Customer Reviews

Secret Prey

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I give this gem a 4 1/2 star rating.

Just when the reader is thinking that John Sandford's "Secret Prey," is going to be a somewhat predictable story, the author provides his magic touch and the novel soars to a most dramatic and memorable thriller.

Bank president Daniel Kresge is murdered while on a hunting trip. He had been in the process of leading his bank into a merger that would have made him rich but would cost many of his employees their jobs. Kresge was also in the midst of a costly divorce so there were endless possibilities as to who the killer might be.

The two employees in line to take over the bank are Susan O'Dell and James Bone. They begin maneuvering for control while placing Wilson McDonald in charge during the transition.

It was almost as if the story was an afternoon soap opera with the various conspirators and Bone having an affair with Kresge's wife.

Deputy Police Chief Lucas Davenport is leading the investigation. Just as he and his team feel that they are close to identifying the killer, another bank executive is murdered and they are back to the chalk board. The hunt for the killer intensifies as Davenport takes certain steps and the killer counters. It's almost a dance of the dead.

Sandford does a masterful job. He makes the reader wonder who the killer could be, then, when Lucas has narrowed it down to one person, Davenport must get the evidence to stop the killing put away a ruthless killer.

The characters are excellent and well described. The author portrays the Minnesota countryside nicely so that the reader can visualize what the setting must look like.

I enjoyed the novel and recommend it highly.

Lucas Davenport is called to the scene of what seems like a hunting accident. A wealthy banker has been shot dead during the first minutes of the company's yearly hunting trip. An accident? No. Nobody really believe it was an accident, a lot of people had reasons for killing the man. As Davenport starts digging into the backgrounds and lives of the suspects, he unveils more secrets, and it soon becomes very confusing. He knows he is on to something, but it keeps slipping his mind. He finds himself thrown off track numerous times, for one reason or the other, as well as he has to deal with a new girlfriend and the memories of the old girlfriend, whom he was going to marry. In the end, everything leads him towards the real killer, who does not stop killing only one person. A great Lucas Davenport mystery.

I'm new to John Sanford, but I read two previous books before starting "Secret Prey." I thought it might be nice to know a little bit of the hero's history. The two books I read were pretty brutal and graphic, but I liked Lucas Davenport.

I read "Secret Prey" in one day...and I enjoyed it. I thought the plot moved right along and I liked the little side trip the author took with the silver-haired opium club.

I look forward to other Lucas Davenport stories...and I like him with the lady cop much better than I liked him with the lady surgeon. The lady cop understands the nature of his work and she doesn't take anything from him that she doesn't give right back, in spades. There's more fire and vinegar in this relationship and I thought it really rang true.

"Secret Prey" is a great summer book.....

In a series of books all based around the same police officer I would've thought that by now the books would've become extremely repetitive and similar. I would think that every book would follow the same format, with different names and methods of killing. However, thus far I have not been disappointed (outside of a very small number of instances).

This book takes a totally different approach to Lucas Davenport's case files. This book starts out with the investigation of a single murder. Most of the books so far have been about serial killers or multiple homicides. Multiple murders is one way to keep the action level in a book up. This book focuses more on the complex relationships of those close to the victim. The group of people is all top executives at a major bank. The psychology of the characters is what makes this book interesting. We also see Davenport drifting back into depression at the beginning of this book.

When the killer gets revealed and tries to stay innocent-looking a few more murders pop-up. There are also some more murders in the past that come to light and the investigation into those take Davenport into some interesting situations.

The slower pace of this book is definitely refreshing. I think it adds an element to this series that make the series as a whole more credible because it is not trying to sell books on the same old formulae.

This book gets the full five stars, and not for the same reasons I gave "Sudden Prey" and "Eyes of Prey."

This man can write. He knows people. He knows business, and he has used all of this to write an utterly facinating book--again. Sandford's books' strength has always been his people and his sense of place. This time he has added characters, that still read like real people, but now some of them have varying levels, but always accurate, insider knowledge about the arcane world of business. This all by itself is a tour de force. Read this book, you will like it.

Sandford is our generation's master of the crime novel. Read one of the Prey novels, you'll want to read them all. Lucas Davenport is a beautifully flawed good guy with a streak of badness about him. Sandford weaves his stories flawlessly and hauls you along like a fish on a line until the very last page.
-- Mark LaFlamme, author of "The Pink Room."

Once again, Sandford serves up an intriguing story line, shifting points of view, and a complex and interesting main character.

This book has a bit less suspense than in most of the others, but it's still a good read. The focus is less on the chase and more on people's psychological aspects. It's an interesting change, and some fans might even prefer this style to the other Prey books.

One thing to remember: Sandford, even when not at his best, still writes some of the best books available.

In the ninth installment of the Prey series, Lucas Davenport has to sort out a hornet's nest of suspects with motive to determine who killed the board chairman of a local bank.

Sandford does a great job of setting up the reader for the surprise villain. This is a little different than other 'Prey' books, because the bad guys are usually more apparent.

Also in this new 'Prey' book, Lucas' personal life takes a hit in the form of an awkward estrangement from his fiancé. Because I have enjoyed watching Lucas Davenport mature from a womanizing hound to an in-love romantic, this development was hard to take, but I am sure Sandford knows best. He has so far, anyway.

If you have read other books in the 'Prey' series, keep reading. If not, well what are you waiting for? Read them now.

I enjoyed "Secret Prey" thoroughly. It divides into two separate parts. The first part is essentially a whodunit. I was entertained as my probable suspect, in classic whodunit fashion, was promptly murdered. After I got further into the book, however, I realized that the author cheated somewhat in this first section--even an astute reader will not be able to guess the killer. The second half of the book is much better. It gets into the mind of a smart, creepy killer, who can match strategy step-for-step with Lucas Davenport. This is reminiscent of the best of the "Prey" series, like "Eyes of Prey". I'd give this book a try, and stick with it.

All of John Sanford's "Prey" novels are excellent!

I often go back and reread all of them when a new one comes out. Which is why I was a little surprised by the complete abandonment of Weather. In "Night Prey" when Lucas and Weather were getting together, she insists that he come and watch her operate...afterwords, (ppg. 168-169) she explains to him that her job requires her to be "cold. I can't get involved. I like patients ...but I can't afford to go into the operating room wondering if I'm doing the right thing..." She also says that in her "surgeon persona" she is "different" and that she "has to make brutal decisions." When Sandford paired these two up, I thought he had finally written a woman who was right for Lucas...who wouldn't always agree with Lucas' actions, but could understand and be there for him. It is a shame that Mr. Sandford made a pretty critical change to this part of Weather for a storyline, but maybe he'll being her back.

The "Prey" series is a must read for anyone who likes mystery/thillers and/or serial novels. Mr. Sanford is arguably the best in this genre especially with the depressing, character-killing, uninspired work that Patricia Cornwell had been churnning out.

I reccomend all 9!