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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
An older publication with technology that makes us smile. Especially the frequent use of pay phones. But the story is as solid as when it was first published. I wish there had been more Kidd books.
Very good. More similar to Flowers than Davenport. The circa 1989 technology played a role, but the dated-ness did not detract from the story. Although I got a giggle when he would answer the phone and hear the 2400-baud modem and have to plug the receiver into his modem.
After having read fifteen books in the author's Prey series, I thought I'd go back to the other series he started at the same time and see how it was. Unlike his main series where the protagonist enforces the law in his own particular way, the protagonist for this one is entirely outside of the law. It made for an interesting story and characters, but it was all a bit too much. Here's how Kidd, the protagonist is described.
It doesn't end there by any means. He's also a martial artist who seduces women, has a super hacker friend, casually meets up with arms dealers, and is quite the marksman. It's really quite something.
As for the plot, it's basically an end of the 80s technothriller. All the technological stuff is rather dated now, but since I've had personal experience with some of it, it wasn't anything I didn't understand.
Almost all of the author's books take place in the same universe and interact with each other, often in small ways, so I thought I may as well read these four books. After having read this first one though, I don't think I care enough to do so now. It's probably enough for when they're eventually in the main series. I don't know why this didn't work for me and that's too bad. If I could rate this exactly 2.5 stars, I would, but I can't, so 3 stars it is, because it isn't quite that meh.
Rating: 2.5/5
You have a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. You have a master of fine arts in painting. You should have a Ph. D. in software design, but you skipped your orals to go fishing in Costa Rica.
Your friends say you stay up all night and sleep until noon. You paint and do computer programs and know a lot of politicians who come to your apartment with sacks full of money.
Your friends say you have a wonderful nerd act. You dress up like an engineer with a white shirt and string tie, and put a calculator on your belt and nine ballpoint pens in a white plastic pocket shield.
You worked with the Strategic Operations Group out of Saigon during the Vietnam War
He's dressed in an Army urban camouflage suit that's supposed to be sort of secret.
A couple of people said you do the tarot.
It doesn't end there by any means. He's also a martial artist who seduces women, has a super hacker friend, casually meets up with arms dealers, and is quite the marksman. It's really quite something.
As for the plot, it's basically an end of the 80s technothriller. All the technological stuff is rather dated now, but since I've had personal experience with some of it, it wasn't anything I didn't understand.
Almost all of the author's books take place in the same universe and interact with each other, often in small ways, so I thought I may as well read these four books. After having read this first one though, I don't think I care enough to do so now. It's probably enough for when they're eventually in the main series. I don't know why this didn't work for me and that's too bad. If I could rate this exactly 2.5 stars, I would, but I can't, so 3 stars it is, because it isn't quite that meh.
Rating: 2.5/5
It's funny to read this and his newest book one after the other and see common phrases... ah well.
In my effort to work my way through John Sandford's works, I realized that I had missed his FIRST book, written under his real name, John Camp.
FOOL'S RUN reads in many ways, like a "dry run" for the first few novels in the PREY series. It's more of a "techno-thriller" than a crime novel, but the authorial voice and dialogue are very similar to the first few Davenport novels. The protagonist, Kidd, is also something of a template for Davenport, who doesn't feel that he has to "play by the rules," has a number of eclectic hobbies, and is well-versed in a wide variety of skills.
All in all, a pretty engaging thriller, with a few surprises in the narrative. Worth reading, especially if you're a fan of Sandford's other work.
FOOL'S RUN reads in many ways, like a "dry run" for the first few novels in the PREY series. It's more of a "techno-thriller" than a crime novel, but the authorial voice and dialogue are very similar to the first few Davenport novels. The protagonist, Kidd, is also something of a template for Davenport, who doesn't feel that he has to "play by the rules," has a number of eclectic hobbies, and is well-versed in a wide variety of skills.
All in all, a pretty engaging thriller, with a few surprises in the narrative. Worth reading, especially if you're a fan of Sandford's other work.
Because a dog gets beaten to death halfway through and life is too fuckin' short.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Good book, but not what I've come to expect from John Sandford. Of course, this is all new characters (to me) and this book was written years ago in 1989. The computer stuff was at the same time to technical and way too old. It's hard to believe that everyone having a computer at home and everyone using the internet has really only been about for a few years. I'll read more of the Kidd novels and see how they progress.
John Camp's first novel was The Fool's Run, before he started writing under the pseudonym of John Sandford. The protagonist, Kidd, is artist, computer geek, tarot card reader (as a contingency planning device) and part-time criminal...a likeable anti-hero. In this first book, he works with a couple of sidekicks who will make appearances in later novels, LuEllen (a cat burglar) and another computer geek named Bobby. This is a fun romp through cutting edge computer technology and language...from 1989. That would be when Kaypro computers and Hayes modems were the thing to have...anyone remember them? I found myself chuckling, and then thinking through how things had changed in the 25 years that followed. It was an entertaining read, and presaged the writing style and popularity of Sandford as an author.
tense