Rating: 
Summary: Scary--Gripping--Thrilling
Review: Winter Prey is the first book I have read by John Sandford. I wish I had found him before now. The book was great. I was in a trance the whole time, just living in my mind what he had written. Lucas Davenport was a great character. I cannot say enough good things about him or Shelly Carr, or the good lady Doctor and of course the Iceman. The book was well written, held my attention and was believeable. Parker or Connelly were my favorite authors until now. I would hate to choose between the three mystery writers. I hope his other books are as good.
Rating:
Summary: A memorable new chapter of Prey
Review: Winter Prey maintains the standard of excellence established by Sandford in the previous volumes of the Prey series. In this work, he's able to knit together multiple themes into a coherent work. Among these themes is one with which, perhaps surprisingly, he hasn't really dealt in the preceding four books -- the extreme cold of the North. The cultural and natural effects of this are both memorably represented. But perhaps the strongest theme of the book is that of the manipulation of young minds. It's noteworthy that in the preview of this book at the end of Silent Prey, the Iceman was instead called the Teacher. The name is tragically appropriate.Maybe the least strong feature of Sandford's writing is the depth with which he represents his characters. Yet by reading the series in order, this isn't as much as a problem as it would be for a standalone work. From book to book, characters, especially Lucas, become more familiar as they develop and progress. For this reason and others I strongly recommend these books be read in sequence. Still, this book, more than Silent Prey, works on its own. While I give it the highest rating, five stars, as part of the series, by itself it's still worth four.
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