Rating: Summary: Cracking Wise Overshadows Development of Qatar Review: This is one of those books where you're interest is grabbed immediately. Its also one which lets you down a little after the initial surge.James Qatar is a pathetic killer who finds his pleasure with his lawn mower cord, using it over and over to kill those he finds sexually attractive. This is established in the first few pages. After being introduced to this dismal character, the scene shifts to the Lucas Davenport and the many characters he interacts with. The book goes on, switching between the killer and the police. The ratio of coverage is about 80% police and 20% killer. If these percentages hovered closer to 50/50, the book would have been more interesting - though more morbid!
Rating: Summary: If I were a serial killer.... Review: If I were ever to become a serial killer, I'd want to do it in a town where Lucas Davenport was the head investigator. This guy has got to be the world's biggest bumbler. And the villain wasn't too sharp either, he made constant mistakes and did everything but put a neon sign around his neck saying that he was the one. If a Harry Bosch, Elvis Cole or Alex Cross were investigating, the killer would be locked down by page 100. Instead, Lucas bumbles around, not having a clue what to do with the investigation, driving his Porsche and SUV, talking about sex and what they're going to have for dinner, and endangering anyone connected to the case. When he finally figures out who the killer is, it comes to him in the shower - what an original idea! But even after he knows who the killer is, he still manages to make enough stupid decisions that the case against him would be weak, and of course more bodies pile up. As bad as this was, it was a quick and compelling read. You could skim through a lot of it because anytime something happened the next scene would be them retelling what had just happened. And I kept reading to see if there would be any surprises - there were'nt.
Rating: Summary: A solid serial killer suspense novel Review: To: Amazon.com Mystery writers apparently can't go wrong if they build their stories around serial killers. They can escalate murder by murder, making each one more disturbing. Sandford escalates well, but stretches the limits when he has the murderer kill his own mother. There is no real mystery here; we know the identity of the murderer in the first chapter. The only question is whether the police will find him before he kills again. The conversations among police officers are moderately amusing, but the good guy's significant other is more a token presence than a relevant character.
Rating: Summary: Very good read Review: I've followed Lucas Davenport and his exploits since "Rules" and it is still one of the best series around. Sandford keeps his characters interesting and real. I'm looking forward to seeing where Lucas' new assignment lands him and his co-workers. I recommend this series to anyone who likes a good read.
Rating: Summary: I prefer Alex Cross Review: Chosen Prey was the first audio book I listened to by John Sandford. While the overall story was okay, I found the writing to be lazy for lack of a better word. it seemed rush and not well thought out. in addition the sex scenes seemed to be forced and/or simply plopped in to give the book some excitement. The villain in this one was a joke and hardly kept my interest. He was simply not ruthless enough or diabolical or even sexy. James patterson always manages to fit the above elements in his villains take Michael and William for example from Viilets are Blue. That was a shocking book in deed. The bad guy in Chosen Prey at times didn't know if he was coming or going. There was something missing to his development. Lucas Davenport is also pretty unlikable as a hero. He comes across at times like a prig and seems at least in this book one dimensional. Its like outside women and police work there is nothing else to the man. Speaking of which why the need to have him bed every female character he comes in contact with? Is it to validate his manhood or something? This is crime fiction not erotica. As for him settling down with Weather, big deal. Waht a nagging witch not to mention a complete bimbo. In fact I found all the female characters to be anoying; John Sandford takes the femenist thing a bit too far. The reader did an okay job but his range of character voices was limited. he made one female sound very much like an overweight alcoholic man in fact. Not great at all. Certainly nothing compared to the suspense filled reading of a patterson book. maybe I just started out too late in this series but I am reluctant to buy the next one in line when there are so many other titles I want to add to my audio collection. This version contains four audio cassettes. Its narrated by a single reader.
Rating: Summary: Chosen Prey Review: This is the first book that I have read by John Sandford. I had trouble putting it down because the characters become so real. I am going to explore some more of the prey books. The only trouble I had with it is it was close to plagerism which is common with this type of book. The graveyard scene flashed my mind back to the movie and books Chiefs where foxy funderbird buried his hichiker boys and some of the Chiefs in a graveyard.
