Mortal Prey [Mass Market Paperback]

John Sandford (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Berkley (2002)
• ISBN-10: 0786528249
• ISBN-13: 978-0786528240
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,260,844 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Sandford was born John Camp on February 23, 1944, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He attended the public schools in Cedar Rapids, graduating from Washington High School in 1962. He then spent four years at the University of Iowa, graduating with a bachelor's degree in American Studies in 1966. In 1966, he married Susan Lee Jones of Cedar Rapids, a fellow student at the University of Iowa. He was in the U.S. Army from 1966-68, worked as a reporter for the Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian from 1968-1970, and went back to the University of Iowa from 1970-1971, where he received a master's degree in journalism. He was a reporter for The Miami Herald from 1971-78, and then a reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer-Press from 1978-1990; in 1980, he was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and he won the Pulitzer in 1986 for a series of stories about a midwestern farm crisis. From 1990 to the present he has written thriller novels. He's also the author of two non-fiction books, one on plastic surgery and one on art. He is the principal financial backer of a major archaeological project in the Jordan Valley of Israel, with a website at www.rehov.org. In addition to archaeology, he is deeply interested in art (painting) and photography. He both hunts and fishes. He has two children, Roswell and Emily, and one grandson, Benjamin. His wife, Susan, died of metastasized breast cancer in May, 2007, and is greatly missed.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best in the "Prey" series., May 18, 2002

By 

R. H OAKLEY "roboakley" (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mortal Prey (Hardcover)

Most of John Sandford's "Prey" series work by identifying the killer early and then following the story on both the lines of Lucas Davenport and of the killer, as they plot and counterplot against one another. Sandford returns to the formula here, and it works well because Lucas's antagonist is Clara Rinker, the professional hitwoman from his earlier books. Sandford is careful not to make her a two-dimensional sociopath -- indeed, she is so well rounded that at times the reader can forget that many of the people she has killed in her career were completely innocent. For most of the book, this is not true as Rinker goes after the crime bosses for whom she has worked in the past. The book begins with Rinker almost getting killed, and her decision that the people she worked for (all mob connected) are behind it sets her off to eliminating them, none of whom is too sympathetic. It is a mistake to root for Rinker because a few innocent people are unfortunate enough to wander in to her way, and the result is not good for them.

Rinker is smart, and her killing of well protected hoods who know she is coming for them is for the most part plausible. Only one of the killings, involving a device that has been used in a well known real-life assasination, seems unlikely to have been successful. All in all, she is such a strong character that this book seems to be more hers than Davenport's.

Davenport is one of the few people to have seen Rinker and lived, and so the FBI brings him to St. Louis to help catch her. All but a few chapters take place outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, most of the familiar characters in the Davenport series aren't present, but Rinker more than makes up for them. Read closely, some of the deductions that Davenport comes up with are a little contrived -- all he does is show up from out of town, talk to a few local cops, and he is ahead of the FBI. However, the dialog is as well written as ever, and the dry humor still there. And there are a couple of nice twists in the plot at the end.

I found the last two books in the "Prey" series to be weak; I thought that Sandford may have run out of ideas of what to do with Davenport, and have read some interviews in which he expressed frustration with the series. Mortal Prey is a return to the stong, earlier novels. There is life in Davenport yet.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not with a Whimper but a Bang, June 24, 2002

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Mortal Prey (Hardcover)

Loyal Lucas Davenport fans will remember Clara Rinker, the stone killer from 'Certain Prey.' After making her escape, she fled to Cancún, where she established a new identity, found a lover and became pregnant. Clara, now Cassie McLain, was on her way to a normal existence for the first time in her life. Then a hired gun from the States makes an attempt on her life killing her boyfriend and wounding her enough to lose her child. Clara recovers with one thing one her mind - cold, cold revenge. Clara's going home, with some very evil plans.

When the FBI realize that McLain was Rinker and has returned to the States, they call in Davenport, who is, after all, the only cop to ever even come close to catching her. Lucas, who is spending his time annoying builders and supervising his fiancée Weather's pregnancy, reluctantly agrees. Actually, the truth is that Weather tells him to go away and stop bothering her. What follows is a classical chase thriller where Rinker manages to keep killing one step ahead of her pursuers. In several cases, she even manages to rub Lucas's face in it.

If you are a sucker for tricks and wild plot devices, you are going to love 'Mortal Prey.' Rinker is smart and crazy. Each killing is detailed and jarring, full of the kind of twists that keep this from being yet another long chase. And while Clara is certainly over the top, Sandford manages to make her a sympathetic character all on her own. I found myself cheering for her time after time. She is after the Mafia men who put out the hit on her and she intends to get each and every one. That she is also capable of killing anyone in her way seems to become a matter of indifference.

Lucas and the FBI agents as well, repeatedly get left holding the bag. Malone and Mallard return, along with a host of camp followers. Davenport, true to his nature, runs his own investigation with the help of some St. Louis retired officers, and manages to keep finding almost enough clues. Of course, it wouldn't be any fun if they caught her too early, and the little glitches and tricks that keep her out of reach are novel enough to keep the action moving without any sign of tedium.

Oddly enough, Sandford does such a good job of making Rinker likeable that he winds up making Davenport look a bit of a jerk. One is tempted to think he is suffering from a bad case of premarital jitters, and that may very well be the case. I can't consider it a major defect, because the book itself is extremely well written. Certainly, it is a welcome return to Sandford's best form.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best in a long line of Prey, June 2, 2002

By 

"curtcow" (Short Hills, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mortal Prey (Hardcover)

At the end of "Certain Prey" three years ago, Clara Rinker took a shot at Lucas Davenport, missed and called him on the phone to chat about it. You knew then there'd be a sequel, and it's as good as the first - even better.

"Mortal Prey" begins in Cancun when sniper Izzy Cohen fires at Clara killing her lover Paulo Mejia and their unborn child, wounding her. Determined to settle the score, Clara takes off before Paulo's powerful family finds out she was the real target and the St. Louis mob realizes she's still alive. Her hit list includes four "businessmen" led by Nanny Dichter, pioneer of the St. Louis cocaine business, and John Ross who got Clara started as a contract killer and is still one nasty guy. The first hit comes quickly with a lot of little arrows that will point to Clara when the cops, the Feds and Ross start following them, but she'll always be a step or two ahead.

The FBI is holding her younger brother Gene on a trumped up drug charge, so Clara calls Lucas to lay down the ground rules. The lively if unrealistic banter between maverick lawman and outlaw sets the tone for the chase to come. Ten pages later Sandford repeats the conversation as Davenport heard it, capturing the gut level connection between them while their two minds work at warp speed toward opposite ends.

There's a steady flow of great action with Lucas and his unofficial partner ex-cop Mickey Andreno working the streets and Agents Mallard, Malone and the rest of the FBI providing high tech back up and firepower. Through page 350 the story follows a somewhat structured outline, moving from one showdown to the next. Then Sandford gives us three quick closing chapters. He provides a sufficient degree of closure to this saga but leaves enough loose ends and surviving old and new characters that I would bet on, hope for, future St. Louis based / Rinker related Prey stories.

One thought for Sandford's next effort: Certain Easy Rules of the Mind in the Eyes of a Secret Chosen Mortal turn Silent in the Sudden Shadow of the Winter Night.

Translated: The Prey series has been great, but don't let the 90s Lucas wear us down. Keep the stories coming, but trade in the Porsche.