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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
So hubby has been recommending this series to me for YEARS!!! However, it wasn’t until GR friend, Lisa said, “Even when they're beaten and shot up, they still manage to get me to laughing!”. She was referring to Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers. Anyway, she had me at laughing and they sounded like my kind of guys and I finally added this installment to my list. I may check out Virgil Flowers (which is another one hubby has been recommending) at some later date. They seem to go hand in hand, but I also noticed a Letty Davenport series; I don’t know who she is but I’m sure I’ll find out.
Right off the bat, Lucas Davenport sounded like an “interesting” guy. He’s a decorated cop with a “complicated” history, and as such, he gets to work on pretty much whatever he wants down in his dungeon lair in the basement of the police department. He’s a rich, successful, game developer in his spare time making him a total geek, albeit a rather sexy one who doesn’t lack for female attention and company. Oh, and his childhood, best friend is a nun and fellow gamer, as well as a psychologist, and who is also a member, along with Lucas, of a local gaming club that meets once a week to engage in gaming wars. Like I said, total geek !!!
The book summary is pretty worthless and just basically introduces the primary storyline that there is a crazy killer in Minneapolis, that is supposedly brilliant. The killer leaves notes declaring his kill rules on the dead bodies of his attractive female victims that are all petite women with dark features and uses the same MO every time. Not sure how “brilliant” that is since one of his rules is “Never follow a discernible pattern”, but whatever.
Based on the account of the one surviving victim, who fought back and ran him off (YOU GO GIRL!!!), Lucas gets a pretty accurate profile pretty early in the story. From pretty much the get-go, the reader knows who the killer is too. This is ok, sometimes, because now I don’t have to spend the rest of the story trying to figure out “whodunit”, and I can just sit back and enjoy the ride. Lucas also has a lot of CI’s all over town and is constantly on the lookout for making new ones with the people he meets. None of this is a spoiler since it all happens in the first 20% of the story.
The story flips back and forth between Lucas and the killer, Louis. Lucas and Louis are now playing games with each other, which leads to more dead bodies piling up. It's well into the second half, the whole story just gets a little too disturbing, fortunately, the end comes pretty quick after that in a blaze of glory. At this point it becomes pretty clear (at least to me) how Lucas’s history became so “complicated”. I hope Sandford reveals more of that in later installments.
I loved Sandford’s author’s notes at the end (I always read those), where he said,
”Cops don’t act like Lucas Davenport; they’d be fired or in prison if they did. They aren’t rich, they don’t drive Porsches, most can give a rat’s @$$ about fashion. Lucas Davenport does all of that. Nothing better, Lucas feels, than a really good-looking new suit. He’s like that because he’s a cross between a cop and a movie star. I wanted him to be a star. I wanted him to be different. I wanted him to be a mean, tough cop that women liked. Listen, a lot of writing comes out of you in a burst, out of your heart and your experience, but there’s a good deal of calculation too. I wanted to make people like Lucas Davenport. When it came to thrills, if I had to make a choice between a good thrill and good police procedure, I didn’t hesitate to throw procedure overboard”.
And that folks is why it is called FICTION. So, if you’re the kind of reader whose enjoyment of the story is contingent on the believability of the story, then this is not the series for you. Fortunately, I am not one of those types of readers and for me, the crazier, the better sometimes, as long as the ending isn’t a hot mess. I prefer endings wrapped up into a nice little bow. This was Sandford’s second attempt at writing fiction and it was a pretty good one. His characterization was pretty good and the pacing was pretty fast, something was always happening. The storyline was interesting and the writing pretty decent. I believe Sandford accomplished what he set out to do with this book. I loved the ending! I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.25. l definitely be continuing with the series.
Right off the bat, Lucas Davenport sounded like an “interesting” guy. He’s a decorated cop with a “complicated” history, and as such, he gets to work on pretty much whatever he wants down in his dungeon lair in the basement of the police department. He’s a rich, successful, game developer in his spare time making him a total geek, albeit a rather sexy one who doesn’t lack for female attention and company. Oh, and his childhood, best friend is a nun and fellow gamer, as well as a psychologist, and who is also a member, along with Lucas, of a local gaming club that meets once a week to engage in gaming wars. Like I said, total geek !!!
