Customer Reviews

Broken Prey (Lucas Davenport Mysteries)

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I am new to the "Prey" series by John Sandford. I am always pleased to stumble across another great Mystery writer...even better if it is a series with characters like Lucas Davenport you can watch develop from book to book. This is only the second book in the series I have read so far, my first was Chosen Prey, that was also good, but I liked Broken even better! My one complaint is I cannot find any lists anywhere to list the order of the books! I found one partial list in someones review of an earlier book. It is always better (for me at least-when it is a series like this with returning characters) when I get to read the books in the right order. Here is the list I have compiled to help other Sandford newbies like me:

1 RULES OF PREY

2 SHADOW PREY

3 EYES OF PREY

4 SILENT PREY

5 WINTER PREY

6 NIGHT PREY

7 MIND PREY

8 SUDDEN PREY

9 SECRET PREY

10 CERTAIN PREY

11 EASY PREY

12 CHOSEN PREY

13 MORTAL PREY

14 NAKED PREY

15 HIDDEN PREY

16 BROKEN PREY

BROKEN PREY opens with pervert (and possible murderer) Charlie Pope smelling rancid and miserably scratching out an existence as a garbageman, the only job that he could get since being released on parole from St. John's Security Hospital. Every time Charlie sees a good-looking woman he is reminded of the fact that he is tethered to an electronic ankle bracelet and constantly branded in the press as a danger to the community; after over eight years of incarceration Charlie is desperate enough to fulfill his physical desires by whatever manner necessary.

The narrative then switches to an upscale Minnesota suburb as Lucas Davenport arrives at a truly horrific murder scene in the Porsche so familiar to the legions of fans of the PREY series by John Sandford. Even to law enforcement professionals involved, the details of the gruesome crime are almost stomach turning. (In fact, it threatens to be the crime which finally causes Lucas' long time associate Sloan to totally burn out and retire from the police force.) The victim is a young woman; her body was systematically scourged, after her throat cut the body was arranged by the killer so that the display would have maximum impact. The details of the killing are not released to the press, both so as to avoid alarming the public and to aid the police in their investigation. When a second victim (a older male who was killed and displayed in the same manner ) is discovered several miles away three weeks later, it is clear that there is not only a serial killer but a true sociopath at large in southern Minnesota.

All the evidence that Lucas and his team assemble points to Charlie Pope, who has cut off his ankle bracelet and disappeared. And yet confusion and doubt linger. The crimes have been so meticulously plotted and carefully executed that Lucas wonders whether Charlie, a man of limited intellgence and supposedly subject to emotional impulse, could really have committed such acts on his own or is simply being manipulated in some manner by a clever mastermind. (Perhaps Charlie has somehow remained in contact with the "Gods Down The Hall", the three most dangerous prisoners at St. John's; they are all kept in solitary confinement due to the extreme danger which they pose to anyone with whom they come into contact).

This is John Sandford at his best - Lucas and his team (Del Capslock even makes a cameo appearance) trying to track down a deranged killer in a race against time. Small missteps result in further murders and the case threatens to become so explosive that it might demand political sacrifices before its conclusion. Lucas is still working as a freelancer for Rose Marie Rioux, the head of the BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension), but her role in this book is largely peripheral to the story. Lucas' childhood friend Elle (Sister Mary Joseph) plays a larger role than usual. Meanwhile Lucas is at loose ends while his wife Weather and his family spend the summe rin London while Weather at a hospital there. Thus, the enjoyable byplay between them is absent from this story. in fact, one of my major disaapointments is that despite maintaining the wonderful Letty West as an integral element in Lucas' life by making her his ward in the aftermath of NAKED PREY, she continues to have no further role in the series.

There is an even larger than usual assortment of interesting characters which intersect in various ways with the storyline; however, the only one who seems likely to have a role in a future novel in the series is Ruffee Ignace (read the book to find out how to pronounce his name.) He is a dogged reporter (and one weird dude) with the Star Tribune who plays a crucial role in the story while constantly listening to the different beat of his own internal "radio". The story has a lot of misdirection, both by the perpetrators of these horrific crimes and by the author of his readers. But it is always clever, never unfair. The gruesome nature of the crimes and the level of detail kept me from rating it a full stars; in fact, if the story had not been so good and I was not such a fan of the series I would not have read it. But I did round up my rating and simply accompany it with a TRIPLE X warning, since for the story to seem realistic the detailed extreme violence is essential. It also has a huge, impressive, exciting firefight near the conclusion - one of the best in this genre. In addition, Sandford does a great job of tying up the loose ends, all the questions which Lucas (and I the reader) had were eventualy answered.

