Stolen Prey (A LUCAS DAVENPORT NOVEL) [Kindle Edition]

John Sandford (Author)

Book Description

The brilliant Lucas Davenport thriller from the number one New York Times bestselling author.

Lucas Davenport has seen many terrible murder scenes. This is one of the worst. In the Minnesota town of Wayzata, an entire family has been killed—husband, wife, two kids, dogs. On the wall, in blood: “Were coming.” No apostrophe.

There’s something about the scene that tugs at Lucas’s cop instincts—it looks an awful lot like the kind of scorched-earth retribution he’s seen from Mexican drug gangs. But this is a seriously upscale town, the husband ran a modest software company, the wife dabbled in local politics. None of it seems to fit.

Until it does…

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Sandford is at his brilliant best.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“The climax will have you holding your breath—and the book’s very last line will leave you hoping for more.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Stolen Prey will make you a believer—and a reader.” —Bookreporter

Review

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See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 595 KB
• Print Length: 409 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (May 15, 2012)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0072NWK5G
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #312 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Private Investigators
  • #7 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Crime
  • #29 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

178 of 186 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Finished too quickly.... May 15, 2012

By Luanne Ollivier TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

John Sandford is back with the latest installment (#22) - Stolen Prey - in his wildly successful and hugely popular series featuring Lucas Davenport, an agent for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

"Lucas's job at the BCA was mostly self-invented, and included politically sensitive cases, or cases that might attract a lot of media attention." When a pair of tweekers rob him at an ATM, breaking his wrist and damaging his ego, he embarks on a long term mission to find them. This is put on the back burner when the superintendent of the BCA calls - a case that is definitely going to be in the spotlight needs Davenport's skills. An entire family has been found murdered - slaughtered really, tortured in unimaginable ways. Lucas's investigation leads places no one saw coming - this isn't just a spree killer. It looks like a Mexican gang hit. What could this software engineer have done to bring this wrath on his family? Soon enough the DEA and a pair of Mexican Federales are also on the case. But everyone seems to have their own priorities concerning the case.....

I've always enjoyed Lucas and his irreverent flaunting of the rules. He's getting older and little mellower, but still has no problem side stepping protocol to get things done. I love the barbed banter between himself and team members Del Capslock, Jensen and Shrake, but no Davenport book is complete without Virgil Flowers. Those tweekers robbing ATM's? Flowers has been put to work on the case - which seems to be leading to stolen.....horse manure?

"Somewhere along the line, it occurred to him that he hadn't spoken to Virgil Flowers. He'd probably taken the day off, and knowing Flowers, he'd done it in a boat. The thing about Flowers was, in Lucas's humble opinion, you could send him out for a loaf of bread and he'd find an illegal bread cartel smuggling in heroin-saturated wheat from Afghanistan. Either that, or he'd be fishing in a muskie tournament, on government time. You had to keep an eye on him."

I have expressed doubts about Davenport's adopted daughter Letty in past books, but my opinion has changed. She's definitely growing on me and I think we'll see more of her in future books.

As always, Sandford has concocted a whip smart, action filled plot with lots of threads to keep your finger on. He employs a great twist that caught me unawares part way through.

I have enjoyed this series from book one and nothing has changed - I still eagerly await every new entry from one of my favourite authors - and curse myself when I finish it in a day!

46 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Idelness like kisses, to be sweet, must be stolen." May 15, 2012

By michael a. draper TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Imagine an entire family being tortured and murdered by crazed killers who were searching for information that the family never had?

Think about if you worked with computers for a bank and found a way to divert millions of dollars from an automated account. It could make you feel confident that you and your accomplices committed the perfect crime. However, you learn of a software company executive and family being tortured and murdered. The killers leaving a note on the wall in improper English, "were coming?" These two words can have a chilling affect on the thieves.

Lucas Davenport is on the case and attempts to learn what information the family might have had. Also, with the manner of the ungramatical note and torture killings, officials believe they are dealing with a group of murderous drug dealers who operate on both sides of the border. They are called Los Criminales del Norte.

The pacing of the story is well done as the author takes us through what is happening with the killers. Then we learn the status of the investigation and then view the amature theives who had no idea of what an explosive situation they were getting themselves into.

John Sandford is a master of dialogue and rates in the class with Elmore Leonard. His central character, Lucas Davenport, is a legendary criminal investigator whose actions and manner of apprehending criminals are realistic and make Davenport a pleasure to follow.

This story is so well written and entertaining that it is disappointing to see the story come to its conclusion.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not his best May 19, 2012

By Ken

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have read, and have in hard copy, all of Sandford's books, and I eagerly await any new book from him. I usually pre-order the book and the Kindle edition...the e-book so I can read it right away, and the hardcover to add to my collection. I have to say I was a little disappointed in this book, and I don't consider it his best. I recognize that Lucas is getting older (who of us isn't?) but he seemed a little blase in this book. I thought the plot was somewhat hard to follow, and the characters weren't developed as well as he has done in the past. He also didn't seem to involve to any real degree the usual supporting cast. (NOTE: SPOILER ALERT! DON'T READ THE FOLLOWING IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK!) What really disappointed me was the ending; I just didn't buy it, with Letty shooting the bad guys, and her casual reaction to it afterwards. I know she has had a hard life, and in past books has been shown to be resourceful and tough, but I still think her reaction to killing someone was just too simplistic. Even veteran police officers often have trouble after a shooting, and I think her discussion with Lucas about it was too casually done. Also, Lucas' reaction to her injury and her shooting/killing someone seem off to me as well. There were just too many loose ends left undone for my taste as well.

I have to admit, I like the earlier books better, when Lucas was much more of a hands-on, brawling type of street detective, than the later books, when he is more of an administrator. Virgil Flowers is edging him out in my opinion as a much better, and more complex, character in the later 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.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#70 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#19 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#21 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#23 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals

#24 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#26 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#19 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#21 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#23 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals

#24 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#26 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery