Chosen Prey

Rating:
Summary: First Prey book I've read and I'm hooked
Review: This is my first book in the "Prey" series and John Sandford had me hooked in the first chapter. James Qatar is killer, a man who likes to seduce women then strangle them. Qatar has other perversions, such as photographing women from afar and turning those photos into pornographic drawings and mailing them to the women anonomously.

Qatar's latest potential victim is Ellen Barstad. Qatar seduces her and lays the groundwork for another killing when Barstad surprises him by being a willing sexual partner. Thus their relationship continues.

Lucas Davenport and his band of police officer friends enter the scene later, investigating a cold case where the body was finally found. Finding the body causes the police to look closer at the case. Several clues allow Davenport to proceed in the case. The dead woman found had a pornographic drawing of herself in her apartment. Then several other women come forward who have drawings but have no idea where they came from. Then a police chief from Wisconsin comes forward and reveals they may be dealing with a serial killer because his neice may have met the same fate.

Chosen Prey's strength is the police investigation. They work hard for their info and at times seem to be getting nowhere. Still they slowly make progress and get closer and closer to Qatar. Sandford doesn't make it seem easy like some other authors tend to do.

One complaint I have is, after all of the thorough police investigations, the way in which Qatar's identity is found has nothing to do with police work. Qatar is a quality villian who seems to have covered all his tracks, yet through some convenient finds and plausible twists, justice is done.

This series is one I plan to continue to read because besides telling a great story, Sandford doesn't let the personal lives of the characters interfere with the book. Its easy to pick up and follow the lives of Lucas and his fiance Weather.


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.

Rating:
Summary: Wow! Can't wait to get my hands on the others!
Review: This was the first John Sandford book I have read, and I have to totally disagree will all that say this is a stand alone book. It does quick well alone, and now that I know there are others in the series I will go back and read them as well.

Lucas Davenport chases a serial killer through this novel who has more fashion sense then conscience. His only leads in the beginning are some poorly (at least in the eyes of the art community) sketched drawings of the now deceased women, and a huntch or two.

The character of Lucas Davenport feels very human, and his creator leaves you no choice other than to admire him for his skill as a detective, his sense of right and wrong, his ability to do what he thinks is right no matter what the cost, and his pateince with life as it throws one curve after another his way.