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Phantom Prey (Lucas Davenport Mysteries)
by John Sandford
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Synopses & Reviews Lucas Davenport has had disturbing cases beforebut never one quite like this, in the shocking new Prey novel from the #1 New York Times &bestselling author.John Sandford's most recent Davenport novel, Invisible Prey, was hailed as "one of his best books in recent memory" (The Washington Post); "as fresh and entertaining as ever" (Chicago Sun-Times); and "rivetingly readable" (Richmond Times-Dispatch). But this time, he's got something quite special in store. A widow comes home to her large house in a wealthy, exclusive suburb to find blood everywhere, no bodyand her collegeaged daughter missing. She's always known that her daughter ran with a bad bunch. What did she call themGoths? Freaks is more like it, running around with all that makeup and black clothing, listening to that awful music, so attracted to death. And now this. But the police can't find the girl, alive or dead, and when a second Goth is found slashed to death in Minneapolis, the widow truly panics. There's someone she knows, a surgeon named Weather Davenport, whose husband is a big deal with the police, and she implores Weather to get him directly involved. Lucas begins to investigate only reluctantlybut then when a third Goth is slashed in what is now looking like a Jackthe- Ripper series of killings, he starts working it hard. The clues don't seem to add up, though. And then there's the young Goth who keeps appearing and disappearing: Who is she? Where does she come from and, more important, where does she vanish to? And why does Lucas keep getting the sneaking suspicion that there is something else going on here . . . something very, very bad indeed? Filled with his brilliant trademark suspense and some of the most interesting characters in thriller fiction, Phantom Prey is further proof that "Sandford is in a class of his own" (The Orlando Sentinel). Review: Late in W. Somerset Maugham's long writing career, one of his collections of short stories was greeted with a snippy review headlined "The Mixture as Before." Maugham responded by making that phrase the title of his next collection, explaining that at a certain point in life it is enough to maintain the levels one has achieved in the past. "Phantom Prey," the 18th novel in John Sandford's hugely successful ... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) "Prey" series, is very much the mixture as before, embodying both the admirable strengths and the annoying flaws of his earlier books. Sandford (real name John Camp) was past 40 and a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter in St. Paul, Minn., when he decided to write a crime novel in hopes of making some money, rarely a danger in the reporting game. That first novel, "Rules of Prey" — still one of the best in the series — was a commercial success, as have been all its sequels. The star of the series, Twin Cities supercop Lucas Davenport, is a terrific protagonist, a big, good-looking dude who never met a woman he couldn't charm or a crook he couldn't bring down — he's a latter-day Travis McGee. Sandford's books are intelligent and fast-moving, with ingenious plots, vivid characters, crisp dialogue and endless surprises. In "Phantom Prey," the daughter of a wealthy widow is murdered. She had been hanging out in Minneapolis' Goth community, so Davenport talks to a lot of young people dressed in black. (We're told that "much of the Gothic trip was a deliberate, ironic, self-conscious pose, along with a genuine interest in the subject of decadence and the transcendent.") We learn that a "fairy," in Goth-speak, is a petite, attractive young woman, and that such a woman may have been involved in the murder. Then other Goths start being killed — gutted with a knife — and no one knows why. We meet this fairy and her lover. They kill someone and become so excited by the deed that they interrupt their getaway to make love by the side of the road. (Having never murdered anyone, I can't say if it really does inspire such sexual frenzy, but it's no doubt as good an excuse as any.) There's some fine writing throughout the novel. We're given a chilling account of a deranged mind at work. Davenport's account of being shot and recovering from the wound is first-rate, as is a woman's lengthy account of the horror of finding herself drenched in blood. With a strong plot and impressive writing, what's to dislike about this entertaining thriller? Well, I've grumbled about this before, and I'll do it again: Sandford's flaw is that he's too entertaining. He punctuates novel after novel with dumb jokes, with Davenport's favorite songs, with husband-and-wife comedy routines and with crude cop humor. There's just much too much of it. One assumes he jazzes things up to make sure the reader stays awake and interested, and the sideshows may have contributed to his popularity. But this reader, for one, is already awake and interested, simply because there is so much excellence in the novels. I continue to pray that one day Sandford will cut back the comedy and let his thrillers stand on their own merits. In this book, he tosses in one pretty funny joke — not repeatable here — that involves the sexual doings of Mickey, Minnie and Goofy. He brings back Jenkins and Shrake, two disreputable detectives from his previous novels, whom I take to be based on the legendary Texas writers Dan Jenkins and Bud Shrake; we learn that Jenkins carries a leather-wrapped club that he calls his Hillary-Whacker, "in case, he said, he should ever encounter the junior senator from New York." Davenport and another detective, spying on a woman and her lover, have a detailed discussion of the pros and cons of the couple having sex on the kitchen table. A woman's pregnancy is endlessly referred to as "the bump." And, of course, we have multiple references to the music that Davenport plays: everyone from Tom Waits to Norah Jones. This soundtrack may prove that Davenport and his creator are cool guys, but it really doesn't do much to advance the story. I hate to grouse, but I do believe that if Sandford or his editor would cut down the cute stuff, Sandford would be writing just about the best thrillers around. Would sales suffer? Probably not. But what if they did? Sandford has made many millions, so why not write one novel that's as good and serious as he can make it? Reviewed by Patrick Anderson whose e-mail address is mondaythrillers(at symbol)aol.com, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
(hide most of this review)Review: "You know life is good when you have a new Lucas Davenport thriller to escape into." Chicago Tribune Synopsis: Lucas Davenport has had disturbing cases before, but never one quite like this. Filled with his brilliant trademark suspense, "Phantom Prey" is the shocking new novel from the #1 "New York Times"-bestselling author. About the Author John Sandford is the author of eighteen Prey novels and seven other books, most recently Dark of the Moon.
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780399155000
- Author:
- Sandford, John
- Publisher:
- G. P. Putnam's Sons
- Subject:
- Thrillers
- Subject:
- Mystery & Detective - Hard-Boiled
- Subject:
- Private investigators
- Subject:
- Minnesota
- Series:
- Lucas Davenport Mysteries
- Publication Date:
- May 2008
- Binding:
- Hardcover
- Grade Level:
- General/trade
- Language:
- English
- Pages:
- 373
- Dimensions:
- 9.32x6.22x1.25 in. 1.26 lbs.
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