The book summary is pretty worthless and just basically introduces the primary storyline that there is a crazy killer in Minneapolis, that is supposedly brilliant. The killer leaves notes declaring his kill rules on the dead bodies of his attractive female victims that are all petite women with dark features and uses the same MO every time. Not sure how “brilliant” that is since one of his rules is “Never follow a discernible pattern”, but whatever.
Based on the account of the one surviving victim, who fought back and ran him off (YOU GO GIRL!!!), Lucas gets a pretty accurate profile pretty early in the story. From pretty much the get-go, the reader knows who the killer is too. This is ok, sometimes, because now I don’t have to spend the rest of the story trying to figure out “whodunit”, and I can just sit back and enjoy the ride. Lucas also has a lot of CI’s all over town and is constantly on the lookout for making new ones with the people he meets. None of this is a spoiler since it all happens in the first 20% of the story.
The story flips back and forth between Lucas and the killer, Louis. Lucas and Louis are now playing games with each other, which leads to more dead bodies piling up. It's well into the second half, the whole story just gets a little too disturbing, fortunately, the end comes pretty quick after that in a blaze of glory. At this point it becomes pretty clear (at least to me) how Lucas’s history became so “complicated”. I hope Sandford reveals more of that in later installments.
I loved Sandford’s author’s notes at the end (I always read those), where he said,
”Cops don’t act like Lucas Davenport; they’d be fired or in prison if they did. They aren’t rich, they don’t drive Porsches, most can give a rat’s @$$ about fashion. Lucas Davenport does all of that. Nothing better, Lucas feels, than a really good-looking new suit. He’s like that because he’s a cross between a cop and a movie star. I wanted him to be a star. I wanted him to be different. I wanted him to be a mean, tough cop that women liked. Listen, a lot of writing comes out of you in a burst, out of your heart and your experience, but there’s a good deal of calculation too. I wanted to make people like Lucas Davenport. When it came to thrills, if I had to make a choice between a good thrill and good police procedure, I didn’t hesitate to throw procedure overboard”.
And that folks is why it is called FICTION. So, if you’re the kind of reader whose enjoyment of the story is contingent on the believability of the story, then this is not the series for you. Fortunately, I am not one of those types of readers and for me, the crazier, the better sometimes, as long as the ending isn’t a hot mess. I prefer endings wrapped up into a nice little bow. This was Sandford’s second attempt at writing fiction and it was a pretty good one. His characterization was pretty good and the pacing was pretty fast, something was always happening. The storyline was interesting and the writing pretty decent. I believe Sandford accomplished what he set out to do with this book. I loved the ending! I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.25. l definitely be continuing with the series.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
This book is about a less than ethical detective. It has pretty much ever cliche in it but it was a lot of fun. This story did exactly what it should; kept me entertained and let me have a little escapism.
I made it to 30% and I just can't do more. This book is just plain bad. The writing isn't terrible but it's shallow. Or, rather, the story is shallow. Lucas Davenport is...I can't find the right word. He's slime.
No likable characters at all. No depth to the characters or the story. All police except Davenport are portrayed as having no sense at all, and... I'm just done.
No likable characters at all. No depth to the characters or the story. All police except Davenport are portrayed as having no sense at all, and... I'm just done.
I am pretty sure I read this book about 20 years ago, I remember reading a few books in this series and I am pretty sure this is one of them, I recognized some of the things when they happened, but it still felt like the first time for the most part.
The book feels a little dated, I think the character of Lucas probably played a little better when it was first published in 1989, he is kind of a cross between the smart hard detective that doesn't play by the rules that was made famous by Clint Eastwood and is pretty much just a cliché now and womanizing playboy as done by James Bond. That being said, I did actually like the character for the most part and I am certainly willing to jump back into this series to spend more time with him. The womanizing was bit groan inducing though and hopefully that doesn't continue. But in fairness I truly detested one of these love interests who I figure is going to be an ongoing charcter, Jennifer Carey. She is a controlling, manipulating, selfish cunt, yes I said that word and I am not going to apologize, fuck her. She goes off birth control and lets herself get pregnant without telling Lucas, refuses to move in or consider marriage, continues to control him through sex, invades his privacy and uses the information she gains to advance her career, emotionally manipulates him into opening up and revealing information to comfort her only to have her use that information again to help her career, then find out he is sleeping with another woman and sabotages that relationship and still doesn't want a permanent relationship with him only to stop him from having any other relationships for a few years to help raise their child, she is a cunt.
