Chosen Prey

Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 Stars -- A Real Page-Turner!
Review: Be prepared to rarely get up from your seat once you start Chosen Prey. Sandford's characters are very credible, three dimensional and well-developed, and Lucas Davenport continues to be one of the more interesting "good guys" in crime fiction. The plot is very suspenseful and riveting. In typical Sandord style, there is no surprise as to who the killer is, yet the need for non-stop reading of his books is to see how the killer is caught. If you've read some of the other books in the "Prey" series, you'll know that how the criminal is brought to justice is not always in the way you'd suspect. Chosen Prey is a book I think you'll enjoy very much. As I said, though, be prepared to delay other things you need to do because you won't want to put this book down. It's well worth you're time and money.

Rating:
Summary: Satisfying!
Review: It takes a great thriller writer to keep me guessing throughout and satisfied in the end. THANK YOU, Mr. Sandford! A true writer's-writer; someone who inspires.

Rating:
Summary: 4 stars as part of a series 2 stars as a stand alone book
Review: This was a hard book for me to rate. I have read the previous books in Sandford's Prey series, eleven in all. As a reader who is familiar with all long running characters and plot threads, reading this book was like running into an old friend you have not seen in years, and talking like you live next door to each other. It was a pleasure to read simply for the continued evolution of the characters I have grown to know and love.

On the other hand, as a passable, stand alone novel, Sandford falls so far short of his past triumphs that I wonder if this does not signal the end for Lucas Davenport and company. Gone is all the tension, suspense, and thrill-of-the-chase that was so prevalent in many of the early Prey books. It has been replaced with a tired reworking of past Prey villains and a soap opera pace. In fact, the hunt for the bad guy plays a secondary role to Lucas' relationship with his ex-fiancée. It is writing like this that leads me to believe that Sandford is trying to stage a stopping point in this series.

If you have not read the previous Prey books, perhaps your money or time would be better spent reading a different book. If you are a Prey veteran, then carry on.