Phantom Prey (Lucas Davenport) (Hardcover)

by John Sandford (Author)
Key Phrases: photo kit, fairy girl, Frances Austin, Alyssa Austin, Frank Willett (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In bestseller Sandford's solid 18th Prey novel (after Invisible Prey), Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent Lucas Davenport, who's received numerous promotions in the course of the series, ought to be taking the desk aspects of his job more seriously. But the man remains more comfortable working a stakeout, interviewing suspects and taking down bad guys than he is filling out personnel evaluation forms on his staff—which explains why he's still getting shot at, peeping at a cocaine dealer's wife hoping for a glimpse of her husband and, at his wife's behest, looking into the unsolved kidnapping and presumed murder of a wealthy young woman into the goth scene. It becomes clear that a serial killer is targeting goths as well as anyone, including Lucas, who gets in the way. While some pretty murky psychology encumbers the plot, Sandford delivers the kind of riveting action that keeps thriller fans turning the pages. (May)
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From Booklist
Frances Austin is a missing heiress. Traces of blood in her well-connected mother Alyssa’s home lead Lucas Davenport, head of Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, to assume the worst, but without a body, he can’t be sure. The investigation centers on Frances’ involvement in the Twin Cities’ goth community. The goths’ collective obsession with death and darkness makes them an obvious starting point, but Davenport believes it’s a form of youthful angst rather than an inherently evil social trend. But when other young goths connected to Frances are murdered, Davenport is forced to rethink his theory. Like all good investigators, he follows the money, in this case, a $50,000 withdrawal from Frances’ account and its subsequent disbursement over a 20-day period preceding Frances’ disappearance. When Davenport is wounded coming out of a goth club after conducting a series of background interviews, he realizes he’s closing in on the killer but has no idea who or why. The eighteenth entry in the best-selling Prey series is Sandford’s usual mix of clever plotting, gallows humor, and explosive action, but this time he mixes in a bit of the seemingly supernatural. Davenport doesn’t realize it—and neither will readers—but he’s actually working on two cases. The solution to one is mundanely tragic; the second genuinely disturbing. Expect another trip to the best-seller lists for one of the most consistently entertaining crime writers working today. --Wes Lukowsky

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (May 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399155007
• ISBN-13: 978-0399155000
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #55,335 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent Lucas Davenport police procedural, May 10, 2008

By	Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Back for his eighteenth appearance, Lucas Davenport of the Minnesota State Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is not only on the job, but in top form.

The main story concerns Alyssa Austin, recently widowed when the airplane carrying her millionaire pilot husband Hunter crashed in Canada, comes home to discover the alarm system of her tony suburban home turned off, but no one in the house. Knowing the housekeeper Helen is gone for the day, Alyssa calls out for her daughter Frances who might be visiting. Alyssa searches the house and finds what turns out to be a small blood stain on the wallpape. The blood belongs to Frances and the police find that more blood has been wiped from the floors.

But there is no corpse.

A sub-plot concerns Lucas Davenport and colleague Del staking out the apartment of the wife of dope dealer, who apparently is immodest of often peels off her top with the shades up. The cops are trying to nab her currently absent drug kingpin husband.

Lucas Davenport is independently wealthy because he developed and sold a software company. He doesn't have to work, but he likes being a cop and solving the really tough cases, which just happens to be what the BCA does. In earlier stories, Sandford spent a lot of time developing Lucas Davenport. This time around, Davenport, married to surgeon Weather, with a young son and adopted teenage daughter is less introspective and more action oriented.

And there is plenty of action. As it turns out, the distraught mother, Alyssa Austin, owns several exclusive fitness centers, knows Weather and asks her to get her husband involved in the case. Reluctantly, Lucas gets involved - just in time for a series of gruesome murders of young Twin Cities "Goths". Frances, the missing daughter, was into the Goth scene.

Sandford is one of the best police procedural writers around today. He doesn't miss a beat in this one. Davenport is a cerebral cop who is constantly dogging a case, wondering how the leads and clues fit together. Almost as an aside, he tracks a money trail through the Goth community as one after another is murdered. Davenport himself comes in for a close call.

It's a taut thriller, with Davenport displaying more than the occasional flash of brilliant inspiration that brings him one step closer to solving the crimes.

