Night Prey (Lucas Davenport Series #6) by John Sandford

From the Publisher

A master thief becomes obsessed with a beautiful woman--then carves her initials into his victims.

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. (May)

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. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/94.]-A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham

BookList

Sandford's sixth "Prey" novel follows the same formula as the first five: sharp-tongued Minneapolis deputy police chief Lucas Davenport is on the trail of a serial killer--this time a particularly nasty specimen with a yen for disemboweling his victims. Meagan Connell, an investigator from a state agency, plays the de rigueur role of Davenport's feisty, determined female assistant. Davenport is also peripherally involved in a case that appears to involve the Seeds, a loosely organized group of white supremacists. The third-person narration takes the reader along with the serial killer as he makes his rounds, choosing and stalking his victims. Alternately, the narrative follows the victims and the investigators. There is no mystery here; the killer's identity is clear from page one. The suspense lies in the investigation. Will Davenport and Connell catch the killer before he gets that one, last, innocent victim? Yes, the plotting seems lifted from dozens of interchangeable slasher flicks, but the dialogue crackles and individual scenes can be almost unbearably suspenseful. This may be the first good suntan book of 1994. A little sunblock, a tall cool one, and a serial killer--ah, summertime.

Product Details

• ISBN: 0425146413
  
• ISBN-13: 9780425146415
• Format: Mass Market Paperback, 416pp
• Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
• Pub. Date: March 1995
• Edition Description: Reprint
• Sales Rank: 6,378
• Series: Lucas Davenport Series, #6

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents