Sudden Prey (Lucas Davenport Series #8) by John Sandford

From Barnes & Noble

Revenge runs deep in this novel about a violent man who tracks down the police officers who were responsible for the death of his bank-robbing wife, then kills those nearest and closet to them. The revenge-crazed killer eludes detection until the pattern of rage and terror finally becomes clear to Lucas Davenport, the leader of the crime unit. Lucas presses the hunt for the killer before his family becomes the next victoms. But it's too late. The killer is now within striking distance.

From the Publisher

Revenge is the engine which powers this entry in John Sandford's Prey series starring superslick Minnesota cop Lucas Davenport. When a dangerous female bank robber is killed in a shootout, her even more dangerous husband escapes from prison and begins a campaign of retribution against the families of Davenport and his team.

Publishers Weekly

The title tells it true, and applies not only to myriad characters in Sandford's electrifying eighth "Prey" thriller, but also to the novel's readers. From the opening scene, in which series hero, Minneapolis cop Lucas Davenport, and his team stalk and kill a female bank robber, the story will clamp down like a bear trap on all who open its covers. That robber is Davenport's prey, but those beloved by the cop and his men become prey in turn when the slain thief's husband, Dick LaChaise, and his two sidekicks, all ex-bikers with militia mentalities, vow revenge unto death. Davenport, who in his spare time designs computer games that have made him wealthy, soon learns two disturbing facts: that suicidal enemies are close to unstoppable, and that his addiction to this real-life "game" is powerful enough to put even his loved ones at risk. Further problems ensue from the dangerous presence of a crooked cop, and from the refusal by Davenport's lover, a dedicated surgeon, to take up Davenport's offer to seclude her safely. The stakes are high, the characters rich, the action relentless-here's a thriller that will make your hair stand on end. Major ad/promo; Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and Mystery Guild main selections; author tour. (May)

Library Journal

The eighth Lucas Davenport adventure in John Sandford's "Prey" series (e.g., Mind Prey, Putnam, 1995) opens with the Candy LaChaise gang's robbery of a Minnesota credit union. When Candy is ambushed and killed by Davenport and his men, Candy's husband, Dick LaChaise, swears vengeance on the spouses and families of all officers involved. A series of attacks ensue in which spouses are killed at work. With the lives of Davenport's own daughter and his fiance threatened, he quickly metamorphoses into a hunting machine himself. The reader is privy throughout to the actions and plans of dirty cops and drug dealers, as well as a bumbling and rather endearing side of Dick LaChaise. This tightly wound thriller is action-packed, yet most of the characters are shadowy humans, lacking breath, history, and motivation. Considering the author's popularity, however, most public libraries will want several copies. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/96.]-Susan A. Zappia, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Phoenix, Ariz.

BookList

When backwoods Wisconsin bank robbers Candy and Georgie LaChaise are gunned down, they leave an intense mourner in Dick LaChaise, husband to Candy and brother to Georgie. On furlough from prison to attend the funeral, LaChaise escapes into the Wisconsin countryside. He doesn't want freedom, he wants revenge against the officers who shot his wife and brother, one of whom is Lucas Davenport, the hero of Sandford's previous "Prey" novels. What could have been a routine psycho-killer-on-the-prowl caper is given a unique twist by the presence of a crooked cop, Stadic, whom LaChaise bribes for information about his prey. Feeding information to both the good guys and the baddies, Stadic jockeys for position, hoping to survive no matter what happens. LaChaise is a memorable villain, a volatile mix of justified grief and madness. And Lucas Davenport? He's the same steely-eyed warrior he's always been, though here we realize that he has more in common with the LaChaises of the world than he's willing to admit. Fans of previous Sandford novels will be thrilled by the clever plotting and fully developed killers, even though they may be disappointed that Davenport plays a relatively minor role. Entertaining reading for thriller fans.

Kirkus Reviews

The fine and chilling eighth in Sandford's series featuring top cop Lucas Davenport (Mind Prey, 1995, etc.), this pitting him against a trio of revenge-minded killers.

At the climax of an afternoon stakeout in a mall crowded with Christmas shoppers, Davenport (deputy chief of the Minneapolis PD) and a handpicked crew of officers gun down Candy LaChaise and her sister-in-law Georgia just after they've robbed a credit union. Candy's hardcase husband Dick, midway through a nine-year jail sentence, is allowed to attend her funeral. With a little help from his friends—Bill Martin, a backwoodsman with a fondness for exotic weaponry, and Ansel Butters, a substance-abusing Tennessean—Dick murders his guard and melts into the countryside. Eager to exact retribution, however, the vindictive Martin and his confederates return to the Twin Cities, where, using IDs supplied by Andy Stadic (a crooked vice cop), they begin liquidating the loved ones of those involved in the credit-union shootout. With the public and press in an uproar, Davenport calls on the considerable resources at his command to stalk the homicidal threesome. Butters goes down, but with Stadic tipping them off via cellular phone, LaChaise and Martin manage to remain at large, albeit at no small cost in blood. Eventually, Sandy Darling (the ex-nurse they've blackmailed into treating their wounds) is able to betray them to the authorities. In near-blizzard conditions, then, a crossbow-wielding Martin is shot on a downtown street while Davenport closes with LaChaise in a hospital he's invaded in search of the doctor who's Davenport's live-in lover. Meanwhile, Darling flees Stadic through the stands of an empty Metrodome.

Complete with gross cop humor and villains who, for all their vicious resolve, have credibly redemptive traits: another winner for the accomplished Sandford and his growing legion of fans.

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