Sorry that was a rant I was holding. The killer is clever and a bit interesting, nothing you haven't seen before, but Sandford dedicates lots of chapters to this character from his perspective and it makes him interesting. It was a tad disappointing how it all ended though, not to spoil anything but the book is built around this being a game with two great game players playing against each other and the cleverest one would come out on top, but in the end Davenport has a leap of lucky intuition and that is it.
Still the book is very well written that pacing in perfect, if you are a fan of a good detective story in the vein of Harry Bosch or Jack Reacher, give this a read it is worth it.
The book feels a little dated, I think the character of Lucas probably played a little better when it was first published in 1989, he is kind of a cross between the smart hard detective that doesn't play by the rules that was made famous by Clint Eastwood and is pretty much just a cliché now and womanizing playboy as done by James Bond. That being said, I did actually like the character for the most part and I am certainly willing to jump back into this series to spend more time with him. The womanizing was bit groan inducing though and hopefully that doesn't continue. But in fairness I truly detested one of these love interests who I figure is going to be an ongoing charcter, Jennifer Carey. She is a controlling, manipulating, selfish cunt, yes I said that word and I am not going to apologize, fuck her. She goes off birth control and lets herself get pregnant without telling Lucas, refuses to move in or consider marriage, continues to control him through sex, invades his privacy and uses the information she gains to advance her career, emotionally manipulates him into opening up and revealing information to comfort her only to have her use that information again to help her career, then find out he is sleeping with another woman and sabotages that relationship and still doesn't want a permanent relationship with him only to stop him from having any other relationships for a few years to help raise their child, she is a cunt.
Sorry that was a rant I was holding. The killer is clever and a bit interesting, nothing you haven't seen before, but Sandford dedicates lots of chapters to this character from his perspective and it makes him interesting. It was a tad disappointing how it all ended though, not to spoil anything but the book is built around this being a game with two great game players playing against each other and the cleverest one would come out on top, but in the end Davenport has a leap of lucky intuition and that is it.
Still the book is very well written that pacing in perfect, if you are a fan of a good detective story in the vein of Harry Bosch or Jack Reacher, give this a read it is worth it.
I liked the back and forth points of view between killer and cop. It was a lot of character build for Davenport so the detective aspects of the book seemed like it was missing something. The dialogue sometimes felt awkward. Even though there was a lot of personal parts when it came to Davenport I just didn't feel a connection with the characters.
Not too bad for a first in series. There was just a little something missing from all aspects, not on the edge of my seat for the suspense of the killer. There was not much connection with the characters yet. This all could be because there was a lot of tell, but not show in the writing. Though with the things I didn't quite like or felt missing it seems promising as a groundwork to building the series.
Not too bad for a first in series. There was just a little something missing from all aspects, not on the edge of my seat for the suspense of the killer. There was not much connection with the characters yet. This all could be because there was a lot of tell, but not show in the writing. Though with the things I didn't quite like or felt missing it seems promising as a groundwork to building the series.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Years ago I found this series too much but now I really enjoyed it and will continue to listen to the other books in the series.
I would've given it a higher rating if the story had aged better, but you can totally tell it was written in 1989
I would've given it a higher rating if the story had aged better, but you can totally tell it was written in 1989
First in the Lucas Davenport suspense series and revolving around a slightly crooked cop, Lucas Davenport, who is based in Minneapolis.
My Take
Wow, truly excellent. Davenport is a slightly crooked cop but he does it to protect, to take out the bad guy. He writes games and makes a really good living from their sales, so why he stays a cop I don't know. But Sandford makes it really real with a protagonist you love. He is at least honest in his way and provides excellent insight into how police really appear to work.
