Night Prey [Hardcover]

John Sandford (Author)

Book Description

Series: Prey | Publication Date: May 12, 1994

Lucas Davenport is asked to investigate a mysterious murder in a Minnesota wildlife refuge by a female game warden, in a case that leads to a confrontation with a skillful and elusive killer. Large first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The pseudonymous Sandford (he's Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp) keeps turning out better and better thrillers. In this sixth entry in his Prey series, streetwise Minneapolis deputy police chief Lucas Davenport is beleaguered by perplexing females. Charged with saving the political life of Rose Marie Roux, the ambitious police chief who has her eye on a Senate seat, he's given the assignment of tracking to ground the sex-crazed perpetrator of a series of murders of young women. Davenport's unwelcome colleague in this case is feminist Meagan Connell, an abrasive State Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator who's obsessed with catching the killer before she dies of cancer. Also bedeviled by the ill-timed assignment of a new partner, a yuppie who was formerly assigned to the grade schools as "Officer Friendly" and who happens to be the husband of the mayor's niece, Davenport is additionally saddled with the mystifying death of an elderly woman who died rather conveniently, freeing some local hoods to profit from a real-estate scam. Juxtaposing the dark consciousness of the sex-fixated murderer against the narrative perspective of Davenport, Sandford builds a compelling counter-rhythm of suspense. The narrative is sensitively embued with Davenport's humaneness as, in awe, he watches Connell courageously fight to postpone her impending death. Yet, credibly flawed, the cop also displays a roving eye when he's momentarily distracted from his deep commitment to the lovely physician Weather Karkinnen by a beautiful and seductive TV anchor. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; Mystery Guild alternate.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This novel is sixth in the "Prey" series, written by journalist John Camp under the Sandford pseudonym and featuring Porsche-driving Minneapolis police detective Lucas Davenport. Here Davenport, who has just returned to duty after recovering from a serious gunshot wound, must face a serial killer named Koop, who is dropping bodies all over the metropolitan area. Koop makes the mistake of becoming a little too obsessed with a potential victim and thus leaves a trail that Davenport and his fellow officers finally discover. Despite its length, Night Prey is a tight, fast-moving thriller with appealing good guys and a suitably evil villain. Especially fascinating among the characters is Policewoman Connell, who is dying of cancer and whose fate becomes linked to Koop's in the spectacular climax. Buy wherever thrillers are read.
--A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 281 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group; 1st edition (May 12, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399139141
• ISBN-13: 978-0399139147
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #281,031 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

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lucas Davenport on the trail of his toughest killer yet., March 9, 2001

By 

David Montgomery "Book Critic" (davidjmontgomery.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night Prey (Mass Market Paperback)

The classic game of cat and mouse is an evergreen of the mystery genre, and few practice it better than John Sandford and his creation, Minneapolis police detective Lucas Davenport. This is ably demonstrated in the sixth book in the Prey series, "Night Prey."

Davenport, hired back by the new police chief to investigate their toughest cases, is pursuing one of the most violent killers he's ever encountered. The unknown perpetrator commits acts of extreme brutality against women, murdering with incredible force and viciousness.

As always, Sandford keeps the plot interesting and the action swift, leading us through the investigation along with Davenport as he unravels the Gordian knot of clues and evidence. At the same time, the author gives us the killer's viewpoint, showing us a glimpse of his twisted mind. Sandford excels at this type of parallel storytelling, upping the urgency of Lucas catching the nutcase before he kills again.

If you haven't yet had the joy of reading this excellent series, I recommend you start with the first book ("Rules of Prey") and enjoy some of the best writing in the genre.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid thriller in the series, August 4, 2005

By 

Bill Garrison (Oklahoma City, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Night Prey (Mass Market Paperback)

Night Prey is the sixth in the Prey series, and to me is similar to the first one Rules of Prey. We are introduced to the killer, Koop, at the opening. Koop is your standard killer who had a horrible childhood and is now taking it out on women. Koop has a few unique characteristics such as picking out victims at used book stores because they are usually timid and shy.

Sanford builds the suspense by following Koops every move so even if the cops don't know what Koop is doing. Sandford also does another excellent think by picking out a woman that Koop is stalking, and following her story as well. So now the reader is rooting for Koop to get caught and for the potential victim to be saved.

Lucas is back as well, still recovering from and injury he received in the last book and now shacking up with Weather, also from Winter Prey. Lucas has accepted a political position as a detective that will take on the toughest cases. This case gets a lot of publicity when Koop starts killing in order to get close to Sara Jensen, the potential victim mentioned above. The detective work is the usual, except Koop does something early on that told me exactly how the cops would find out who the killer is.

This is a good book, but not the best in the series. Even after six books, we still don't know much about what makes Lucas Davenport tick. At least in this book he is faithful to Weather.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A night with Sandford's "Prey" is a night well spent., October 6, 2004

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Night Prey (Hardcover)

John Sandford's "Prey" series is a delight. I've read four so far and each has been an adventure.

Lucas Davenport is a Minnesota cop, with the City of Minneapolis in early "Prey" novels, the State of Minnesota in later ones.

The plot is almost beside the point. A corpse is discovered and so on. Sandford's characters are richly detailed and believable. His plots are inventive and not so far out that you have to swallow credulity to keep moving.

Fun reads. And what higher compliment can I pay?

Jerry