Finally, a special tribute to the use of Lucas' compilation for his IPOD of the "100 Best Songs of the Rock Era" as a clever way to provide a unifying theme among almost all the individuals in the book. At first I thought it was an interesting filler but somewhat of a distraction. (You'll have to read the book to get the background.) However, it became increasingly enjoyable as I (a bigtime rock fan) silently joined in the discussion as various suggestions were made and debated. And the last reference to the list was so ingenious it really made me smile. Rather than provide a fullblown critique, my only comment will be that while I can understand why a cop might chose JAILHOUSE ROCK by Elvis Presley (several of the songs had a police connection); only one song by The King is totally insufficient. But if you finally do choose only one, how can it not be HEARTBREAK HOTEL, the one that began it all? One last tickler, read the book to find out how Weather could convince Lucas that that his choice for #100 should be Jazz Suite No. 2; Waltz 2 by Dmitri Shostakovich. Huh?

Tucker Andersen

A-list voice performer Richard Ferrone delivers a compelling reading of the Unabridged Edition of the latest in John Sandford's Prey series. This time out hero Lucas Davenport is stretched to the nth degree as he tries to track a merciless predator. Ferrone expresses the narrator's revulsion at the brutality of the crimes and his determination to outwit the perpetrator with subtleties of voice that only a distinguished actor could convey.

The Abridged Edition is presented with equal elan by actor/narrator Eric Conger who received the Golden Earphone Award and Publisher's Weekly's 2001 Listen Up Award for "Chosen Prey." This, his seventh Prey recording, is spectacular.

As for the story itself, what accolades have not already been heaped upon John Sandford for creating a hero as intrepid and irascible as Lucas Davenport? Lucas is affecting and likable to boot.

This time out Davenport who heads the Minnesota State Bureau of Criminal apprehension is on the trail of a bloody, psychopathic killer, The governor, afraid of what will happen to his ratings if there is a serial killer on the loose, orders Davenport to find the perpetrator. Even perpetrator is too nice a word for someone who flays his victim with a wire or cuts off private parts before killing.

Fingers are pointed at Charley, a sex offender who has been recently paroled. But somehow Davenport doesn't find these heinous crimes fitting Charley's modus operandi.

"Broken Prey" is a rocketing roller coaster of a ride as Davenport and his partner trail a maniac. Sandford and Davenport are both a bit like fine wine - they just keep getting better and better. Anyone out there who isn't already a Prey fan? Listen up and discover what you've been missing.

- Gail Cooke

Wow! Best from Sanford in years. Hard to beleive that this was the 16th in the Davenport/Prey series. Characters and story line very fresh. Stand alone serial killer story first rate even if you aren't a fan of the series(yet).Many plot twists and miss directions that actually work this time. Props to Camp/Sanford for hitting a home run. He and Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch) are the best of the genre

I read this story at one sitting. This Mystery is one of the best of a consistently high quality series by Mr. Sandford. The tension begins at page 1 and does not let up. There are numerous red herrings tossed in front of the reader, obfuscating who the real bad guy(s) might be. Lucas Davenport's search for the Top 100 Rock and Roll songs to put on his new IPod adds a new type of personal connection to the book, not to mention taking the place of the secondary crime story line Sandford usually employs to ease the tension of the primary case (remember the mysterious death where the woman was frozen to death many stories ago?) But for the first time in many books Sandford holds off on revealing the bad guy until late in the book. He has put out many where the bad guy is identified by the half way point, and the tension is based on the chase of a known villain. In Broken Prey the reveal is is held off until much later, and with great result.

My only regret is that I will not be able to read it again for the first time. This is a great story!!!

Following an introduction made through the thoughts and observations of a sexual predator, Broken Prey opens with the grizzly murder of a young woman who'd been scourged. Soon after, the sexual murder of a man is discovered. There seems to be little to connect the two until the authorities realize that both crimes included methods used by three currently incarcerated charismatic and powerful killers.

