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jsdrown's review
1.0
I'm dropping this one. I enjoyed the first book as just straight entertainment and could forgive the weaknesses in the writing. This one fails to even be entertaining. On a surface level this is about solving some murders? I guess? But the half of the book I could be bothered to read is about how our protagonist really badly wants to cheat on his baby mama with his new co-worker. Oh... and the only thing making him question if he should cheat with his co-worker is that said "has a few extra pounds."
I get this stuff being in decent literature. There are gray areas for that kind of fiction. But when you shoehorn it into your annual crime fiction series it just feels really gross and sexist. There is a part where our "hero", Lucas Davenport, is sitting next to his potential affair/tryst at booth and feels her leg warmth. He has to reassure himself that it's not a huge deal that she's chubby. No joke.
There are other things that compound on top of this. I don't think John Sanford gets how game development works. Lucas is a detective and game developer but the descriptions of him creating games doesn't make a ton of sense. It's written in a way that makes it sound like Davenport is writing a novel, not creating a game. I guess this is why they say authors should write what they know, because it comes off as completely phony and disingenuous.
I get this stuff being in decent literature. There are gray areas for that kind of fiction. But when you shoehorn it into your annual crime fiction series it just feels really gross and sexist. There is a part where our "hero", Lucas Davenport, is sitting next to his potential affair/tryst at booth and feels her leg warmth. He has to reassure himself that it's not a huge deal that she's chubby. No joke.
There are other things that compound on top of this. I don't think John Sanford gets how game development works. Lucas is a detective and game developer but the descriptions of him creating games doesn't make a ton of sense. It's written in a way that makes it sound like Davenport is writing a novel, not creating a game. I guess this is why they say authors should write what they know, because it comes off as completely phony and disingenuous.
the_windrunner94's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
thecurseofchris's review against another edition
2.0
I love John Sandford but this one just did not do it for me. Luckily I know that his writing improves in time, so I'll just forget this one and move on.
annemarie246's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Digital audiobook performed by Richard Ferrone.
2.5** (rounded up)
From the book jacket: A war of wits between the street-smart sleuth and a warrior-assassin from an ancient. A slumlord and a welfare supervisor butchered in Minnesapolis ... a rising political star executed in Manhattan … an influential judge taken in Oklahoma City. All the homicides have the same grisly method – the victim’s throat is slashed with an Indian ceremonial knife – and in every case the trail leads back through the Minnesota Native American community.
My reactions:
Book number two in the Lucas Davenport series went a bit off the rails. My audiobook included an interview with the author where he explains that he had wanted to include some current “social justice” issues. Sandford admits in the interview that he wound up rather sidetracked from the main thriller and so abandoned his first effort and rewrote like mad. In my estimation, he was only partly successful.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy many a book with a social justice message. I want to learn about the ugly truths, even when it makes me uncomfortable. But that’s not the reason I read mysteries or thrillers. And that’s a problem with this book. I felt that the message frequently detracted from the forward momentum of the basic thriller plot. The result: neither the social justice message NOR the thriller were fully satisfying. Clearly not Sanford’s best effort.
Richard Ferrone does a marvelous job narrating the audiobook. He keeps a good pace and has an ability to differentiate the characters sufficiently so there is never any confusion about who is speaking.
2.5** (rounded up)
From the book jacket: A war of wits between the street-smart sleuth and a warrior-assassin from an ancient. A slumlord and a welfare supervisor butchered in Minnesapolis ... a rising political star executed in Manhattan … an influential judge taken in Oklahoma City. All the homicides have the same grisly method – the victim’s throat is slashed with an Indian ceremonial knife – and in every case the trail leads back through the Minnesota Native American community.
My reactions:
Book number two in the Lucas Davenport series went a bit off the rails. My audiobook included an interview with the author where he explains that he had wanted to include some current “social justice” issues. Sandford admits in the interview that he wound up rather sidetracked from the main thriller and so abandoned his first effort and rewrote like mad. In my estimation, he was only partly successful.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy many a book with a social justice message. I want to learn about the ugly truths, even when it makes me uncomfortable. But that’s not the reason I read mysteries or thrillers. And that’s a problem with this book. I felt that the message frequently detracted from the forward momentum of the basic thriller plot. The result: neither the social justice message NOR the thriller were fully satisfying. Clearly not Sanford’s best effort.
Richard Ferrone does a marvelous job narrating the audiobook. He keeps a good pace and has an ability to differentiate the characters sufficiently so there is never any confusion about who is speaking.
becki_c's review
4.0
Edgy, dynamic, unapologetic, realistic …. These series are really engaging and there is no “pc” whitewashing. Onto book three
lulo49's review
4.0
[spoiler alert] I've listened to the entire John Sandford Lucas Davenport series and have started re-listening to them during all the pandemic cooking I've been doing-- need some good stories that aren't too deep. However, in re-listening I am realizing how much of an as$%^#& Lucas used to be! I say used to be since over the series he mellowed out, especially after meeting Weather. I enjoy the political intrigue, the character interaction, and that generally, the bad character gets snagged. So I'll give Lucas the benefit of the doubt knowing that, over time, he gets smarter about women and life.
kanissa's review
4.0
I liked this one, but for some reason I didn't like it quite as much as the first. I'm not sure why; it's a bit nebulous. It may just have been the crimes weren't as interesting - although I like the angle of the oppressed American Indians wanting revenge. Or maybe it was because Davenport treats adultery so casually. Or maybe it was because it didn't feel as suspenseful as the first. I suspect all of these little quibbles added up to mean I just wasn't as engrossed as I was with Rules of Prey. Maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind for a thriller. It was by no means bad, so I'll definitely try again with the third in the series!
posies23's review
3.0
The second book in the Lucas Davenport series is a little bit of a letdown from the first book, RULES OF PREY. This is not to say it isn't a good book, because it is. Unfortunately, its just not as good as RULES OF PREY was.
Most of the blame falls on the romantic subplot, which just isn't very compelling, and relies heavily on Davenport's apparent ability to have every woman in the world fall in love with him. It's just not all that convincing, and I found it distracting.
The A-plot of the book is actually quite interesting, about a group of Native Americans who follow an elaborate revenge plot. Again, though, there were times I had to suspend just a little too much of my disbelief.
The action is quite good, and there are some genuinely suspenseful moments. I'm told these books get better as the series progresses, so I'll definitely read the next in the series eventually.
Most of the blame falls on the romantic subplot, which just isn't very compelling, and relies heavily on Davenport's apparent ability to have every woman in the world fall in love with him. It's just not all that convincing, and I found it distracting.
The A-plot of the book is actually quite interesting, about a group of Native Americans who follow an elaborate revenge plot. Again, though, there were times I had to suspend just a little too much of my disbelief.
The action is quite good, and there are some genuinely suspenseful moments. I'm told these books get better as the series progresses, so I'll definitely read the next in the series eventually.
hollsbooks's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0