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A review by saareman
Righteous Prey by John Sandford
4.0
Solid Prey
Review of the Penguin Audio audiobook edition (October 4, 2022) released simultaneously with the G. P. Putnam’s Sons hardcover edition
This was a further solid police procedural from veteran writer Sandford which continues the partnership linkup of his previous separate series characters Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers. The villains this time are a vigilante group whose connection is that they are Bitcoin millionaires who have decided to become thrill-seekers by assassinating selected "bad" people. The implausibility of that, plus the fact that they issue press releases to advertise their actions did keep this out of 5 star territory for me. But if there were no foolish villains leaving clues, there would be no book of course. Anyway, the main attraction is the team-up of Lucas and Virgil and their banter.
The main side-plot on the home front is that Virgil has become a fiction novel writer and is trying to sell his latest book through a literary agent. As best as I recall he previously only wrote articles for outdoor and fishing magazines. So instead of Virgil sneaking off in the middle of a case to get some fishing time, he instead uses any spare time to write out chapter outlines for upcoming books. It makes you wonder if Sandford is using Virgil as a proxy to recall his own early fiction writing days. It is an entertaining diversion and could become a bit meta if future Virgil books are fictionalized versions of his cases with Lucas. The back and forth banter with Lucas is that of comfortable old time friends. A scene where Virgil pulls Lucas into an embrace in order to divert the suspicion of a homophobic suspect is a hoot.
The villains you ask? They of course have a falling out and help to defeat themselves for the most part. The concluding firefight is actually quite shocking though and has you wondering whether Sandford might not be prepared to kill off some of his own major characters one day. A related sequel becomes a possibility at the end.
As with [b:Ocean Prey|54747051|Ocean Prey (Lucas Davenport, #31)|John Sandford|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1596043900l/54747051._SY75_.jpg|85401430] (2021) (5 ***** rating), this book was a great relief to me and restored my confidence in Sandford's writing after the repulsive [b:Neon Prey|40982957|Neon Prey (Lucas Davenport, #29)|John Sandford|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532908075l/40982957._SY75_.jpg|63872958] (2019) (1 * rating) and the creepshow [b:Masked Prey|52752171|Masked Prey (Lucas Davenport, #30)|John Sandford|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567045656l/52752171._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73003429] (2020) (2 ** rating) and the complete absence of a Virgil Flowers book in 2020.
Review of the Penguin Audio audiobook edition (October 4, 2022) released simultaneously with the G. P. Putnam’s Sons hardcover edition
This was a further solid police procedural from veteran writer Sandford which continues the partnership linkup of his previous separate series characters Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers. The villains this time are a vigilante group whose connection is that they are Bitcoin millionaires who have decided to become thrill-seekers by assassinating selected "bad" people. The implausibility of that, plus the fact that they issue press releases to advertise their actions did keep this out of 5 star territory for me. But if there were no foolish villains leaving clues, there would be no book of course. Anyway, the main attraction is the team-up of Lucas and Virgil and their banter.
The main side-plot on the home front is that Virgil has become a fiction novel writer and is trying to sell his latest book through a literary agent. As best as I recall he previously only wrote articles for outdoor and fishing magazines. So instead of Virgil sneaking off in the middle of a case to get some fishing time, he instead uses any spare time to write out chapter outlines for upcoming books. It makes you wonder if Sandford is using Virgil as a proxy to recall his own early fiction writing days. It is an entertaining diversion and could become a bit meta if future Virgil books are fictionalized versions of his cases with Lucas. The back and forth banter with Lucas is that of comfortable old time friends. A scene where Virgil pulls Lucas into an embrace in order to divert the suspicion of a homophobic suspect is a hoot.
The villains you ask? They of course have a falling out and help to defeat themselves for the most part. The concluding firefight is actually quite shocking though and has you wondering whether Sandford might not be prepared to kill off some of his own major characters one day. A related sequel becomes a possibility at the end.
As with [b:Ocean Prey|54747051|Ocean Prey (Lucas Davenport, #31)|John Sandford|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1596043900l/54747051._SY75_.jpg|85401430] (2021) (5 ***** rating), this book was a great relief to me and restored my confidence in Sandford's writing after the repulsive [b:Neon Prey|40982957|Neon Prey (Lucas Davenport, #29)|John Sandford|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532908075l/40982957._SY75_.jpg|63872958] (2019) (1 * rating) and the creepshow [b:Masked Prey|52752171|Masked Prey (Lucas Davenport, #30)|John Sandford|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567045656l/52752171._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73003429] (2020) (2 ** rating) and the complete absence of a Virgil Flowers book in 2020.