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dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Lucas alwasy gets his man, and at least on woman..... he seems troubled with more than one woman in this book, Maybe he will have better luck with his women in the next one.
TEN STARS!!!!
Picture this: Dragnet starring Sean Connery with Bob Hope's writers punching up the dialogue. The last 100 pages have made John Sandford my number one mystery genre recommendation.
"You ever tried phone sex?" She asked.
"Tried once, but it doesn't work. I feel like a silly jerkoff."
"That's sort of inevitable," she said.
"On the other hand, I'm good at giving it. I wouldn't want to use the word brilliant, but then, I'm a modest kind of guy."
"Really? That's interesting," she said. "I mean, how would you start it?"
"Are you still in bed?"
"Yeah."
"What are you wearing?" He asked.
"A flannel nightshirt and underpants and socks," she said.
"Socks? Jesus. That makes it a little harder," Lucas said.
"Come on, Davenport."
"All right. You know that fake Indian dream catcher you've got hanging over your sink?"
"Yeah....?"
"Go get it," he said.
"Go get it? What for?"
"Listen, are you going to do this, or not?"
"Well....I just wanted to know....."
"You're gonna need that hawk feather," he said.
After a moment, she said, "Hang on."
"Wait a minute! You still there?"
She came back. "Yes?"
"Didn't I see one of those Lady Remington leg shavers in the bathroom?"
"Yes?"
"Bring that, too" Lucas said.
"I'll tell you right now, I'm not shaving anything," she said.
"You don't use those things to shave," Lucas said. "You use them to shave? You naive little waif, you."
"I'll be right back," she said.
In essence, that is the scene representing the pure delight I felt in reading this novel.
There are murders, guns, drugs, fast-car chases, favorite characters near death, greedy criminals and reporters and models and artists and religious fanatics, slippery businessmen, red herring clues, twisty plot contrivances, police procedures rampantly broken and used as convenient - and some of the funniest jokes, dialogue setups, scene situations, gags and noir romancing not only in this series, but in ANY mystery series I've read! Plus, Sandford gives Lucas an agonizing choice of three beautiful women who want a hookup with our charming Detective! Worse, Sandford ends the book with the choice being made without revealing which one! The reader MUST go on to 'Chosen Prey' to find out which woman Davenport wants! Chosen prey indeed. Aw, jeez....
Sandford REALLY had fun writing this one. I can't believe it's a middle-of-the-series book! It's absolutely the best one of the series so far.
Picture this: Dragnet starring Sean Connery with Bob Hope's writers punching up the dialogue. The last 100 pages have made John Sandford my number one mystery genre recommendation.
"You ever tried phone sex?" She asked.
"Tried once, but it doesn't work. I feel like a silly jerkoff."
"That's sort of inevitable," she said.
"On the other hand, I'm good at giving it. I wouldn't want to use the word brilliant, but then, I'm a modest kind of guy."
"Really? That's interesting," she said. "I mean, how would you start it?"
"Are you still in bed?"
"Yeah."
"What are you wearing?" He asked.
"A flannel nightshirt and underpants and socks," she said.
"Socks? Jesus. That makes it a little harder," Lucas said.
"Come on, Davenport."
"All right. You know that fake Indian dream catcher you've got hanging over your sink?"
"Yeah....?"
"Go get it," he said.
"Go get it? What for?"
"Listen, are you going to do this, or not?"
"Well....I just wanted to know....."
"You're gonna need that hawk feather," he said.
After a moment, she said, "Hang on."
"Wait a minute! You still there?"
She came back. "Yes?"
"Didn't I see one of those Lady Remington leg shavers in the bathroom?"
"Yes?"
"Bring that, too" Lucas said.
"I'll tell you right now, I'm not shaving anything," she said.
"You don't use those things to shave," Lucas said. "You use them to shave? You naive little waif, you."
"I'll be right back," she said.
In essence, that is the scene representing the pure delight I felt in reading this novel.
There are murders, guns, drugs, fast-car chases, favorite characters near death, greedy criminals and reporters and models and artists and religious fanatics, slippery businessmen, red herring clues, twisty plot contrivances, police procedures rampantly broken and used as convenient - and some of the funniest jokes, dialogue setups, scene situations, gags and noir romancing not only in this series, but in ANY mystery series I've read! Plus, Sandford gives Lucas an agonizing choice of three beautiful women who want a hookup with our charming Detective! Worse, Sandford ends the book with the choice being made without revealing which one! The reader MUST go on to 'Chosen Prey' to find out which woman Davenport wants! Chosen prey indeed. Aw, jeez....