Rating: Summary: Pleasant Routine Review: Reading this book is a very pleasant routine. You meet the old, familiar characters - you even have a certain feeling that you have already read about Lucas Davenport having a similar problem. But, nevertheless, again Sandford has managed to produce a real page-turner. In spite of the dramatic irony used here the novel is full of suspense. And the ending again shows the same pattern: Lucas has to struggle very hard to find the last and convincing piece of evidence. But why is it that you always like those novels by Sandford? Because he is a great writer who can play with a suspenseful plot, and even the déja vu feeling you always have here does not make this a bad book - on the contrary. This is the positive routine of writing - completely enjoyable! But: statistically the Twin Cities must be the place with the most serial murderers in the world.
Rating: Summary: Chosen One, Not This Time Review: Sanford, you are amazing, everytime I think I get it figured out, you throw me another curve ball. This was a very good story with a modern theme. Who would have thought to look at a college professor, in a catholic school? He had access to these beautiful women and he took that to the utmost advantage. It made me look closely at my surroundings. Glad this one didn't get away.
Rating: Summary: Lucas Davenport¿Hot on the Trail Again Review: James Qatar is a well-respected writer and art history professor at the local university near St. Paul. He is also a womanizer, pervert, thief and serial killer. He targets young, innocent nubile blonds, usually new to the area with few connections to the local community, so that when he kills them, there will be no clues pointing to him. He is more interested in the pursuit than in sex with his victims, and as soon as the seduction is complete, he becomes bored with the women and quickly strangles them with a rope and steals their cash and jewelry. He buries the bodies on a remote hillside. He also uses computer software to scan in faces of victims and potential victims and attaches them to photos of bodies in alluring and pornographic postures that he has downloaded from the internet. Most of the recipients of the photos are too ashamed and embarrassed to turn in the photos to the police. Lucas Davenport, veteran detective from many other Sandford novels, is assigned to the case when a strangled corpse is unearthed from a shallow grave where she had been dumped about 18 months earlier. When they discover that the hillside is a veritable graveyard of other strangled females corpses, the investigation escalates and federal agencies are brought in to assist. Davenport and his partner know that this will only slow down progress, so they are determined to act promptly on every clue and solve the crimes quickly. Through some brilliant deduction and computer work, they narrowed the field of acquaintances and suspects considerably and even questioned Qatar's mother, who runs a small local museum. Qatar grows increasingly frantic and sloppy in his attempts to cover his tracks. From early in the novel, it is obvious that they will eventually capture Qatar, but the process of sifting through all the clues, questioning witnesses, and tightening the net around Qatar is fascinating, well-paced and well-written. The romance between Davenport and his long-term fiancé Weather, offers a soothing, sometimes amusing sub-plot to the violence and intrigue of capturing Qatar.
Rating: Summary: A calmer, more cerebral Lucas Davenport. Review: The twelfth book in John Sandford's Prey series, and Lucas Davenport is at it again. When some erotic drawings start turning up in unusual places, and when similar drawings are dug out of a long- dormant homicide investigation, Lucas mobilizes his team of misfits and starts looking for the pattern. Twelve books haven't changed his methods much; he's still brash, still headstrong, still prone to leaping before looking. What has changed is his love life, in that it seems to be limited to one woman... maybe on a permantent basis? But even romance takes a back seat when Davenport is on a case. He finds some unlikely allies from out of state, and finds more than he ever wanted buried in a remote hillside. Who is choking these women to death? Why the obsession with short blonde women? And what's the art connection? Can Davenport find out before another life is lost? For those who have read the Lucas Davenport / Prey books before, this book has a couple of differences from the previous books. Far less flirting for one. Not nearly as much attention paid to the female form... at least, not by Davenport. Also, there's less action throughout the novel as there have been in previous books in the series. This installment is much more cerebral and thoughtful, which may not be a welcome change of pace to Prey fans. For those who have't read the series, it isn't really necessary to read the previous books. You'll be missing backstory, but it's not hard to figure it out. These aren't great works of literature, but they're fairly solid supermarket-bookrack mysteries.
|