The only unfortunate part of the plot is that Davenport relies upon a device he used to great effect in an earlier "Prey" novel, but it doesn't work so well here. Nope, I'm not going to spoil it for you. You'll know when you see it, even if you haven't read the prior Davenport novels.

It's a small thing that doesn't take any pleasure from the reading because John Sanford is simply one of the finest authors of police procedurals in the business. The nice thing about the "Prey" series is that if you start with one, you might be drawn to reading the others. Start with the first and work your way through all of them. They really are excellent reading.

Jerry

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best, but the Davenport series is still a lot of fun, May 19, 2008

By	Bill Garrison (Oklahoma City, OK USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

John Sandford returns with another entertaining installment in the Lucas Davenport series. In PHANTOM PREY, Alyssa Austin returns home to her gigantic mansion. Something doesn't seem right. She fears there may be an intruder. In a few moments, she discovers some blood on the wall. She fears the worst, and it is confirmed that the blood belonged to her daughter, Frances.

The great Lucas Davenport is spending his days on a stakeout of the beautiful and pregnant Heather Toms. With binoculars, Lucas and friends get to watch her every move. They are watching her in hopes of her fugitive boyfriend showing up. Lucas gets called off the stakeout to do a favor for the governor, who is friends with Alyssa Austin. Mrs. Austin would like Lucas to look into her daughter's disappearance (no body had been found) because the police investigation is at a standstill.

So, Lucas begins investigating Frances Austin. Frances dabbled some in Goth circles, and Lucas pursues many clues in that area. More murders occur and a "fairy" is the likely suspect. The fairy is a waif like figure dressed in black with black hair and black make-up. Lucas can't figure out how the fairy ties in with Frances Austin or the other murders that start piling up.

Prey novels have always been known for their spectacularly evil villians and the ingenuity of Lucas and his pals in finding out who the killers are. To me, what sets Sandford apart from other authors is his ability to get into the minds of the killers and write the story from their point of view as well. He's created some truly evil villians. In Phantom Prey, the villian is a weak point. The reader doesn't get much of look the villians but Sandford makes up for it. While waiting for the plot to thicken and the evil of te villians to take over, the reader gets to follow Lucas as he investigates the crime and just lives his life, and that is a lot of fun.

Sandford also throws out a lot for fans to enjoy, such as references to Kidd and his marriage, Virgil Flowers, and Davenport's contempt for fools her are new age and use Tarot cards.

Bottom line, Sandford fans will enjoy this book. If you're new to Sanford, start at the beginning. The first books in the Prey series are just as good as the last.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lucas never lets me down., May 8, 2008

By	Lily Courthope - See all my reviews

OK, right off the bat I'll say that this book kept me up until the early morning hours, it was that good, but I'll also say this story may not be my favorite of the Davenport stories. It's good, it's intriguing, it's fun as only Sandford can make cop work fun, but the last two Prey novels were so very fine -- heck, what author is capable of hitting a grand slam every time he comes up to bat? This book would be a triple -- and that's the rarest hit in the ball game, ain't it?

What's right: Lucas. Lucas. Lucas. And Del's back, hallelujah! The cop jokes. The stake out. The governor's Ferragamo socks. Letty. References to Virgil Flowers. Oh, shoot, Sandford just nails the flow of the story and all of the little details that make these people come alive for me. Minneapolis-St. Paul just lives in my mind because of Sandford. I sometimes think I could go there and drive around, and not only recognize locations in the books but I would also know how to get from one location to another without a street guide or GPS.

What's wrong: Nothing wrong, exactly, just a couple of things felt slightly out of kilter to me. And it's hard to voice what those are without writing spoilers. There was one character who logically should have been closely examined from the get-go in regards to a murder. And another character, a main character, was something of a disconnect for me, in how she became what she was. See? I can't be specific without writing spoilers, darn it.

Sum total: This 18th entry in the Prey series still shows plenty of the sass, vigor and originality that has made this series last so long. Sandford is quality consistent and this is still a solidly fun read. IMO, there's no such thing as a bad Lucas Davenport story.

(And you know, I only noticed two proofing errors this time around. Either Sandford's team is improving in this regard or the story was so good that I just missed any others.)