Lucas Davenport, working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and his friend, Minneapolis Police Detective Sloan, get a crash course on interview techniques of the criminally insane when they visit the "Big Three" at St. John's hospital in an effort to figure out how they may be influencing the rampant escalation of heinous sex crimes from inside their isolation cells.

Sandford introduces Ruffee Ignace, an egotistic, career-climbing Tribune reporter who has been contacted by the killer, giving him a public voice. Ignace is ruthless and willing to do anything for the story that will catapult him out of Minneapolis. I'm guessing we'll see him again!

Luckily there are moments throughout the story like Davenport's search for the 100 Best Songs of the Rock Era for his new IPod. Most of the characters add their two cents worth, putting as much into their list choice as they do crime solving! Or there's Lucas' struggle to follow his Doctor-wife's "nutritional guidelines." Lucas went home and ate a steak and onion low carb, low-fat microwave meal "that had apparently been purely made from coal tar and goobers perhaps seasoned with industrial phlegm."

Armchair Inteviews says: These humorous things provide welcome respites from the stress of wondering how close Sanford's plot follows real life psychotic sex murderers! As always, Sanford tells a good crime story!

In this thriller,Davenport&comp. are hunting an especially vicious prey-a serial killer of monstrous brutality-and a sick but perfectly smart mind.

As soon as you jump on their wagon,you will be taken for a ride you'll not soon forget-literally scratching the pages as you hope and pray with the team that they shall be in time,save the victim,get the killer....

If there were 10 points for suspense,this would be the book.

There are many words that describe the Prey series: interesting, gripping, exciting, suspenseful. The one word I never though I'd use is "boring". Yet, that's what Broken Prey is--boring!

Yes, the opening is horrific, as readers have come to expect, but that's about it. It's almost as though Broken Prey wasn't written by John Sandford because everything that makes the Prey series a success is missing here.

I find the Prey series is as much about Lucas Davenport and his family, friends, and colleagues as it is about the crimes he's called upon to solve. There's none of that here. Weather and the kids spend the novel in England. The few colleagues who appear are one-dimensional this time around. They're there only to move the story along.

There's no victim or potential victim to worry about. A lot of people die, but no one we get to know well enough to care about.

We don't even know who the killer is until the very end of the book. There's no chance to see the world through his eyes, or to develop a sympathy (as with Clara Rinker of past Prey novels) or revulsion (as in *many* past Prey novels)!

These are the things that have made the Prey series outstanding. Each novel has the reader turning pages eagerly to find out what will happen to Lucas and his circle (not always good), the victim we've been tracking for most of the novel (not always good), or the evil behind the goings on (usually satisfyingly good). But, there's none of that here. I found one sequence with any suspense, and that was over way too quickly and, as it turns out, was of no consequence.

The other thing that characterizes the Prey series for me is its logic. That, too, has gone by the boards. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing, but even if Lucas and the killer had tanks of it strapped to their backs, it's hard to imagine them able to take part in their final struggle with all that they had already suffered.

In short--and I hate to say it because it sounds like such a cliche--with Broken Prey, the Prey series is, unfortunately, broken.

Best Prey novel in a while. I've read all of Sandford's novels (some of them twice - bring back Clara Rinker!) and this one was definitely one of his best. Lucas Davenport is still the premier detective in this genre, hands down. He's street smart, experienced, clever, but very down-to-earth. Sandford's dialogues are the best - particularly the clipped, succinct conversations that the cops have among themselves. In this novel, Sandford comes close to rivaling Harris's writing in Silence of the Lambs (if you haven't read it, the book is even better than the movie). Sandford's writing has evolved into a perfect balance of literary style and blood & guts mystery. The IPOD thread was a terrific sidebar, too.

Wish Sandford could write a book a week!

The mind of a serial killer has always been an object of interest to readers and writers alike. Lucas is confounded by a killer so diabolical and cruel that only a madman could commit the crimes. The problem is that the murders bear the tradecraft of several deranged killers, most of whom are held under tight security in Minnesota's state mental hospital.

John Sandford wraps mysteries inside conundrums seamlessly. In this work, Lucas Davenport is rarely more than one step behind the killer, but what a step it is. Finally the police work and luck combine to an explosive and satisfying conclusion.