Certain Prey

Rating:
Summary: Davenport is as Cool as Minneapolis
Review: Certain Prey is the first Lucas Davenport mystery I've read. It won't be the last. As a former Minneapolitan I felt a closeness to the story both because of the location and the cultural reflection as seen in Davenport's reading material. I'm glad the author did not resort to stereotypical "ya sure, you betcha" characterization some people associate with Minnesota. The author created creditable characters with definite human attributes.

As a fan of the assassination genre, I especially liked the character development and presentation of Clara & Carmel. Certainly, Clara, even though the professional, is a sympathetic villain. Carmel probably represents many people's extreme view of lawyers in general. In Carmel, the author created an unsympathetic but understandable character.

The author has written a tight, no nonsense mystery without a lot of blathering that some authors believe is necessary in their literary endeavors. However, all is not golden. The book reflects a certain degree of sloppiness in the author's and editor's work. At one point, Clara & Carmel are torturing Rolo, an unsavory character, in order to get information they need. They chain him to a bed by looping a chain around his neck and lock this chain on the headboard. Then, to secure his arms, "she (Carmel) took a tight wrap of chain around one of his wrists, snapped on a padlock, leaned over the SIDE (uppercase mine) of the bed, threw the chain beneath it, fished it out from the opposite side, took a wrap around Rolo's other wrist, and snapped on the last padlock," His legs were chained and locked to the footboard. (Page 66)

The man is now spread-eagled on the bed.

Yet, once his body reaches the morgue, the police notice that he has clawed initials of his to-be-apparent killer onto the back of his hands. This is a remarkable deed for someone whose hands were chained separately, and far away from each other. Ultra flexible fingers? The reader doubts this. These initials play a role in Davenport's determination of Carmel's involvement.

To compound this lapse in proofreading and editing is the statement on page 105, made by Davenport, when asked how the man's hands were chained. " 'Like this,' Lucas said, demonstrating. 'Over his head.' "

In books poorly written, I would have put the book down at this point and relegated it to the circular file. Fortunately, Sandford/Camp still pulled through a winner.

Rating:
Summary: Certain Prey
Review: This is the 10th installment of John Sandford's Prey series with his protagonist Minneapolis police detective Lucas Davenport.

Lucas Davenport confronts a new kind of adversary this time, a woman named Clara Rinker, and she is the best-hit woman in the business. Attorney Carmel Loan hires Clara Rinker when she wants barrister Hale Allen all to herself and wants Allen's wife out of the picture. This time things go wrong for Rinker. She leaves a witness who happens to be a cop. Carmel and Rinker team up together to clean up the loose ends, including Davenport.

This book is filled with brilliant characters and is an exceptional thriller. Sandford keeps the level of suspense at a fevered pitch as he shifts viewpoints between the women and Davenport. It is a very well written and fast-paced book. This book is not for the faint of heart; it has a lot of gore, sex and to many bodies to keep track of, but even with that this is one great book to read.

Rating:
Summary: couldnt put it down
Review: This is my 1st John Sandford read and i liked it very much..I wasnt able to put it down much and polished it off in less than a day..The three main characters, the infamous Lucas, Carmel and the seductive Clara had a really interesting little battle of wits, skills and dialogue..I recommend it to all and especially Johns fans..I look forward to reading the rest of his series

Rating:
Summary: Lucas Davenport's legend grows.
Review: This is John Sandford's tenth book starring Minneapolis police detective Lucas Davenport. The "Prey" novels, much like James Patterson's Alex Cross books, have several ongoing plotlines that add continuity value to the stories. Like all Sandford's books, Certain Prey is packed full of colorful villians, great cop talk, and lots of interesting investigation procedures that Davenport is careful to follow lest his quarry get off due to a technicality. Clara Rinker is Davenport's sport for this book, but she's a careful professional killer with a nack for covering her escapes. When Lucas gets close she takes it personally and suddenly the detective finds himself in the unfamiliar role of being the quarry in a deadly game of cat & mouse. With an ending even long time readers won't guess, Certain Prey is "certainly" one of John Sandford's best.(If you're a "continuity junkie" like me, start with the first book Rules of Prey and read them all in copyright order. They get progressively better as you go.)

Rating:
Summary: Good Prey
Review: I was really pleased with how this book turned out. I head that it wasn't the best, but I really like it. I was on the edge of my seat when our hero Davenport was dancing with the person he was looking for. I hightly suggest Certain Prey. It's a food read with a lot of plot twists.

Rating:
Summary: Dancing With the Devil
Review: Lucas Davenport returns in a (somewhat) politically correct thriller with a viperous lady lawyer and a cuddly former topless dancer turned professional hit woman. To his credit, Mr. Sanderford does try to crawl into the head of a female, but (of course) he misses quite a lot. Well written, an enjoyable read. Davenport always solves the mystery, but there is a lot of mayhem, gore, sex and nastiness along the way, along with too many bodies to keep count of.

Rating:
Summary: Another Great One
Review: This is a typical John Sandford (Camp) output. It is so outstanding you can literally not put it down. I don't know where he gets his ideas, but every one is magnificent, surpassed only by his spellbinding writing talent. Buy this one immediately!

Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding
Review: It has been awhile since a book has held my attention as this one did.

I hiaghly reccommend it to anyone who likes a very bleveable thriller.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing
Review: I have read and enjoyed several of John Sandford's books and was looking for another enjoyable experience with Certain Prey. I didn't get it. The hit woman and the murderously jealous psychopath who hired her were painted in such a light that I found myself sympathizing with them. I find this disturbing. I would have given it zero stars if I had tossed it out after the first couple of chapters. However, as with all of Sandford's books, it was intriguing and kept me reading to the last page.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting thriller; great antagonists
Review: This is the first Sandford thriller I've read. I enjoyed the two villains in this piece even better than Sandford's hero, Lucas Davenport, who comes off a bit dry for my taste.

But watch out for the two lethal ladies; once you pick up this fast-paced thriller, you won't put it down. Excellent pacing, great action, and a good ending. If you like good thrillers, this is for you.