I love that Davenport collects poetry, that he creates video games, how he develops the games. All sorts of issues I'd'a never thought of. I like how real he is. He cares about people — and visits the track. He's honest with his women as well, although that deal he makes at the end...I dunno, caught, trapped by a lying bitch. I'm dying to read Shadow Prey to find out how that situation resolves!
I did have to laugh about the psychiatrists and their conclusions. It reminded me of gallery docents and museum guides who tell viewers that this is what the artist was thinking. And they're so clueless. Just like the police in this case as they attempt to profile this serial killer.
I've whined about authors who label their dominant alpha characters as psychopaths. They need to read about Maddog here. Now, he's a psychopath. I think Maddog's mother did something to him as a kid, and he's killing women to fulfill a need that grows within him.
Aw, man, I cannot believe Jennifer. The crappy things she does to people. She doesn't care who she hurts as long as she gets her story.
There's a liveliness to this. You can't help but want to keep turning the pages.
The Story
There's a serial killer loose and the media thinks Davenport walks on water. It's why Daniels intends for Davenport to work parallel with Homicide on this case: he's brilliant and quirky, and the police department needs this case solved. Now.
The Characters
Detective Lieutenant Lucas Davenport is gorgeous and willing to bend the rules. He collects guns, makes a nice living off the video games he creates, and likes the ladies and the track. Sister Mary Joseph, a.k.a., Elle Kruger, is a friend from his childhood and a professor of psychology.
She's also one of his beta testers. He sold his first video game years ago and now plays with Sister Mary Joseph, another sister, a grocer (plays Jeb Stuart), a bookie, a defense attorney, and a few students, including Reynolds (plays Pickett) testing his games. Primarily a replay of the Battle of Gettysburg, the game he's calling Grove of Trees, a game he doesn't think he can sell.
Minneapolis Police Department
Bucky and Dick are the internal affairs cops spying on Davenport. Quentin Daniel is the chief of police. Frank Lester is the deputy chief for investigations and a former head of robbery-homicide. Swanson is a homicide cop. Lyle Wullfolk is the head of homicide; Harmon Anderson is his assistant with a high clearance rate. Harry Roe is near retirement. Larry Rice was in maintenance, dying of cancer; his wife is willing to take it to court. Sergeant Sloan helps with the missing gun situation. Davey Johnson and York; Sally Johnson and Sickles; Blancy; and, Cochrane are on surveillance. It's too bad that Carl Werschel gets worked up so bad when his dogs go crazy.
Carrol MacElreney with Cedar Rapids PD is glad to help out.
The Media
Annie McGowan is with Channel Eight and beautiful with the brains of an oyster. Jennifer Carey is with TV3 and sleeping with Lucas. She has so very few morals, I can't stand her. Denise Ring is the city editor for the paper at the Pioneer Press.
The maddog, Louis Vullion, was born a serial killer. Never so alive as when he's killing. The woman he falls in love with, who becomes essential, is his Chosen. Bethany Jankalo is one of the associates at the law firm. Gant is on parole for assault and when he goes after his ex-wife, it's Vullion gets him off on a technicality. The same kind that keeps protecting criminals everywhere.
Shirley Morris was a housewife. Carla Ruiz is a feisty artist. Jeannie Lewis is a realtor. Jimmie Smithe gets bad advice from an attorney, Del McCarthy, who's more interested in making a name for himself. Heather Brown, a.k.a., Gloria Ammundsen, is a runaway who'd rather survive as a hooker than live at home. Her pimp was Jefferson Sparks. Shirley Johnson runs a house; Bald Peterson is her security. Cheryl Wheatcroft was disabled and working to get through law school, a senior at the top of her class.
Alan Nester is an antiques dealer, not particularly scrupulous.
The Cover
The cover is basic and split into three sections: bright green on top with the author's name; a narrow band of black; and, a white bottom with the title and a worn paper scrap with a capital E.
The title is the killer's focus, Rules of Prey is how he plans and executes, the rules he learnt in law school.
My Take
Wow, truly excellent. Davenport is a slightly crooked cop but he does it to protect, to take out the bad guy. He writes games and makes a really good living from their sales, so why he stays a cop I don't know. But Sandford makes it really real with a protagonist you love. He is at least honest in his way and provides excellent insight into how police really appear to work.