Sandford REALLY had fun writing this one. I can't believe it's a middle-of-the-series book! It's absolutely the best one of the series so far.
Quite enjoyed reading this book, just because Lucas Davenport is not entirely invincible.
Basically Davenport chases down all sorts of leads, but in the end the killer is just obsessed with the model.
A good read.
Basically Davenport chases down all sorts of leads, but in the end the killer is just obsessed with the model.
A good read.
Didn't find this one as good as the rest. Toward the end things got interesting. But the book felt drawn out too much and the ultimate conclusion, while entertaining and unexpected... I dunno... Felt a bit contrived at points. Certainly more of a maze of a plot this time round. I felt there was a bit too much talking and telling and not enough happening at times. As usual Lucas and his porsche amuse me, as well as his absurd romantic and sex life. Curious to read the next book though.
Not my favorite of the first 11 I've read. It's the longest, I think, which would be fine if it wasn't a bit tedious. In most of the books up to this point, we know who the killer is early on, so the books are a good balance of points of view. We get Lucas and his team figuring out how to catch the killer of a high profile fashion model, and the killer trying to outsmart him (and usually killing a few more people along the way). This one is a mystery. Lucas and his team are clearly at a loss in figuring out this case. There are numerous suspects, and we only get one brief snippet from the killer's point of view. So the book becomes a long police procedural as the force pulls uses all the tools they have and tries to keep the media at arms length. It drags a bit up until the last 5o pages. At the same time, Lucas is juggling his hormones and three potential women; Weather Kaarkinen, his most recent love; Catrin, an old flame from college who's married (barely); and ex-model Jael, who's potentially the next victim.
Written in 2000, when cell phones and the internet were still in their formative stages. Sandford remarks on this in the foreword of this newer edition, and it is amazing to realize just how far things have come in 20 years. Who remembers Alta Vista?
It's certainly not a bad book. It doesn't have the razor sharp focus of the others.
Written in 2000, when cell phones and the internet were still in their formative stages. Sandford remarks on this in the foreword of this newer edition, and it is amazing to realize just how far things have come in 20 years. Who remembers Alta Vista?
It's certainly not a bad book. It doesn't have the razor sharp focus of the others.
After reading review of this book I thought it was going to be horrible. It wasn't one of the best Prey books, but it wasn't bad either.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Another solid Davenport novel. Definitely a lot of twists and turns, and I felt like the love triangle he was involved with in this one actually added some value. It ended pretty abruptly without really figuring anything out woman wise but I guess that’s why we read the next one!
John Sandford's Prey series keeps rolling along with its 11th novel, Easy Prey. Detective Lucas Davenport is at a crossroads when his personal life starts interfering with his professional one.
A supermodel is murdered while at a party of the rich and famous. Another body is found at the same time but the second victim seems to be someone just as the wrong place at the wrong time. Headlines are everywhere; drugs, sex, and secrets surrounding the model, Alie's Maison's death are putting pressure on Lucas and his team to solve the case quickly. The bodies continue to pile up as do the motives and the suspects. When a member of Lucas' team is critically injured, he pulls out all the stops to find the murderer.
Old friends and lovers are at the heart of the novel and the mystery. Easy Prey was a somewhat bloated Davenport novel. Lucas' ongoing angst and indecision about the women in his life felt tedious after the fifth or sixth revelation about why/how he was attracted to each of them (Jael =sex, Catrin = nostalgia, and Weather = love). The murders almost take a backseat to Lucas' love life.
Easy Prey is one of the weaker novels in the series but one that a true fan shouldn't skip.
A supermodel is murdered while at a party of the rich and famous. Another body is found at the same time but the second victim seems to be someone just as the wrong place at the wrong time. Headlines are everywhere; drugs, sex, and secrets surrounding the model, Alie's Maison's death are putting pressure on Lucas and his team to solve the case quickly. The bodies continue to pile up as do the motives and the suspects. When a member of Lucas' team is critically injured, he pulls out all the stops to find the murderer.
Old friends and lovers are at the heart of the novel and the mystery. Easy Prey was a somewhat bloated Davenport novel. Lucas' ongoing angst and indecision about the women in his life felt tedious after the fifth or sixth revelation about why/how he was attracted to each of them (Jael =sex, Catrin = nostalgia, and Weather = love). The murders almost take a backseat to Lucas' love life.
Easy Prey is one of the weaker novels in the series but one that a true fan shouldn't skip.