Seriously, #28 in John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport/Prey series? Wow – I am pretty sure I have read them all. Some of them knocked me out, while others were more in the better-than-average-and-sufficiently-entertaining vein. Twisted Prey, which I received from Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, falls into the second category.
Lucas Davenport is the protagonist in all Sandford’s “Prey” books. Formerly part of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, he is now part of the U.S. Marshal’s Service, still living with his physician wife Weather while their daughter Letty is at school at Stanford.
Senator Porter Smalls of Minnesota is on his way back from a “meeting” (illicit rendezvous) at a cabin in the woods, when his vehicle is run off a cliff, down a ravine into the woods, and slams into a tree. His female “aide,” who is driving, is killed. Senator Smalls, fearing he was the intended target, calls on Lucas to investigate (he suspects Senator Taryn Grant), She beat him in a prior election after planting kiddie porn on his computer) and is now a powerful member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, eyeing a run for the White House. Lucas and Taryn have met before, and once he becomes convinced that she is behind the “accident,” he is determined to see this investigation through to the end. It’s an entertaining ride, and along the way, we get a glimpse of Virgil Flowers and quite a lot of Ray and Bob, two other associates of Lucas’s.
Despite knowing who the bad guys are, there are a couple of good twists at the end, and the sharp dialogue combines with the action to keep the reader’s interest.
Fans of Lucas and the Prey series will LOVE this one Although it is the 28th Prey book, it can be enjoyed as a standalone, and will likely send the reader in search of earlier books in the series. I give it four stars because it didn’t knock my socks off, but it is a good, solid, and enjoyable read.