I love that Davenport collects poetry, that he creates video games, how he develops the games. All sorts of issues I'd'a never thought of. I like how real he is. He cares about people — and visits the track. He's honest with his women as well, although that deal he makes at the end...I dunno, caught, trapped by a lying bitch. I'm dying to read Shadow Prey to find out how that situation resolves!
I did have to laugh about the psychiatrists and their conclusions. It reminded me of gallery docents and museum guides who tell viewers that this is what the artist was thinking. And they're so clueless. Just like the police in this case as they attempt to profile this serial killer.
I've whined about authors who label their dominant alpha characters as psychopaths. They need to read about Maddog here. Now, he's a psychopath. I think Maddog's mother did something to him as a kid, and he's killing women to fulfill a need that grows within him.
Aw, man, I cannot believe Jennifer. The crappy things she does to people. She doesn't care who she hurts as long as she gets her story.
There's a liveliness to this. You can't help but want to keep turning the pages.
The Story
There's a serial killer loose and the media thinks Davenport walks on water. It's why Daniels intends for Davenport to work parallel with Homicide on this case: he's brilliant and quirky, and the police department needs this case solved. Now.
The Characters
Detective Lieutenant Lucas Davenport is gorgeous and willing to bend the rules. He collects guns, makes a nice living off the video games he creates, and likes the ladies and the track. Sister Mary Joseph, a.k.a., Elle Kruger, is a friend from his childhood and a professor of psychology.
She's also one of his beta testers. He sold his first video game years ago and now plays with Sister Mary Joseph, another sister, a grocer (plays Jeb Stuart), a bookie, a defense attorney, and a few students, including Reynolds (plays Pickett) testing his games. Primarily a replay of the Battle of Gettysburg, the game he's calling Grove of Trees, a game he doesn't think he can sell.
Minneapolis Police Department
Bucky and Dick are the internal affairs cops spying on Davenport. Quentin Daniel is the chief of police. Frank Lester is the deputy chief for investigations and a former head of robbery-homicide. Swanson is a homicide cop. Lyle Wullfolk is the head of homicide; Harmon Anderson is his assistant with a high clearance rate. Harry Roe is near retirement. Larry Rice was in maintenance, dying of cancer; his wife is willing to take it to court. Sergeant Sloan helps with the missing gun situation. Davey Johnson and York; Sally Johnson and Sickles; Blancy; and, Cochrane are on surveillance. It's too bad that Carl Werschel gets worked up so bad when his dogs go crazy.
Carrol MacElreney with Cedar Rapids PD is glad to help out.
The Media
Annie McGowan is with Channel Eight and beautiful with the brains of an oyster. Jennifer Carey is with TV3 and sleeping with Lucas. She has so very few morals, I can't stand her. Denise Ring is the city editor for the paper at the Pioneer Press.
The maddog, Louis Vullion, was born a serial killer. Never so alive as when he's killing. The woman he falls in love with, who becomes essential, is his Chosen. Bethany Jankalo is one of the associates at the law firm. Gant is on parole for assault and when he goes after his ex-wife, it's Vullion gets him off on a technicality. The same kind that keeps protecting criminals everywhere.
Shirley Morris was a housewife. Carla Ruiz is a feisty artist. Jeannie Lewis is a realtor. Jimmie Smithe gets bad advice from an attorney, Del McCarthy, who's more interested in making a name for himself. Heather Brown, a.k.a., Gloria Ammundsen, is a runaway who'd rather survive as a hooker than live at home. Her pimp was Jefferson Sparks. Shirley Johnson runs a house; Bald Peterson is her security. Cheryl Wheatcroft was disabled and working to get through law school, a senior at the top of her class.
Alan Nester is an antiques dealer, not particularly scrupulous.
The Cover
The cover is basic and split into three sections: bright green on top with the author's name; a narrow band of black; and, a white bottom with the title and a worn paper scrap with a capital E.
The title is the killer's focus, Rules of Prey is how he plans and executes, the rules he learnt in law school.