the epilogue serves to not only tidy up the characters lives going forward, it also provides a good twist in tying up a loose end in the story.

A relatively young Lucas Davenport begins to learn not to beat up the bad guys too much. His chief takes him under his wing and gives him a new assignment to try to keep him on the force. Lucas faces two villains this time who team up to kill six people. All victims have their eyes removed. Lucas also has to deal with depression related to his personal life. This case does not help that. His friends on the Force help him.

The plot is complex, made interesting by Sandford’s view of the main villain high on a variety of drugs. Hospitals have people watching for internal drug abuse, a common problem. This does not slow down the main villain at all. That may be unrealistic. He is known as Dr Death. The primary mystery is whether Lucas and his friends can tie the villains to the crimes in court before they kill more people.

I rated this one 4 stars because I thought the author was not very fair with us. There was a key to the solution of the mystery that Lucas should have seen at least halfway though the book. This key was identified virtually on the last page. Otherwise, it is a good story, well-told as are most of Sandford’s books. Without giving away anything significant, in the end Lucas spends his first day of retirement taking his TV journalist girlfriend, Jennifer, and their daughter, Sarah, to a Twins game.

Lucas Davenport is by no means your typical police detective; he’s borderline-rich, a rule-breaker who sometimes goes outside the law in the pursuit of justice, and he has a reputation for violence that is unparalleled among Minneapolis cops. But he always gets the job done. He will need all his ability to find and bring down the latest killer to stalk the Twin Cities, someone who apparently selects his victims at random, tortures them, and disfigures them both before and after death.

John Sandford hit a home run in creating Davenport, along with his friends and associates. But a good guy so compelling needs a worthy adversary, and the bad guy in Eyes Of Prey is just such a person. A doctor with a morbid interest in just what happens when someone dies, he stalks and kills his victims in order to find out just what happens at the moment of death. Almost a Jeckyll-Hyde type of personality, this man is sick, sick, sick — and only Davenport can bring him to justice.

Read this book. In fact, read the entire Prey Series. Sandford’s characters are complex, the stories have unexpected twists, and Davenport is willing to do anything — legal or otherwise — to get the job done.

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