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A review by yevolem
The Investigator by John Sandford
5.0
Nineteen years after Letty Davenport was introduced in Naked Prey (2003) she finally has own her series. A new reader doesn't have to have read any other books by Sandford to enjoy this first book. The most important details from the Lucas Davenport series were included in here as brief flashbacks and in the dialogue. That being said, there was a lot more than that from the books she was in, but nothing important enough that I think it would have much effect on reading this. Lucas Davenport didn't appear in this book aside from a few stray mentions and a briefly described phone call in the final pages. A character asked if he should be present, but the answer given to that is "no". Virgil Flowers had a single mention.
The Investigator was rather different in some ways than either the Prey or Flowers series. As the title said, she's an investigator, specifically for the Department of Homeland Defense and a senator. The first half was exactly that, investigating. It's well-detailed and more serious than his other books. None of the characters were caricatures. I enjoyed the minutiae and trivial details. After the first half, the plans were put into motion. Around three-fourths of the way in, it became sustained thrills and suspense until the end. A basic synopsis would be that Letty investigated what the intentions of a militia group suspected of stealing oil to fund their activities were.
This was the first book I've read by Sandford where I felt there was enough of substance to discuss, rather than simply reading it for pure entertainment value. It presented meaningful ideas worth thinking about delivered by the most thoughtful and sympathetic antagonist he's ever written. There were several thematic parallels that would be applicable to the current circumstances of the United States. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a social science thriller, analogous to social science fiction, but with a few changes, it could've been. It's easy for me to see this becoming a tv series, not a movie since not enough happens in the first half, on FX or HBO. I'd watch it.
Letty is a character that I've enjoyed since her first appearance through every subsequent appearance. She's one of my favorite types of female characters and a particularly notable exemplar of one at that. The primary antagonist, rather than criminal as I don't think that would be the right connotation, Jael is also an amazing female character. She may well be the best antagonist Sanford has done, at least for my preferences anyway. Her perspective, though misguided, was a joy to read. She had some ideas I agreed with, but her methods left much to be desired and only addressed a symptom rather than a cause. Usually it's the case that the antagonists were incompetent and self-destructive, but for the leaders of the movement, that isn't so much the case.
This book hit a sweet spot of enjoyability for me. The only reason I'm not giving it an unreserved five stars is that I think the first half could have been more compelling or somewhat shorter. I would preferred some stuff to have been done differently, but nothing so much that detracted from my enjoyment in any significant way. By the end I had so many ideas of where this could go. That's the problem with imagination though, so I can't say for certain how much of this was based on my personal interpretation of the story. I don't whether I'm overhyping what I liked about it, but that's fine.
Then I watched an interview with Sandford about the book. I was somewhat disappointed that the next book wouldn't be a direct sequel to this one. He said it would be about cybercrime. I'm still highly anticipating its release though. Sandford said the Letty Davenport series might be 4-5 books, as he's old now and the physicality of writing leaves him exhausted. For that reason, the Flowers series may not have a separate individual book again. I was disappointed because I let my imagination run wild about what this series could become if it were continuous rather than individual cases as has been the case with all his other series. The ending really made it seem like it would be. I can't say what I had in mind without spoiling the ending of the book, though I suppose I'll have to look into other books that have already done a similar idea to what I was thinking now.
Interview with John Sandford
https://youtu.be/RaYyyCEGfNU
Rating: 4.5/5
The Investigator was rather different in some ways than either the Prey or Flowers series. As the title said, she's an investigator, specifically for the Department of Homeland Defense and a senator. The first half was exactly that, investigating. It's well-detailed and more serious than his other books. None of the characters were caricatures. I enjoyed the minutiae and trivial details. After the first half, the plans were put into motion. Around three-fourths of the way in, it became sustained thrills and suspense until the end. A basic synopsis would be that Letty investigated what the intentions of a militia group suspected of stealing oil to fund their activities were.
This was the first book I've read by Sandford where I felt there was enough of substance to discuss, rather than simply reading it for pure entertainment value. It presented meaningful ideas worth thinking about delivered by the most thoughtful and sympathetic antagonist he's ever written. There were several thematic parallels that would be applicable to the current circumstances of the United States. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a social science thriller, analogous to social science fiction, but with a few changes, it could've been. It's easy for me to see this becoming a tv series, not a movie since not enough happens in the first half, on FX or HBO. I'd watch it.
Letty is a character that I've enjoyed since her first appearance through every subsequent appearance. She's one of my favorite types of female characters and a particularly notable exemplar of one at that. The primary antagonist, rather than criminal as I don't think that would be the right connotation, Jael is also an amazing female character. She may well be the best antagonist Sanford has done, at least for my preferences anyway. Her perspective, though misguided, was a joy to read. She had some ideas I agreed with, but her methods left much to be desired and only addressed a symptom rather than a cause. Usually it's the case that the antagonists were incompetent and self-destructive, but for the leaders of the movement, that isn't so much the case.
This book hit a sweet spot of enjoyability for me. The only reason I'm not giving it an unreserved five stars is that I think the first half could have been more compelling or somewhat shorter. I would preferred some stuff to have been done differently, but nothing so much that detracted from my enjoyment in any significant way. By the end I had so many ideas of where this could go. That's the problem with imagination though, so I can't say for certain how much of this was based on my personal interpretation of the story. I don't whether I'm overhyping what I liked about it, but that's fine.
Then I watched an interview with Sandford about the book. I was somewhat disappointed that the next book wouldn't be a direct sequel to this one. He said it would be about cybercrime. I'm still highly anticipating its release though. Sandford said the Letty Davenport series might be 4-5 books, as he's old now and the physicality of writing leaves him exhausted. For that reason, the Flowers series may not have a separate individual book again. I was disappointed because I let my imagination run wild about what this series could become if it were continuous rather than individual cases as has been the case with all his other series. The ending really made it seem like it would be. I can't say what I had in mind without spoiling the ending of the book, though I suppose I'll have to look into other books that have already done a similar idea to what I was thinking now.
Interview with John Sandford
https://youtu.be/RaYyyCEGfNU
Rating: 4.5/5