Rating:  Summary: Solid Mystery Review: John Sandford's popular Detective Davenport is back, this time on the hunt for mafia hitwoman Clara Rinker.And much as you have to like the roguish Davenport, it's hard not to cheer for Rinker. She's returned from her hideout in Mexico, where she'd started a new life with a new man -- and a baby on the way. Discovered by her old mafia friends, Rinker barely survives an assassination attempt -- losing her boyfriend and her baby in the same tragic instant. And now she wants revenge. Can Clara kill her would-be killers? Can Davenport bring her to justice? I won't give anything else away, other than to tell you that you're going to have an awful lot of fun -- and some awfully late nights -- finding out.
Rating:  Summary: Our favorite characters are back, but that's about all folks Review: Lucas Davenport again faces off with a nemesis, Clara Rinker. The book starts off extraordinarily slowly but builds to a typical Sandford twisted ending. The character development was the best part of the book, while the plot remained less than stellar. I believe that while Lucas Davenport has been a terrific continuum for Sandford, he may need to find new characters so that he can develop some new story lines.
Rating:  Summary: Excellent followup Review: I read Certain Prey when Mortal Prey hit the stands to get a background on Clara Rinker. Dont know if that was such a good idea since I rooted for her the entire book. Sanford made her very sympathetic and I bought it. Lucas came off in this book as a clod, in my opinion. Weather can have him. After the background beginning, the book took off and was exciting all the way thru. Sandford wrote Rinker to be manic at the end otherwise I would have hoped to see her in a future book of his. I love good 'bad guys'. Wonderful read, hard to put down. A lingering sadness for Clara's horrible beginning and end.
Rating:  Summary: Slow To Start But Good Ending Review: Clara Rinker, professional hit-woman from Certain Prey, is back in business and back in Lucas Davenport's life. I had a hard time getting interested in this one. I kept putting it down, then I had to force myself to pick it up again. I almost gave up on it (I hate to give up on a book), but I stayed with it and I'm glad I did. About half way through the story, it started to come together and the closer Lucas got to Rinker, the more exciting it became. Good dialog, good characters and a plot line, that once it got going, was good too.
Rating:  Summary: "Just OK" Review: I'd rate this the second weakest effort in the "Prey" series after "Shadow Prey", but it's still a pretty-good overall read.(SPOILER) I have to say I was disappointed in seeing Clara Rinker getting killed off since she was one of the more interesting characters in the two books she's been in. Also, the book was missing some of the other "background" characters that usually keep me riveted to the book.
Rating:  Summary: Good, but not the best Review: I liked this book, though, as a die hard Prey fan, I would not rate it among the better books in the series, like "Mind Prey." This novel finds Davenport once again tracking down Clara Rinker, the female contract killer from "Certain Prey." While living in retirement with her new boyfriend in Cancun, Rinker loses both him and her unborn child to an assassin's bullet meant for her. Believing the failed attempt on her life to be the work of her former employers, who would rather not take the chance of her turning them over to the FBI, Rinker embarks on a mission to kill the four men she believes were involved. Lucas is recruited by the FBI to help in the search for Rinker. This book was, in my mind, one of those books that you can't tell whether you like or dislike. It had some very good elements, but some parts just didn't work well. I really enjoyed seeing Rinker going after her former bosses, and I thought it was a unique twist for Sandford to leave the audience sympathizing with the villain, a rarity in his books. Other parts left me scoffing, such as the FBI enlisting Davenport to help them. It's very typical of Sandford to make the FBI look like morons, and I didn't see any reason why they needed Lucas, who had only met Rinker twice before and had failed to catch her even then. It was a poor excuse to get him involved in the pursuit. All in all, if you're a Prey fan, I urge you to read this, though I don't see it as one of the "classics."
Rating:  Summary: KEEPS GETTING BETTER Review: Lucas Sanderson, the hero of this 13th "Prey" novel, finds himself pitted against an old adversary: Hit lady Clara Rinker. Clara's in hiding in Mexico, and finds her life completely turned around when an assassination attempt kills her lover and her unborn baby. Clara's quest for revenge is bloodthirsty and she'll stop at nothing to get the mob leaders who set up the hit. Of course, Lucas is in the process of wedding his also-pregnant lady, Weather Kinneman, and this figures in the plot, in a rather shocking way at the finale. There are some real plot twists, and the action never lets up. Several highly charged action scenes keep this one moving at a highly tense pace. Sandford knows how to write, and his character continues to be one of those you could slap sometimes, but he's great. Looking forward to more Lucas preys!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:  Summary: Mortal Prey Review: Professional hit-woman Clara Rinker returns for another shot at Lucas Davenport as the brilliant Prey series reaches 13 with nary a sign of dross on its gloss. What Sandford does as well if not better than any other crime fiction writer is make good villains. Though his Clara Rinker kills for money, he puts so human a face on her it requires an act of will to resist her appeal. We meet her first as victim (shrewd Sandford), ambushed, gunned down in cold-blood. Fatally wounded in the same ambush is her lover, the man whose child she was carrying. Since Paulo was the son of a notorious Mexican crime family, conventional wisdom names him as the mark. During her long convalescence, however, Clara has a chance to rethink that. Back in St. Louis, where she made her world-class reputation, there are five powerful men who regularly hired her gun and who might have begun to worry about how deeply she was clued into their various nefarious operations. She decides they've formed a cabal against her and that it's time to become proactive. At this point, enter series hero Lucas Davenport (Chosen Prey, 2001, etc.), one of the few ever to survive a one-on-one with Clara (Certain Prey, 1999). In his day job, Lucas is Minneapolis's Deputy Police Chief, but the FBI drafts him for an all-out war. Like the talented guerilla she is, Clara strikes with elegant ferocity, taking out her targets as planned, staying an infuriating step ahead of all her adversaries, including Lucas. But Lucas scares her. While she likes and respects him, she knows there's no safety for her until she kills him. Which parallels precisely the way Lucas feels about her. Vivid cast, bristling action, neat surprises-and it's funny. Probably the cop novel of the year.
Rating:  Summary: Taken First Place Review: My Mother started me on the Sandford mysteries after the birth of my son with "Winter Prey." I haven't been able to resist any of them since. Until the release of "Mortal Prey", "Winter Prey" was my favorite...not I'm torn. This one is G-R-E-A-T! If you're a Sandford fan, don't miss this one! If you're not, (heaven forbid!), read this one and you'll want them all!
Rating:  Summary: Disappointing Review: In all the other "Prey" novels, parts of Lucas Davenport's character have been revealed. I didn't feel this was at all true of "Mortal Prey." Davenport seems to be just a character in anyone's book - smart, but nothing new.
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